Got the test kit - my results - trouble holding chlorine?

[neen01]

FC: 0
TA: 90
CH:450
PH: between 7.2 and 7.5
CYA: 20

I did the one in the little blue box and then the other one and it wasn't pink.
The water is clear/looks fine.
We had low chlorine numbers last year. The pool store said it was because of high nitrates. We drained and filled and the numbers dropped. Chlorine still low so I searched around and found this website. I ordered the test kit and started reading all the pool school and other threads.
I guess we need to figure out why we never seem to have chlorine. If the water is always clear is that a problem still?
We have been using the pool store shock/chlorine at this point because we still have it all and I just found this website. The shock says calcium hypochlorite and the chlorine tabs say trichloro

 

[linen]

Re: Got the test kit - my results - trouble holding chlorine

Welcome to tfp, neen01

guess we need to figure out why we never seem to have chlorine.

How often are you chlorinating and how much?

If the water is always clear is that a problem still?

Having no sanitizer in the pool is a problem since even if you don't have algae (and we don't know that) you are also not able to kill bacteria and viruses.

With your cya at 20 ppm, most likely much of your chlorine is being lost to the sun. We recommend 30-50 ppm cya, with most folks being most sucessful at 50 ppm.

The chlorine tabs add cya, which you need, but they do it slowly and they don't stop once you get up to your target cya level. For now stop using the trichlor tabs.

The calcium hypochlorite (cal-hypo) adds calcium and your is already above your recommended levels for plaster pools of 250-350 ppm. So I would stop using the cal-hypo as a chlorine source.

Bleach/Liquid chlorine will be your best bet for chlorination, see this article on chlorine sources: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/types_chlorine_pool

 

[duraleigh]

Re: Got the test kit - my results - trouble holding chlorine

I guess we need to figure out why we never seem to have chlorine. If the water is always clear is that a problem still?/quote] Chlorine is a consumable item and must be constantly replenished. You have no chlorine because you haven't been doing that....at least not enough. It is a huge problem to not have any chlorine in the pool....it is the single most important item you should be looking for in a sanitary pool.

read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School

 

[neen01]

Re: Got the test kit - my results - trouble holding chlorine

We put in 4lbs of the calcium hypochlorite and 6 tabs of the 3" chlorine last week. The tabs are almost gone but still there.

So should I get the CYA up first (add stabilizer in a sock) and it says to wait a week to get a correct reading and then use the chart on here to shock it?
Can I not swim in it until after all that so over a week?

I just looked at the pool calculator and it says increasing the CYA will lower the pH so should I add baking soda for that? I am just unsure as to which steps to do first and would love to be able to swim in it as soon as possible.

When shocking the pool - Our pool is in sunlight all day - there are no trees/shade near it. The sun comes up quite early in the summer. Should I get up before the sun to do the over night test?
if the loss is a lot overnight, then I continue to add the bleach to maintain the shock level as often as I test it until the next night and then try again right?

I can use the pool calculator to tell me how much of the bleach to add right? i am starting at 0 and then just put in the shock level and then see how many bottles of the bleach to put in to start with. I just want an idea when I head to the store to find it how many I should get.

 

[neen01]

Re: Got the test kit - my results - trouble holding chlorine

Is it the same type of thing as swimming in a lake if you swim in the pool without chlorine because we swam yesterday before i did the test and want to make sure we are ok.

 

[linen]

Re: Got the test kit - my results - trouble holding chlorine

Is it the same type of thing as swimming in a lake if you swim in the pool without chlorine because we swam yesterday before i did the test and want to make sure we are ok.

You will need to make a judgement on swimming in a non-chlorinated pool for yourself.

Speaking in general terms...in a lake, which the smallest have very large volumes (as compared to almost all pools), has currents, and some natural "sanitation", the chances of person to person transfer of disease is lower. In a pool with much smaller volumes, no place for the current to take stuff away, and no natural "sanitation", the chance of person to person transfer goes up quite a bit.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Re: Got the test kit - my results - trouble holding chlorine

You should add 2 large jugs of bleach and test the FC after about 30 minutes. If you show zero FC then you need to shock.

You should add about 4 lbs of stabilizer also.

 

[neen01]

Re: Got the test kit - my results - trouble holding chlorine

You should add 2 large jugs of bleach and test the FC after about 30 minutes. If you show zero FC then you need to shock.

You should add about 4 lbs of stabilizer also.

I got bleach, added 2 182oz jugs of it
Tested about 30 mins after with the Chlorine Drop test
took 7 drops so 3.5ppm FC
took 1 drop so .5 CC
4 TC

I am getting the stabilizer this afternoon.

Do you think I need to shock it? Should I wait for the stabilizer?
Is it swimmable?

 

[linen]

Re: Got the test kit - my results - trouble holding chlorine

2 182 jugs of 6% bleach should have raised you FC up to ~ 5ppm assuming you got good mixing. This indicates you probably need to do the shocking process, but it is possible with your low cya the FC is just being lost to the sun. In order to determine this, I would bring your FC level up to your shock level tonight (which is 11 ppm FC per poolcalculator.com for your 35000 gallon pool) and do a OCLT to see if you have algae.

 

[neen01]

Re: Got the test kit - my results - trouble holding chlorine

2 182 jugs of 6% bleach should have raised you FC up to ~ 5ppm assuming you got good mixing. This indicates you probably need to do the shocking process, but it is possible with your low cya the FC is just being lost to the sun. In order to determine this, I would bring your FC level up to your shock level tonight (which is 11 ppm FC per poolcalculator.com for your 35000 gallon pool) and do a OCLT to see if you have algae.

it is sunny today but i have never done the oclt since i just found all this and got the test kit so i will do it tonight

should i put in the stabilizer/cya tonight too or wait until after i do the oclt?

is it safe to swim today or would you wait until the results of this tonight?

 

[linen]

Re: Got the test kit - my results - trouble holding chlorine

If you put the 4 lbs that Bama suggested, then you would be raise your cya by about 14 ppm (for a total of ~34 ppm), which should be fine for the shocking process...so go ahead and put it in an old sock and hang it in front of the pool return.

is it safe to swim today or would you wait until the results of this tonight?

With chlorine in there and if it is below your FC shock level, and if you can see the pool bottom it should be safe to swim.

 

[neen01]

Re: Got the test kit - my results - trouble holding chlorine

thanks so much!