Severe loss of chlorine - pool ate 24 lbs of shock in 48 hrs

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Re: Severe loss of chlorine - pool ate 24 lbs of shock in 48

Still eating the chlorine but not quite as bad... loss from 30 to 19 from Sat night to Monday evening (we were out of town most of yesterday). PH is now 7.5

Added 8 more gallons of bleach tonight to bring it back to 30 for overnight. It has been brutally hot here and the sun has been intense the last couple of days so I am not surprised of the loss of chlorine. A little clearer today but the deep end is still very cloudy.

Will keep monitoring
 
Re: Severe loss of chlorine - pool ate 24 lbs of shock in 48

Okay I am really trying but this is killing me... we are at about 56 gallons of bleach in the pool in the last week or so...still cloudy...worse actually.

Now we did have a monster rain storm that literally dumped 6 inches of rain on us in a 5 hour period and filled the pool but still I have kept the chlorine level up at 30 almost daily (after daily loss) and still nothing.

Todays readings

FC 21.5
TA 100
CYA 60

I stopped there... I am really at the point where I think it would be better to drain at least half the water and refill.

I am running the filter about 12 hours a day... sometimes with SWG on sometimes off.

I went nuts tonight and cranked the dosage up to equal 40 FC... told everyone to stay the heck out ( it was 110 here with the heat index... they are dying yo go in)

Literally am at the end of my rope here... I have never had this problem before.

HELP!
 
Re: Severe loss of chlorine - pool ate 24 lbs of shock in 48

I would consider a partial drain to lower CYA. At minimum, it'll allow you to shock at a lower level which will save some $$ on bleach.

Have you read any information about mustard algae? It's not as easy to get rid of as other strains, and may or may not be your issue but it's worth a read to find out the signs just in case.

Shoot for CYA level of about 40, maybe 30 if you want to use less bleach but apparently in hot sunny climates a little extra CYA is called for. If you shoot low and complete the shock process you can always add more CYA if needed but you might find it works just fine as well.

I also wanted to address your statement that you have kept the chlorine level up to 30 "almost daily". It is an unfortunate fact that not maintaining shock levels consistently only serves to backtrack the shocking process. So almost daily, may have in fact left you in a sort of limbo which has you effectively "stalled". Is there some way that you can positively maintain shock level without letting it fall below shock? A couple days of that and you really should see something change. If you do that for a few days and still nothing changes, then something is suspect.

Additionally, filters should be run 24/7 while shocking. That could very well also be contributing to the stalled shock process you're experiencing.
 
Re: Severe loss of chlorine - pool ate 24 lbs of shock in 48

The almost daily thing was two days when we were not home... kicked it back up the next morning (fell to around 15 or so each time).

Is it okay to let it fall during the day and replenish at night?

Tested this morning and CYA was more around 50 and PH is holding strong at 7.5. Did not test chlorine... was planning on going home at lunch and checking to see how the 40 I cranked it up to last night is fairing.

If there are no visable signs of algae from the breakout... how would I know if I am still fighting it or am I fighting another problem?
 
Re: Severe loss of chlorine - pool ate 24 lbs of shock in 48

During a shock process, the ideal is to test hourly or so. You want to keep it at or above shock level at ALL times. So it's only OK to let it fall during the day and replenish at night if you replenish enough that it's still at shock level the next night.

As for when you know if you're fighting some other problem, that's what the OCLT is for. So long as you fail the OCLT or have CC>=1, you know that the chlorine is burning off organics, and so you need to keep shocking.
 
Re: Severe loss of chlorine - pool ate 24 lbs of shock in 48

If you're bringing it "back" to shock level every evening, then that would imply that it was below the shock level when you tested. You need to add enough chlorine above shock level to ensure that it's still above shock level the next time you test and add. This is why the hourly thing; trying to get it so far above shock level that it will still be there 24 hours later is a losing game since you'll be losing so much to sunlight in addition to the organics.

I guess you might be making some progress, but much less than if you were keeping it up there all the time.
 
Re: Severe loss of chlorine - pool ate 24 lbs of shock in 48

Okay so obviously I am an idiot on this issue... soo... If I see that I loose on average 10 FC per day and my goal is to maintain 30... shock it up to 40 right? (since I cannot physically be there during the day to babysit it)
 
Re: Severe loss of chlorine - pool ate 24 lbs of shock in 48

Not an idiot, just new to the concepts.

Yes, that would be a good starting point. But you might well find that you lose even more going up to that level (more loss to the sun), so be prepared to adjust. And if you could check things even twice a day, that would help. Are you more free over the weekend? If you could spend the weekend really staying on top of it, that would probably go a long way.
 
Re: Severe loss of chlorine - pool ate 24 lbs of shock in 48

I am running the filter about 12 hours a day..
Click to expand...
I haven't participated in this thread but, glancing briefly, that is a significant error if you are correctly shocking your pool. Run that pump 24/7 until your water is crystal clear, brush as often as you can, and keep your filter clean.

YOu may already be doing most of that but just make it a reminder. The precise levels of chlorine are not quite as important as your consistency of keeping the FC close around that 30ppm mark. (Why is 30 your FC target? with a CYA of 60, 24ppm FC is more appropriate)

Keep in mind this is a process. The pool did not get in it's current condition overnight and it cannot be cleared overnight.

Stay the course. read How to "Shock your Pool" up in Pool School...even if you've already read it. :lol:
 

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Re: Severe loss of chlorine - pool ate 24 lbs of shock in 48

Yes... that is my fault... I read it but did not remember that part... will be running it 24/7 from now on.

Weekend is much better for me... should be able to keep on top of it better.
 
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