zero chlorine

[momof4]

Took the solar blanket off this morning and water looked just a bit cloudy to me (it's always been very sparkly clear up to this point). Tested (using last of test strips) and chlorine was less than 1ppm. Took a sample into the pool store. Results:

total chlorine - 0
free chlorine - 0
ph 7.7
t.a. - 147.5
cya - 40
salt - 3620
ch 175
tds - 1000
copper - 0; iron - 0
phosphate - between 500 and 1000 (keeps moving between 200 and 1000)

SWG is usually on 2 lights (as per recommendation in manual - zodiac duoclear) - I bumped it up to 3 lights yesterday as I had a bunch of kids swimming (12 hours later did water sample that showed 0 chlorine)

pool store thinks phos is eating up my chlorine (levels have steadily declined over past 2 weeks from 5 to 3 to 0) - phosphates are showing up in most pools around here (rural/agricultural area). This is their recommendation:

add 14 kg salt pool enhancer (mineral springs)
add 1.8 kg micro clear shock (calypso - which is sodium dicholoro-s-triazinetrione with 62% available chlorine)

Does this sound like the solution? FYI - they did not charge me for the chemicals (I think because this is my first season and we're still trying to get the opening levels right - or - they're just really nice)

With 0 chlorine, I'm assuming superchlorination button on swg won't be enough; same with lite shock? Also, will the micro clear raise my cya levels a bit as well - I know they are on the low side. Is the pool enhancer essentially the same as borax? It says it contains boron salts. Thanks for any input!

 

[Brad S]

Do you know if your SWG is actually making chlorine? since the FC is essentially 0, turn on the SWG, let it run and hold a test strip in front of a return. If its making chlorine, you should the strip turn color.
If its working and making chlorine, you may have the start of algea but can't see it yet.

The CYA level is a little low, but that shouldnt account for having 0 ppm FC after running the SWG that much, i wouldn't think.

If you run your SWG overnight and still dont have any chlorine the next morning, either
1) the SWG is on the fritz, or
2) algea is eating it up as fast as its made.

The overnight test will take the CYA issue out of the equation since there is no sun to burn up any chlorine thats made.


If you have no FC in the morning,
I would use the pool calculator to figure out how much bleach to add for your pool size to get the FC up to 5-6 ppm. You need chlorine in there fast to prevent a green pool. I might even shock it at this point.

Di chlor would be ok since your cya level is low. But honestly, i would use plain old bleach at this point, or 12.5% liquid chlorine.
I have no idea what the other stuff is. Waste of money. Phosphates arent eating your chlorine. Its either algea or your SWG isnt working.
Your TA is way high too, but that can be adressed after the chlorine issue. Main thing is to get some chlorine in the pool or you will have a big green mess.

 

[JasonLion]

You need to shock the pool and then raise your CYA level up to between 70 and 80.

Your CYA level is way too low for use with a SWG. Both of the products they gave you will raise the CYA level a little, but probably not enough. They will also add salt and chlorine. You already have lots of salt, so adding more doesn't make much sense, though it won't hurt much, and that isn't enough chlorine.

Mineral springs is basically a very expensive way of adding salt and CYA. They are far less expensive when purchased separately, and sometimes, like now, you don't want to add them at the same time.

Micro clear shock is what we call dichlor. It is generally not a good idea to use because it adds CYA very quickly. But just at the moment that is a good thing.

Just ignore the phosphate level. That is just a scare tactic to try and get you to purchase some expensive chemicals you don't really need.

 

[momof4]

I was wondering if the swg might somehow be involved - I did test strip the water coming out of the closest jet -0 fc - with the swg on 3 lights....should I bump up to max chlorine output on the machine overnight and see if any chlorine shows up? The other reason I suspect the swg might be involved is that the salt content has been high (3620) all summer - we've never added salt - shouldn't it go down somewhat if the swg is generating chlorine? I haven't shocked with the microclear yet - want to wait until tomorrow and see if the swg is generating anything. The pool is crystal clear tonight - no cloudiness that I thought I saw yesterday.

 

[DBfan187]

You need to manually shock the pool, don't rely on the unit to boost it from 0.

 

[JasonLion]

A SWG is designed to maintain an FC level, it is not designed to raise FC from zero. You need to manually add chlorine. Waiting until tomorrow is only going to make the situation worse.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

The salt level doesn't go down as it's converted by the SWG. The salt level only changes with water replacement/salt additions.

Try shocking the pool with liquid chlorine, then test the SWG's function again.

 

[momof4]

shocked it ...will see what the readings say this time...we're in for a day of rain, so hopefully that doesn't mess things up!

 

[momof4]

Chlorine is back...36 hours after shock with micro-clear (2kg) and addition of enhancer (mineral springs)- new readings:

fc - 3
tc - 3
alk - 130 something
cya - 40
ch - 155
ph 7.5
tds - 1200
salt - 3620
phos - down to 200 (from over 500 last reading)

I sort of thought the cya would move up a bit with the microclear - perhaps not enough added to bump that number? Pool is crystal, sparkling clear..just had a swim tonight - felt good...only a very very slight bleachy scent (just a whiff now and then)..that only I could detect - I seem to have a more highly sensitive sense of smell - dh couldn't smell anything at all. Should I keep the swg at current setting (3 lights) or bump it up a bit to maintain chlorine levels (it has 5 lights total for chlorine output setting).

 

[JasonLion]

FC at 3 is fine for now, so I don't see any reason to turn up the SWG.

You still need to raise the CYA level. The dichlor and mineral springs will have raised it just a little, but you still want to bring it up to between 70 and 80.

I don't remember seeing you say what kind of surface your pool has. If you have a vinyl liner then your CH level is just fine. But if you have plaster/pebble/fiberglass etc you will want to bring the CH level up.

 

[learthur]

Test strips and pool store water analysis using test strips ere almost always very Inaccurate!

Do yourself a big favor, set yourself free, by purchasing a TF-100 or similar test kit.

Forget about the phosphate level. It honestly doesn't matter. Really!