What is the right chlorine level ?.?.?.?

[hggbrew]

Hi peeps,

Was always told that chlorine levels should be between 1 and 3 ppm.

BUT

The Pool Calculator near the bottom says 3 to 6 ppm....... Isn't that a bit high ????? :?:

Also, the frog says it can be between .5 and 1.0 ppm. (I know it sux but it what I got till the end of the season)


What is the correct chlorine (bleach) levels ?

Going to start with the BBB method, starting with liquid bleach as other levels are stationary.

Have been adding granuals, but they are slow to disolve. :grrrr: How much bleach is equivalent to a scoop of the granuals. Each scoop is one ounce......

FC 2.0
TC 2.0
PH 7.4
ALK 90
CYA 60


Thanks

 

[Bama Rambler]

With a CYA of 60 ppm, your FC should never fall below 5 ppm. The range is between 5 & 9 ppm. Adjust the FC so it never falls below 5 between additions.

Spend some more time in Pool School. You'll learn that the recommendations you've seen don't take CYA into account. Do yourself a favor and dump the frog and start using bleach. Your CYA is at the upper manageable range and the frog will keep adding to it. It also adds metals to your water which will cause staining.

Without knowing which "granules" you had it's impossible to tell you how much bleach is equivilent. You don't need to know that anyway. You should use the Pool Calc to figure how much to add based on test results.

 

[hggbrew]

Not using the frog with those expensive chloring back pacs........

Been considering getting an Aqua Tril chlorine generator for next year....


The label says:

Contact Algae Killer and Superchlorinator
100% Soluble <--- this one makes me laugh
UV Stabilized


Active Ingredient:
Trichloro-s-Triazinetrione* - 99%
Other ingredients: 1%
Total: 100%

* Provides 89% available chlorine

 

[Bama Rambler]

That's trichlor. It constantly adds CYA. I'd stop using it and start using bleach. Cheaper and doesn't add things you don't want.

 

[Richard320]

Not using the frog with those expensive chloring back pacs........

Been considering getting an Aqua Tril chlorine generator for next year....


The label says:

Contact Algae Killer and Superchlorinator
100% Soluble <--- this one makes me laugh
UV Stabilized


Active Ingredient:
Trichloro-s-Triazinetrione* - 99%
Other ingredients: 1%
Total: 100%

* Provides 89% available chlorine

Don't!

That is trichlor. For every 10 ppm Chlorine you add that way, you also add 6 ppm Cyanuric Acid. You're already at 60, which is plenty high even if you're in the sun all day long.

The single most common root cause of problems here is too high CYA. Don't become another statistic.

 

[hggbrew]

* Provides 89% available chlorineDon't!

That is trichlor. For every 10 ppm Chlorine you add that way, you also add 6 ppm Cyanuric Acid. You're already at 60, which is plenty high even if you're in the sun all day long.

The single most common root cause of problems here is too high CYA. Don't become another statistic.

That's why I want to switch to bleach ASAP....

Just trying to get a feel on how much to add daily to keep my levels at around 2 ppm


IF THATS RIGHT

 

[Richard320]

That's why I want to switch to bleach ASAP....

Just trying to get a feel on how much to add daily to keep my levels at around 2 ppm


IF THATS RIGHT

It's pretty simple, actually.

Measure your FC. Use Pool Calculator to tell you how much you need to add. Check it the next day. If it's lower than your minimum, raise the target number and do it again. Within a week or so you'll know how much bleach your pool typically uses every day. Then you can get lazy and just dump the usual amount in and only test it every other day if you want. By the way, with CYA = 60, you should never let FC dip below 5. If you target 2, I guarantee you'll have 0 the next day.

It's mostly trial and error. Every pool is different. Some have a huge amount of organic debris blow in, some have more sun, some get used by large groups of dirty children.

Just remember that FC loss is not a certain ppm/day. It's a percentage. So if you try to double the dose so you can skip a day, you'll come up short, because you'll lose more to sunlight at a higher FC level.

Read the catchy slogan in my signature

 

[Bama Rambler]

Keeping your FC at 2 ppm is not right!

