How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade" pool

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Water_man

Water_man

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Jun 7, 2008
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Brookline, MA
Hi all, long time no see. :handwave: As I mentioned in my previous post soon I'll be opening my real green swamp. I wonder if someone can help me to guesstimate how much 12% "liquid chlorine" I'll need to get in order to clean my 22 kGal pool?
The surplus will be used by my liquidator for regular maintenance over a period of 3-4 months.
 
Re: How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade"

It is almost impossible to guess. It depends on your CYA level, how much algae there actually is, how diligent you are about adding chlorine, how much sunlight your pool gets, etc.
 
Re: How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade"

30 gallons isn't as much as you think when your shocking a seriously green pool. I helped a friend clear a pool last year and we used over 25 gallons by the time it was over. The probem with not having enough on hand is that if you have to wait to get more you're losing ground.
 
Re: How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade"

The probem with not having enough on hand is that if you have to wait to get more you're losing ground.
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Cha-ching!! Right on the money!! It is penny-wise and pound-foolish not to have adeqaute chlorine on hand to complete the shock process.

Extra bleach is NEVER wasted......you simply keep putting it into the pool for routine chlorination.
 
Re: How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade"

When I just shocked mine back into submission, I did so with 45 gallons. That brought my FC up to 30 and killed all green. I had a beautifully milky blue pool within 24 hours and it's almost completely clear to the bottom now after 5 days running.
 
Re: How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade"

Bama Rambler said:
I helped a friend clear a pool last year and we used over 25 gallons by the time it was over. The probem with not having enough on hand is that if you have to wait to get more you're losing ground.
Click to expand...
What size pool was it?
 
Re: How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade"

denisbaldwin said:
When I just shocked mine back into submission, I did so with 45 gallons. That brought my FC up to 30 and killed all green. I had a beautifully milky blue pool within 24 hours and it's almost completely clear to the bottom now after 5 days running.
Click to expand...
How did you know when to stop? When the green simply turned into blue?
 

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Re: How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade"

Water_man said:
denisbaldwin said:
When I just shocked mine back into submission, I did so with 45 gallons. That brought my FC up to 30 and killed all green. I had a beautifully milky blue pool within 24 hours and it's almost completely clear to the bottom now after 5 days running.
Click to expand...
How did you know when to stop? When the green simply turned into blue?
Click to expand...

Exactly. I dumped in something like 20 gallons first, let it flow overnight, dumped in 10 more, let it flow, rinse and repeat. I run fresh tests every morning to see where I stand before adding more. Seems to work on every pool I've tried it on.
 
Re: How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade"

The huge amount of chlorine all at once approach works especially well when the CYA level is relatively high. The CYA will buffer the chlorine and cause it to effectively be added much more slowly. The down side when you do have high CYA levels is that you are left with very high FC levels, which will take a long time to come down to something more reasonable. With CYA down around 30-50 it has some more significant disadvantages, like larger than otherwise chlorine loses to sunlight and possible corrosion and liner fading risks if you go way too far and add much more than enough chlorine.

The rule of thumb I'm familiar with for this approach is to carefully note the color of the water. Then start adding chlorine at a slow and steady rate, pouring slowly in front of a return with the pump running. When the color of the water changes, stop adding chlorine. That means more or less any color change, usually it will be a shift from relatively green towards relatively brown.

I much prefer the add, wait, test, repeat approach. It is a little more work, but it saves on chlorine and is just as effective.
 
Re: How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade"

I, like Jason, prefer the "test, add, wait, test, add" approach. When we first started we tested every hour and added enough chlorine to get back to shock level. Then as the algae was killed you stretch the testing and adding out as you go along until you feel you're done. Then keeping it at shock level you run the OCLT. Once you pass that, you can let the FC come back to normal or your CYA.

You backwash the filter whenever the pressure rises enough to warrant it. Just like normal, but of course, it'll be much more often.
 
Re: How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade"

I just took a peek at the pool, after a long period of absence.
The water color (I don't know if the word "water" is appropriate) is deep black and green. There's black and green algae on the walls.
Is the suggested regimen mentioned in the previous posts still valid?
How long would it take me to clean it?
 
Re: How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade"

It is rather unpredictable. The time it will take to clean things up depends on how much debris is in the water, how diligent you are about adding more chlorine regularly during the first phase of the cleanup, and how well your filter is working. Roughly speaking, a couple of days to a couple of weeks depending.
 
Re: How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade"

JasonLion said:
It is rather unpredictable. The time it will take to clean things up depends on how much debris is in the water, how diligent you are about adding more chlorine regularly during the first phase of the cleanup, and how well your filter is working. Roughly speaking, a couple of days to a couple of weeks depending.
Click to expand...

Does it make sense to install a second filter in series?
 
Re: How much chlorine will I need to clean a "FL Everglade"

Not really. If you have a second pump to go with the second filter it would help to have two systems both filtering, but it is hardly essential.
 

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