High Chlorine

[Slickster]

Hi, I'm a new pool owner. We went with a 24' round above ground salt water system. Every time I test the chlorine, it's showing off the charts. I ordered the TF-100 and did the test today and when I test the chlorine, it is showing orange instead of turning yellow. The SWG has been at 100% since we bought it, probably been a month and I didn't realize until I did a test that it was so high. I'm guessing I should just turn the SWG to off and let it run a few days like that to get it down? I ran it on 30% yesterday and half day today until I turned it off when the test kit arrived. Here are the other #'s I got:

FC 1.85
CC 0
TC (just add those 2?) 1.85
TA 90
CH 250
CYA 50

Chlorine looks orange when testing
ph seems around the 7.5 mark with TF-100 and 7.2 when I use the pill looking kit that came with the pool

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP!

You can't measure 1.85 ppm FC with the TF-100. The normal test is 0.5ppm per drop, so maybe you got 18.5ppm from 37 drops?

 

[Slickster]

Yes. I believe that's right. Put decimal in wrong spot.

 

[linen]

When you sat the test turned orange, I am assuming that you were using the T-1000 kit that has test vials for chlorine (OTO test which measures Total Chlorine) and ph attached to each other? If yes, then a FC or 18.5 ppm(as measured by the TF-100 FAS-DPD kit)would likely show up as orange on the OTO Total Chlorine test, though that test is really only accurate up to 5 ppm.

 

[Slickster]

That's the test kit I used. The T-1000 kit. Would turning the swg off and run it a couple days the best to do to lower it? Im hoping its still safe to swim in it? How's the other numbers look?

 

[MikeInNH]

Shut off the SWG and leave the pool uncovered. Not sure where you are located but hopefully the sun will burn it off in a few days. It may take awhile seeing you have 50 CYA. You should monitor it closely so it doesn't drop too low but orange on the non-powder test kit is pretty high.

Check out this link for recommended SWG numbers, you are really close on most. pool-school/water_balance_saltwater_generator

 

[Slickster]

I'm in Eastern NC.

 

[MikeInNH]

I'm in Eastern NC.

It should burn off quicker than it would up here.

 

[Slickster]

Just tested again, dropped just a little bit, down to 18. Is it safe to swim? Kids are going nuts wanting to jump in.

 

[mynewpool]

Just tested again, dropped just a little bit, down to 18. Is it safe to swim? Kids are going nuts wanting to jump in.

From my reading here, if the FC level is at or below shock level for your CYA level it is safe to swim.

 

[linen]

mynewpool is right on. CC>0.5, water clear, and FC at or below shock level (for your pools cya level).

What I don't understand is why your FC is taking so long to come down. Am I reading that you only dropped 0.5 ppm FC in two days? Have you turned off the swg? No other chlorine sources going in? How much sun do you get on the pool?

 

[Slickster]

Yes, the SWG is off, yesterday was the first full day it was off. I had it on 30% for most of the day on Thursday until I tested it, then I turned it off. So basically one full day off not counting the 1/2 day today. The pool gets about 7-8 hours of direct sunlight before the shade starts to cover it. How do I know the shock level of my pool? I'm new to all this.

 

[Suziqzer]

You can plug all of your information into the pool calculator, find it in pool school, and it will tell you at the bottom of the page what your shock levels are. The shock level for a pool is related to how much CYA you have.

 

[linen]

How do I know the shock level of my pool?

poolcalculator.com gives me a shock value of 16 ppm for your 50 ppm cya level.