Recommended Chlorine level - Target or Minimum

[Vandergraff]

My CYA is about 45 so my minimum chlorine level is 3 - 4.

I add liquid chlorine each evening after testing with an TF100. Up to now if have been trying to add chlorine to get to 5 - 6 so it is back to 3 - 4 the next evening. Everything seem OK with bright clear water but I am now wondering if I actually should be trying to adjust so it falls back to the target chlorine level 5 - 6 (not the minimum level 3 - 4) the following evening. It seems if I target this higher level I'll use more chlorine (at a higher cost) as other posts suggest you'll lose around half the chlorine level to sunlight each day

 

[257WbyMag]

You are doing fine by adding enough chlorine that you end up at the target level for your given CYA at the end of the day and I personally wouldn't change that. This is exactly what I do. Now, you can certainly run the FC a little higher by adding more than you have been. You won't necessarily use more chlorine by doing this since with all else being equal, you are still going to lose the same amount of FC that you have before. What you will have though is more of a cushion than you did previously.

 

[woodyp]

I think you've got it figured out! I dose up a bit higher for those weekend parties too.

 

[esim13]

I shoot for the higher side bc I'm in full sun from sun up to sun down. I like having the cushion!

 

[Diver]

You won't necessarily use more chlorine by doing this since with all else being equal, you are still going to lose the same amount of FC that you have before. What you will have though is more of a cushion than you did previously.

i think technically there will be higher CL loss, since it's a percentage and not an absolute number.

 

[Vandergraff]

You won't necessarily use more chlorine by doing this since with all else being equal, you are still going to lose the same amount of FC that you have before. What you will have though is more of a cushion than you did previously.

i think technically there will be higher CL loss, since it's a percentage and not an absolute number.

That is what is was thinking - the higher the initial FC - the higher the daily loss and daily usage.

Seems it is a balance.

We now have some warm weather with pool about 85 at the end of the day (solar heating). I am adjusting to FC 6 each evening and seems to drop to about FC 3 by the next evening - this seems to be working well.

 

[zea3]

Somewhere in the forum chem geek has a few posts about FC loss. I think it said something about the higher the FC the greater % you will lose during the day. I'll try to find the post.

 

[JasonLion]

The amount of chlorine you lose to sunlight over the course of a day is a percentage of your starting level, assuming all else remains the same.