Free and total Chlorine very high after shock

[RafaelS]

Guys, I had my water tested at Leslie's last couple of times and despite my own testing showing wrong levels they kept telling me everything is ok. I finally took my water to a different pool place near me yesterday and found out my test were correct.

I had high PH, low cholorine and low stabilizer and hardness. The people at the new place gave me a print out of what I should add which I did last night.

I have been running the filter all night. I have a 34,000 gallon salt water pool and one of the additions per their directions was 3lb of shock to raise the chlorine, both were 0.5 a the test. Today I measured the levels and both are in the 10 color level on my strips, is this normal and is the pool swimable ?

it has been well over 12 hours now since I added the chemicals. Is it normal in general for chlorine to raise so much or did they tell me to add too much shock?

The water looked fine before these additions. I only had the pool for couple of months so I am still learning the ropes. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The test showed 8.2ph, 110 CH and CYA of 40. I assume they assumed to raise CH to 200 and told me salt water pool should have CYA of 80 (my manual for filter shows 50-75)

 

[Bama Rambler]

At least they got the CYA part right.

The first thing you need to do is get the pH down to about 7.5.
Those strips are notoriously wrong, but with a CYA of 40 you can swim with 10 ppm FC.

You really need to order a good test kit. That's the only way to know what your levels really are.

 

[RafaelS]

At least they got the CYA part right.

The first thing oyu need to do is get the pH down to about 7.5.
Those strips are notoriously wrong, but with a CYA of 40 you can swim with 10 ppm FC.

You really need to order a good test kit. That's the only way to know what your levels really are.

Well, i have added all the chemicals so I assume CYA is not 40 any more, I added 20lb of Calcium to raise hardness and about 5lb or Stabilizer to raise the CYA tp 75 or so as per calculations. I also added Muriatic acid to lower PH and it is showing around 7.6 range from what I can see now. Will the chlorine drop to normal levels any time soon and can we swim in this situation? Might I also add those strips really only go to 10 for chlorine, the color is close to that number but is it possibly it can be even higher?

 

[Bama Rambler]

If you have a CYA of 75 then the shock level is about 30 so you're good to swim.
What is the swcg set on? You may have to turn it down some to get the FC to come down some.

 

[RafaelS]

If you have a CYA of 75 then the shock level is about 30 so you're good to swim.
What is the swcg set on? You may have to turn it down some to get the FC to come down some.

it was 70 originally, I changed to 77 couple days ago since it was low but after adding shock i set it to 70% again, u think I should go lower? also will the chlorine eventually go down ?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Your FC will come down, but like I said, you may have to turn the swcg down to get it to do it.

 

[RafaelS]

Your FC will come down, but like I said, you may have to turn the swcg down to get it to do it.

any suggestions as to the level I should bring it down to ? sorry to bother you but I am a bit new to this and really want to get it right, I already had a bunch of problems with leaks, etc after moving in. I assume I should bring it back up once the level is right.

 

[Bama Rambler]

You need to adjust it based on the level of th FC and CYA. I can't say what percentage it should be on, but just bring it down a bit and test tomorrow and see if it's down. Test and adjust ill it gets where it needs to be based on the CYA level.

 

[RafaelS]

You need to adjust it based on the level of th FC and CYA. I can't say what percentage it should be on, but just bring it down a bit and test tomorrow and see if it's down. Test and adjust ill it gets where it needs to be based on the CYA level.

Thanks Bama ! I really appreciate your help. I checked my balance last night and it seems like the chlorine might be dropping off a bit already, I reduced my chlorine production to 50% and will check balance again tonight when I get home. I had another question for you regarding algae. My pool water and pool itself seems to be crystal clear but when I clean my vacuum bag I notice that in the seams where most stiching is present I see green stuff that resembles algae or some kind of green substance present, when I run my nail accross it, it seems to fall apart and can somewhat wash it out. Do you suppose this is algae and is it ok if its only present on the filter bag? should I replace the bag?

 

[Bama Rambler]

If the green stuff isn't slimy it's not algae.

What happens if you dump some of it in some chlorine?

 

[RafaelS]

If the green stuff isn't slimy it's not algae.

What happens if you dump some of it in some chlorine?

well I guess I will have to pop open one of the shock packets I have and see, kind of hard to tell if its slimy, its in water all day long so it kind of is but not very I guess. It is also hard to tell because it's really embedded into the netting, not really on it. What effect should the chlorine have on it when I dump it onto green stuff?

 

[Bama Rambler]

What does the so called 'shock' contain? It could be copper.

If it's algae, it'll bleach it out pretty quickly.

 

[RafaelS]

What does the so called 'shock' contain? It could be copper.

If it's algae, it'll bleach it out pretty quickly.

hm not sure, again I will have to look when I get home, if its copper I should not use it? I think its made by (BioGuard?) possibly? or something close to that.

 

[Bama Rambler]

If it has copper in it you shouldn't use it.

 

[RafaelS]

If it has copper in it you shouldn't use it.

I have not had a chance to do it yesterday ! I found my vacuum stuck against the stairs when I got home and I was trying to establish if the backup valve is bad again (just replaced it saturday). I did check the water levels though and total chlorine is about 5 now but free chlorine still showing 10, does it make sense for total chlorine to be less ? Then it started to rain and retreated to my cave I will attempt to check out the green stuff tonight.

 

[linen]

I did check the water levels though and total chlorine is about 5 now but free chlorine still showing 10, does it make sense for total chlorine to be less ?

Not possible as far as I am aware. Total Chlorine = Free Chlorine + Combined Chlorine

What test kit are you using? You need a good one like mentioned here:

http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison

 

[RafaelS]

I did check the water levels though and total chlorine is about 5 now but free chlorine still showing 10, does it make sense for total chlorine to be less ?

Not possible as far as I am aware. Total Chlorine = Free Chlorine + Combined Chlorine

What test kit are you using? You need a good one like mentioned here:

http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison

I just use test strips for now, but they proved a lot more accurate then leslies all other measurements came up accurate when i tested at a local store over the weekend. I am trying to hold off with buying one of those test kits till next pool season.

 

[linen]

I am trying to hold off with buying one of those test kits till next pool season.

May I ask why? I do not think the reagents go bad that quickly. Having the ability to know what is going on in my pool has been invaluable for me.

 

[RafaelS]

I am trying to hold off with buying one of those test kits till next pool season.

May I ask why? I do not think the reagents go bad that quickly. Having the ability to know what is going on in my pool has been invaluable for me.

well because I just bought the strips for testing and with moving in and doing a lot of renovating, furniture purchasing, etc, we are really trying not to spend any money we dont have to. A lot of expenses so little cash :/

 

[linen]

I mentioned this on another thread today:

I had some friends that were using test strips to try and clear their algae problem...wasn't until we started using my TF-100 that we were able to clear it up. They spent 4 weeks trying with strips first, then 1.5 weeks getting it done with the tf-100 reagents.

Might actually save you money to get the kit...