Coverting to BBB! Need help...

[Abukc316]

Hi all! I have been reading this forum for a while and I want to thank all of you for providing such a great service to everyone out there who just wants to enjoy their pool!! It seems like when you go the conventional route of the pool store, you start to look at your pool as more of a time/money pit rather than a relaxing oasis, like it should be. TFP taught me that it doesn't have to be that way.

Now, on to my story. My husband and I recently moved into his parent's house in San Antonio because he was laid off of his job in Chicago. They happen to have a pool. I was very excited about this, untill I found out all of the ridiculous stuff they were doing to "upkeep" the pool. They were using pucks trough a feeder while adding cyanuric acid seperately on a monthly or so basis!!! They would then wonder why they were getting algae blooms. I could go on forever with silly things they were doing, but I digress. I cut them some slack since they didn't know what they were doing. The last algae bloom happened a couple of days ago and that is when I decided to take over pool maintenance.

Basically, I shocked the pool for three nights using bleach in the amount per poolcalculator's recommendations. The pool is pretty much cleared up and I passed the overnight test

When should I start with adding the bleach for daily sanitation and how should I do that? Should I split up the dose and add it twice a day, or just add all of it at night? Once I add it, how long should I run the filter?

That is basically it. Sorry it took so long to get to the actual question!! I am just happy to finally be clearing this up and moving on to a Trouble Free Pool!

 

[tim_pool_newbie]

Let's see if I can help provide some of your answers, based on info I've seen on this board from the experts. I'm sure they'll chime in with any corrections if I've made any mistakes.

As I've seen it explained before, chlorine in your pool is the same - no matter what the source (pucks, granules or liquid) - so there is really no need for any type of waiting period to convert off of the dichlor/trichlor products and onto pure liquid chlorine (bleach). The key to all of this is your testing. Hopefully you've learned enough so far here on this forum (reivew Pool School if you have not) and know that a decent test kit is imperative to taking full control of your pool.

Basically you just need to test your water and then using the pool calculator, start adding liquid chlorine daily to reach your FC target level. Since you're just coming off of a shock process, my guess is your FC level is still pretty high and so you may not need any additional chlorine for a few days. But be sure to also measure your CYA level and then use the info in this forum (Pool School has a CYA/Chlorine chart for reference) to keep your FC level at the right target based on your CYA level.

Assuming you do that, and don't let your FC fall below the recommended minimum, you should hopefully never find yourself needing to shock the pool again!!

As for WHEN to add chlorine, most will tell you to do it at night, after the sun is no longer on the pool (since sunlight burns up chlorine). Just be sure your pump is running for about 30-60 min before and after you add any chlorine to insure proper circulation. But whatever time works best for you, just do it then and create your own routine that works for you.

Good luck, and please post any other questions you might have.

 

[Abukc316]

Excellent! Thank you for the advice. And yes, I did shut off the dreaded puck chlorinator and will be using only bleach from now on!

 

[Richard320]

I certainly hope you have a good test kit! From what you're describing, I'd be amazed if CYA wasn't well into triple digits, which makes it impossible to test FC using the color block, assuming you keep the FC where it needs to be. Also, as you are doubtless aware now, it takes a LOT of bleach to get to shock level with high CYA.

 

[MikeInNH]

Do you have any test numbers? The CYA is a concern, hard to help without the numbers. If it's too high the only fix is replacing some of the water. I agree with getting a good test kit and in your case maybe some extra for testing CYA seeing it doesn't go very far. If no kit now, have a pool store test it so the experts can know where you are at for advice and then order a kit because the stores are not always accurate. BTW, welcome to TFP

 

[anonapersona]

Welcome to the forum. Like everyone else has said, the way to know when to add bleach is to test daily for awhile until you get the hang of it. And play with the Pool Calculator a LOT. I found that one little jug of bleach puts exactly 2 ppm in my pool and that is about what my pool uses in 1 day, and one big jug is 4 ppm and that is what I need for 2 days, usually. Usage, leaves, heat all affect that so I do test at least every other day.

Did you get the TF100 test kit? It may seem expensive but it will save so much money in the long run.