Hi - We are having a heck of a time this year getting our pool straight. Little to no problems in years past. We use chlorine, in-ground pool, 18x36, 24,500 gallons.
At our first testing at the pool place (after starting to clean and shock it) our pH levels were high (8.1), FC was 1.1 and TC was 7.8 so there was a lot of combined chlorine. Alkalinity was ok. Cyanuric acid was low but she said worry about it after we are balanced and clean. So we added a lot of muriatic acid to lower the pH. Can't get the chlorine to break up. We shocked using chlorine, shocked using Unchlorinated shock...
Yesterday our reading was FC 0.4, Total chlorine 3.4, alkalinity low (27), pH 7.4, Cyanuric acid 8, Hardness 250. She told us to double shock using non chlorinated shock and we should see results very quickly, and also add 15lbs of baking soda (they told us to use alkalinity plus but my husband got her to convert it to amount of baking soda). We did that lunch time yesterday....
No change to FC by 10:00 last night. The water is cloudy again (although I did brush as well). So we put in 16 pounds of granular chlorine (bought in bulk) to double shock it to hopefully kick that combined chlorine. This is what my husband's cousin says she does to double shock. She uses the same chlorine. Sounded like a lot to me, because I thought a double shock would normally be 6 1 pound bags of TurboShock. But we are our wits end with this FC reading, and this stuff we are using now isn't TurboShock.
I took another sample today at 10am and now FC is .4, TC is 1.8, alkalinity is 70, pH is now 7.0, hardness is 289, cyanuric acid is 8.
So now she's told me to add 12 pounds of alkalinity plus (bacquacil brand), and not to use baking soda because it doesn't have everything we need. Wait until tomorrow to let the chlorine levels level out. And to maybe add 2.75 pounds of pH increaser, but again wait until we test tomorrow before adding it. She also says not to worry about the cyanuric acid because our tablets have it in there. The only problem we've really ever had is that the cyanuric acid got high last year. So that's why she's telling me not to add stabilizer just yet.
I read somewhere that ammonia could be a factor, so I bought a kit and tested today, no ammonia in the pool.
I left out some back and forths but this is the gist of where we are... we are getting frustrated because 3 places are telling us 3 different things. We've tried them all it seems, and are still in a rut, especially with the free chlorine. Ideas of how to get free chlorine? And what order should I be adding these chemicals and trying to get it right? It seems like we need alkalinity to be right first, then work the others. But our alk was ok, then when we starting adding things to adjust the pH, it got out of whack.
Anyway, I thought I'd post where we are to see what you think. The folks at the pool shops won't explain much to us. They just tell you to dump chemicals in the pool. I've learned more in 2 days of Googling than they've ever explained to me. {sigh}
Thanks so much!
April
At our first testing at the pool place (after starting to clean and shock it) our pH levels were high (8.1), FC was 1.1 and TC was 7.8 so there was a lot of combined chlorine. Alkalinity was ok. Cyanuric acid was low but she said worry about it after we are balanced and clean. So we added a lot of muriatic acid to lower the pH. Can't get the chlorine to break up. We shocked using chlorine, shocked using Unchlorinated shock...
Yesterday our reading was FC 0.4, Total chlorine 3.4, alkalinity low (27), pH 7.4, Cyanuric acid 8, Hardness 250. She told us to double shock using non chlorinated shock and we should see results very quickly, and also add 15lbs of baking soda (they told us to use alkalinity plus but my husband got her to convert it to amount of baking soda). We did that lunch time yesterday....
No change to FC by 10:00 last night. The water is cloudy again (although I did brush as well). So we put in 16 pounds of granular chlorine (bought in bulk) to double shock it to hopefully kick that combined chlorine. This is what my husband's cousin says she does to double shock. She uses the same chlorine. Sounded like a lot to me, because I thought a double shock would normally be 6 1 pound bags of TurboShock. But we are our wits end with this FC reading, and this stuff we are using now isn't TurboShock.
I took another sample today at 10am and now FC is .4, TC is 1.8, alkalinity is 70, pH is now 7.0, hardness is 289, cyanuric acid is 8.
So now she's told me to add 12 pounds of alkalinity plus (bacquacil brand), and not to use baking soda because it doesn't have everything we need. Wait until tomorrow to let the chlorine levels level out. And to maybe add 2.75 pounds of pH increaser, but again wait until we test tomorrow before adding it. She also says not to worry about the cyanuric acid because our tablets have it in there. The only problem we've really ever had is that the cyanuric acid got high last year. So that's why she's telling me not to add stabilizer just yet.
I read somewhere that ammonia could be a factor, so I bought a kit and tested today, no ammonia in the pool.
I left out some back and forths but this is the gist of where we are... we are getting frustrated because 3 places are telling us 3 different things. We've tried them all it seems, and are still in a rut, especially with the free chlorine. Ideas of how to get free chlorine? And what order should I be adding these chemicals and trying to get it right? It seems like we need alkalinity to be right first, then work the others. But our alk was ok, then when we starting adding things to adjust the pH, it got out of whack.
Anyway, I thought I'd post where we are to see what you think. The folks at the pool shops won't explain much to us. They just tell you to dump chemicals in the pool. I've learned more in 2 days of Googling than they've ever explained to me. {sigh}
Thanks so much!
April
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