may have put too much bleach to start out with?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
J

jodiparkerlee

0
Jul 25, 2011
6
Duncan, Oklahoma
When I filled up the pool, I did not know about this forum and took advice from a friend. When the pool filled, I added 6 containers of bleach (96 oz. each) and the recommended start up dose of algea guard, which was 4 oz. Tested the water couple hours later with the hth 6 way test strips and it appeared to read FC: 10, which is the highest on the strip, and cya: 50, I think, was hard to match the color. That was yesterday evening. Tonight when I tested the water, FC was close to zero, with the cya looking about the same. I poured 2 more containers of bleach, and now that I see this forum, I am afraid I have put too much. I know the strips are probably not accurate, but I do not want my kids to swim in water that is not safe or has too much chlorine.

Intex Ultra Frame ABG 16 x 48
 
With a good test kit you will know what, how much, and when to put chemicals in your pool.

Have you added any CYA?

6 jugs of bleach brought your chlorine level to 50 ppm. That can due damage to the liner. Without CYA the half life a chlorine in the sun is 30 minutes. That is why you registered none the next day.

As you can see guesswork with pool chemistry can get expensive and dangerous. Do yourself and your pool a favor get one of our reccomended test kits. It could have nearly payed for itself with the $$$$ you have wasted on bleach.

Read pool school and post with questions we are here for you.
 
I have not added any cya, just the bleach and the algae guard, that is all. This is my very first time with a pool and chemicals, I wasn't sure if adding bleach put any cya in the water. So if I have not put any in there, then the test strips have to be wrong, I suppose. What do you suggest I do untill I could get a better test kit? I have read pool school and am still somewhat confused.
 
A good test kit and the pool calculator on this site are two good tools to get your pool under controll.

Chlorine tablets put CYA in your water. Bleach is pure chlorine.

According to the pool calculator your 5000 gal. Pool would take about 1 1/2 lbs or 3 1/2 cups of CYA. This can be found at walmart under the HTH brand, 4 lbs for $15. Put the CYA in a sock and hang it over your return. Work the sock over in your hand to dissolve the CYA. This is like sunscreen for your chlorine.

40 ppm is a good start depending upon your climate and sun exposure you might want to go up to 60 ppm

While you are there pick up an HTH drop based kit ($20) if you can't spend the $60 or so for a good test kit. None of us here could manage our own pools properly with strips. We certainly won't be able to help you if you are using strips. Once you see s real test kit you will understand.
 
Tell your friend about the pool calculator...if they wil listen, and don't listen to them again. Where in the world did they come up with 6? Wow.

Welcome to TFP! :wave: Youll be the master of your pool if you stick around here long and pay attention.
 
Your CYA is probably very low. If I had to guess, most of the chlorine being added is getting used up by the sun.

Test strips are very inaccurate.
Your best bet at this point until you get a decent test kit is to run a sample of water up to your local pool store and have them give you some numbers. Don't buy anything, just bring the results back and post the numbers.
This will give us a better idea of where to guide you.
 
Make sure you order your test kits ASAP. I cant stress that enough! Without a good test kit everything is pretty much lost. Getting your pool balanced will be difficult if you have to keep running to the pool store to get your water tested. The confusion will clear in no time, it's really all pretty simple. I have only been around here a short time but my pool has never been easier to maintain and has never looked better!
 
Get a test kit (a good one) and read Pool School (There's an article on test kits that will tell you what a good kit is) and take charge of the chemistry! It's not terribly difficult - it just requires regular attention. My favorite analogy is your teeth. You can have a gleaming smile by daily brushing for pennies a day or spend thousands of dollars once a year at the dentist. But one of those options tends to be painful.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Be sure to measure your water level and use the volume calculator at the bottom of the pool calculator to get an accurate volume. Intex volumes are based on a certain water level, I don't know what that is. I keep my intex pool 2-3" below the top of the liner at 41-42" high by 15' round, this comes to ~4800 gallons. Intex says 4440 gallons. The difference is about 2oz per 1ppm of chlorine.
 
No need to test for CYA. If you have only added bleach there is NO CYA in the pool. Just calculate what you need to add.

Unless you have the extra $20 to spend I would recommend saving until you can buy a good test kit. The HTH drop based is good for everything except chlorine. It will not give you an accurate chlorine level, only tell you weather there is or isn't chlorine in the pool. If you ever need to shock you will need the FAS-DPD test kit. TF test kits are good, I got my Taylor k2006 from amato industries. com $55 with shipping.
 
Thanks to all of you! I am feeling a little less overwhelmed with all the feedback and information I have recieved. I got the HTH 6 way drop test kit. I did not test for CYA since I know there is none. I have the CYA now in a sock hanging over the return, I put in 3 1/2 cups. Of course now my chlorine level is .5 if I'm reading it right, which still seems hard to me, the colors seem all the same to me. How much bleach should I add now? It is evening here now in Oklahoma, and I would like to add it now, but I don't know how much or to what level to go to? I read where the CYA might not show up for a week. Again, thanks everybody, I really appreciate it.
Jodi

ABG Intex Ultra Frame 16 x 48
 
Re: Still not sure on the bleach??

Mods do want to you stick to one thread so it can be followed.

Are you familiar with the pool calculator? Assume the CYA is there once dissolved. If you measured, you should know what the result will be. Plug the numbers in the calc and add chlorine accordingly.

You do need a FAS-DPD test.

break, break, Richard beat me to it. What he said. :lol:
 
Having good luck so far, thanks everyone, my water is clear and sparkling! It does seem like at the end of the day when I do my testing, my chlorine level falls below the minimum target (3). It is usually closer to 1 or 2. I live in Oklahoma where the temperatures have been over 100 degrees for 45 days in a row. My CYA is 40. Any suggestions on if I should raise my CYA because of the extreme heat we are experiencing here? Oh , every night I always put enough bleach in to raise my chlorine level to 7 to be good for the next day.
 
If you get a lot of direct sun, then going to 50 ppm on the cyanuric acid level would be helpful.

Remember, that it very important to never allow the FC to go below 7.5 % of the cyanuric acid level. If the level is going below, then you should add more to account for the amount you expect to lose. I routinely target about 15 to 20 % of the cyanuric acid level to make sure that I am always above the minimum.

You should be using an FAS-DPD test kit to determine your overnight FC loss and to see if you have any CC (combined chlorine).

If your overnight FC loss is more than 1 ppm, or your CC is more than 0.5, then you need to shock.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply