Liquid Ammonia, should I be adding it?

[jeffdolen]

My local pool clerk told me my conditon level was extremely high, about 60-70ppm. I just added 4 gallons of chlorine and 2 shock treatment packets to my 10,000 gallon pool 5 days ago and all the free chlorine is gone now. He said because there is too much conditioner which is not allowing your chlorine to work. A green algae starts to grow on the side of my pool whenever my chlorine drops this low.

He said to add a quart or two of liquid ammonia from a any grocery store. This will lower the conditioner lever to give a better ratio to the free chlorine. Is this true?
Any other tips on not having all my chlorine vanish in a just a few days. I've removed the hockey puck chlorinators from the pool , to prohibit my conditioner from rising anymore.

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP.

By conditioner, I assume you mean stabilizer?

Your only real option is draining and replacing enough water to lower it. Then find a new pool store that hires people who know what they are doing.

 

[polyvue]

My local pool clerk told me my conditon level was extremely high, about 60-70ppm. I just added 4 gallons of chlorine and 2 shock treatment packets to my 10,000 gallon pool 5 days ago and all the free chlorine is gone now. He said because there is too much conditioner which is not allowing your chlorine to work. A green algae starts to grow on the side of my pool whenever my chlorine drops this low.

Welcome to the forum

If you're not using a Salt Water Chlorine Generator (SWG) then a 60-70 ppm "condition level" (more commonly known as Cyanuric Acid, CYA or chlorine stabilizer) is indeed too high. But his/her suggested remedy of ammonia is very problematic. I agree with John... better to drain off some water to reduce the CYA level.

He said to add a quart or two of liquid ammonia from a any grocery store. This will lower the conditioner lever to give a better ratio to the free chlorine. Is this true?
Any other tips on not having all my chlorine vanish in a just a few days. I've removed the hockey puck chlorinators from the pool , to prohibit my conditioner from rising anymore.

The important ratio is one of Free Chlorine to CYA. Note that Free Chlorine (FC) is not the same as Total Chlorine (TC). You need a good test kit that will enable you to measure both FC and Combine Chlorine (CC). It could be that all of your chlorine has been converted to CC. Please read the following short articles. They will help you to manage your pool water chemistry. And consider investing in a good test kit. Good luck!

pool-school/pool_water_chemistry
pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock
pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison

 

[spishex]

It's funny, just the other day I stumbled across this link and was wondering the same thing. In it there's a paragraph (bottom p.300) that says:

In a typical high-pressure process, the reaction is carried out in the liquid phase, without a catalyst, and under pressures in the range of 90 to 150 bar and 380C to 450C. Under these conditions, urea forms cyanuric acid, which then reacts with ammonia to form melamine.

I assume the extreme pressure and temperature makes this 100% inapplicable in your standard backyard pool, but interesting.