With a CYA of 60 ppm it should never get below 5 ppm.

 

[hggbrew]

should I get the cya down.......the war department (wife) wants the FC down to .5-2 ppm

 

[Z06Boricua]

should I get the cya down.......the war department (wife) wants the FC down to .5-2 ppm

Let me start by saying that I'm still VERY new to this, but I'll share what I've learned regarding the chlorine/CYA relationship. Basically you want enough CYA in the water to stabilize the chlorine, but not so much that the pool requires very high chlorine levels to be sanitized. Too little CYA with a lot of sun and your chlorine will burn off quicker than you can add it. At the levels you're talking about, you would need around 10ppm of CYA in the water which probably wouldn't be enough if you get lots of sun on the pool. Your best bet would probably be to lower your CYA to ~40ppm and maintain a target of 5ppm with a minimum of 3ppm. If you don't get much soon, you can probably drop CYA to 30 and run minimum 2/target 4 chlorine. You have to find the best number that works for you and your pool.

I was at 50ppm CYA with my new pool, and with rain dilution it's gone down to around 40. I'm comfortable with where I am right now. I add about a quart of bleach every 2 days which gets me from around 3 back up to 5. I just got a Liquidator which I haven't set up yet, which will make life even easier! And to be honest, at 3-5ppm of chlorine, I think she'll be quite happy.

Veterans, if I've given any misinformation, please correct me!

Jose

 

[hggbrew]

And to be honest, at 3-5ppm of chlorine, I think she'll be quite happy.

LOL...... she has skin problems and keeps telling me if the FC goes above 1 or 2 she will not get into the pool....

 

[Z06Boricua]

LOL...... she has skin problems and keeps telling me if the FC goes above 1 or 2 she will not get into the pool....

I doubt her skin would be able to tell the difference between a ppm or two of chlorine! Just add a few bags of softener salt to make the water feel extra nice and she'll love it!

Jose

 

[jblizzle]

Did your wife have a bad experience at a public pool? Often they have 1-3ppm of FC with ZERO CYA ... that has much more active chlorine and is much much much more harsh on the skin and clothing than a pool with CYA and using the recommended FC levels.

If you have a "pool smell" and you actually smell chlorine, than indicates that you have CC and thus are not using enough FC. The CC are was irritate the eyes and skin as well.

She will not be able to tell if you stick to the recommended levels.

 

[Z06Boricua]

Did your wife have a bad experience at a public pool? Often they have 1-3ppm of FC with ZERO CYA ... that has much more active chlorine and is much much much more harsh on the skin and clothing than a pool with CYA and using the recommended FC levels.

If you have a "pool smell" and you actually smell chlorine, than indicates that you have CC and thus are not using enough FC. The CC are was irritate the eyes and skin as well.

She will not be able to tell if you stick to the recommended levels.

Exactly. When I get out of my pool and dry off, I always feel like I just got out of the shower, not out of a pool. BBB for life!

Jose

 

[hggbrew]

Thanks guys,

I'll give it a try

 

[Bama Rambler]

If she takes a shower in chlorinated water she's getting exposed to way more active chlorine than in the pool with 60 ppm CYA and 10 ppm FC.

 

[hggbrew]

If she takes a shower in chlorinated water she's getting exposed to way more active chlorine than in the pool with 60 ppm CYA and 10 ppm FC.

WOW...

 

[Z06Boricua]

There's a chart somewhere on this site, authored by chem geek I believe, which shows how chlorine is negated by CYA. I can't find it right now but I'll keep looking. It was a great chart!

Jose

 

[hggbrew]

OK....thanks,

I'll take a look around also

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Additional info:

My son has excema and has dry dry dry skin. His skin is better - not worse after a couple of months of swimming in my 5-9ppm CYA 55 pool.

Several people here have reported that adding Borates to the 50ppm level has helped with skin issues over and above the benefits of BBB on their skin. In other words - few issues maybe some with BBB for really sensitive people that went away when Borates were managed to 50ppm specifically.

Something to think about.