Salt water pool seems to need Chlorine added to it regularly

[Richard_S]

Hello all,

wondered if anyone to could help me?

As of this morning my SWG pool has the following chemical balance (using a Taylor K2006 kit)


FC - 1ppm
CC - 0.5 or less
pH - 7.4
TA - 90ppm
CH - 125ppm
CYA - 60ppm
Salt - 4300

CC - this test shows just a hint of pink in the tube doing 10ml test and clears with 1 drop of reagent.

My problem - I keep having to add slow release chlorine tablets to the basket to raise the FC levels to around 3 -4 (approx 5-6 soap size tablets per week)

The pool is situated in South West France and although the temp has been very low recently as well as raining, we finally have a summer which is now in the mid 90s, so should I be concerned?

Could it be that my chlorine producing cells have failed and is there a way to check this? I have never put the chlorinator into the high production position as the pool installation man (3 yrs ago) suggested that this was the quickest way to shorten the life of the cells.

Any help would be much appreciated so thank you.

 

[maxepr1]

Re: Salt water pool seems to need Chlorine added to it regul

Have you did a overnight FC test? Sounds like it wont pass, shocking my be in order.

 

[Richard_S]

Re: Salt water pool seems to need Chlorine added to it regul

Overnight FC test?

sorry, a bit new to this. Do you mean checking the drop overnight of FC? If so, then FC last night was 1.0 and FC this morning was 1.0

 

[Richard320]

Re: Salt water pool seems to need Chlorine added to it regul

Overnight FC test?

sorry, a bit new to this. Do you mean checking the drop overnight of FC? If so, then FC last night was 1.0 and FC this morning was 1.0

Yes, that's what he means. But it's only a valid test if the SWG is off. And the level should be higher when you start. Add some bleach before sunset, enough to push it to 5 or 6, let it mix good, maybe even brush a bit to be sure it's well mixed. Take your reading after there is no more sunlight on the pool. Then take another in the morning before the sun hits it again.

 

[Richard_S]

Re: Salt water pool seems to need Chlorine added to it regul

Thanks for that Richard, will try that. Sadly doing this remote control. Pool is in SW France with the wife and kids and I'm in London earning the pennies to pay for the pool, so this may take a little time to sort.

Just out of interest. You mention bleach. I've never used this in the pool, only slow dissolve and shock tablets in the baskets. Where can I find the quantities that I need to add to raise 90K litres from 1.0 to 5.0 FC, and do I just tip it straight in? I have a vinyl liner too, so is that an issue?

thanks for your help on this,

R.

 

[maxepr1]

Re: Salt water pool seems to need Chlorine added to it regul

Richard, not sure if they have Walmarts in your of France but any grocery store should have bleach to get you started.

 

[anonapersona]

Re: Salt water pool seems to need Chlorine added to it regul

You can use t the Pool Calculator to calculate the volumes needed if you have the pool size and a good starting level.

 

[JasonLion]

Re: Salt water pool seems to need Chlorine added to it regul

Your CYA level should be a little higher for use with a SWG. Once you are sure there isn't any algae, raise the CYA level up to around 70 or 80.

As SWGs get older the cell will tend to produce slightly less chlorine than it used to, and when the cell is about to fail the amount of chlorine will start to fall sharply. When the cell fails completely it is fairly obvious, but when it is just starting to ramp down near the end of it's life there is no easy way to be sure if that is what is happening or not. Even so, chemistry problems are more likely to cause problems than aging cells.