No Chlorine Reading

[tdean]

I took a water sample to my local pool store, because no chlorine reading and green algae. The test results were as follow: Free Cholorine: 0.1ppm, Total Chlorine: 7.2ppm, Combined Chlorine: 7.1ppm, pH OVR 8.2, Hardness: 140ppm, Alkalinity 166ppm, Cyanuric Acid 15ppm, Copper 0, Iron 0.

I was told to add 2 lbs of Regal Oxy-Klear, then 25 lb of Super Shock-It, then 4 lbs of Regal pool stabilizer. I did all that and pool is crystal clear, but no chlorine readings. I called the local pool store and they said there is something blocking the chlorine and i need to double the amount of chlorine that I initially put it, which would be another 40-50 lbs. I should then get a reading.

I am trying the water test w/ a couple gal of water and placing bleach in it. Do I place 1 tsp in until I get a reading or keep wating every 30 min? If that works, I multiple the number of tsp time 9000, figure the pool is about 18K gals? If I then do that and do the bleach to shock the pool, how long do you wait until you can swim in it? Sorry for all the questions.

 

[Richard320]

I took a water sample to my local pool store, because no chlorine reading and green algae. The test results were as follow: Free Cholorine: 0.1ppm, Total Chlorine: 7.2ppm, Combined Chlorine: 7.1ppm, pH OVR 8.2, Hardness: 140ppm, Alkalinity 166ppm, Cyanuric Acid 15ppm, Copper 0, Iron 0.

I was told to add 2 lbs of Regal Oxy-Klear, then 25 lb of Super Shock-It, then 4 lbs of Regal pool stabilizer. I did all that and pool is crystal clear, but no chlorine readings. I called the local pool store and they said there is something blocking the chlorine and i need to double the amount of chlorine that I initially put it, which would be another 40-50 lbs. I should then get a reading.

I am trying the water test w/ a couple gal of water and placing bleach in it. Do I place 1 tsp in until I get a reading or keep wating every 30 min? If that works, I multiple the number of tsp time 9000, figure the pool is about 18K gals? If I then do that and do the bleach to shock the pool, how long do you wait until you can swim in it? Sorry for all the questions.

If you want to spend money freely, spend it on a good test kit, not on overpriced buckets o'junk at the pool store. Your answers will be found here. In brief, get pH in range. Hit it hard with Chlorine, frequently. Almost constantly - you want to kill the algae and reduce CC faster than it can reproduce. You have to overwhelm it basically. Once you have vanquished it, then you fine-tune the rest. Read the article, get your own test kit. Load up on Chlorine. Sometimes pool store chlorine works out cheaper per gallon than the big box stores, but you ought to stay away from there.

 

[Butterfly]

Hi tdean,

Richard gave good info and Pool School can answer lots of questions for you.

The test for extreme chlorine demand is in this thread: bucket-test-t7072.html

Welcome to the forum

 

[tdean]

I went to another pool store for a reading (Leslie's Pools) and got different results:
Free Avail Clorine (FAC): 4
Total Avail Chlorine (TAC): 6
pH: 7.4
TA: 120
Calcium Hardness: 180
CYA: 30

Everything looks good, but still cannot get a reading on the test strips. She did one final test and said that I had something else in the pool which started with an m (sorry can't remember). She said that 25lbs of neutralizer would take care of that. My pool is gunite and 16k in ground.

Should I purchase the neutralizer or do something else. Thanks!

 

[duraleigh]

One of the prime principles taught here on the forum is not to use test strips. They simply aren't reliable or accurate enough to do the kind of testing that's required to maintain your pool properly.

 

[JasonLion]

This would all be much simpler if you had your own top quality test kit. I recommend the TF-100 from TFTestKits.net. They Taylor K-2006 is also good. A good test kit will more than pay for it's self in reduced chemical usage and avoided problems.

I can't see how neutralizer would help. You still need to add more chlorine. I doubt you will need a huge amount more, but you aren't quite there yet. The second stores reading showed FC of 4 and CC of 2, so you were holding a chlorine level. Since CC is above 0.5, you do need to continue adding chlorine, I just don't think it will be anything like the 25 lbs you have added already.