my chlorine level was not reading at all. i put in 3 gallons of bleach last night but still no chlorine on the tester.. its a 24 ft round above ground pool
How much Bleach
- Thread starter akilgore
- Start date
Do you have any other chemical readings you can post for us? How are you testing? What does your water look like? Welcome to the forum.
Welcome to TFP!
Have you gotten yourself a good test kit yet? A TF-100 or Taylor K-2006 are what you want.
We need test results for FC, CC, pH, TA, and CYA. My guess is that you either have no CYA and are losing all of your FC to the sun or you are fighting the beginnings of an algae bloom.
Test kit is important. Please get one of the above kits from tftestkits.net.
Have you gotten yourself a good test kit yet? A TF-100 or Taylor K-2006 are what you want.
We need test results for FC, CC, pH, TA, and CYA. My guess is that you either have no CYA and are losing all of your FC to the sun or you are fighting the beginnings of an algae bloom.
Test kit is important. Please get one of the above kits from tftestkits.net.
ph is low on the tester. chlorine doesnt even register. im in texas and yes i know sunlight is eating it up. i have no trees etc around.
its really about the money, if i go buy EZ pool you dont even have to put anything else in it. EZ pool is very exspensive.. so im trying to do it the cheap way.
The WM drop kit is ok for standby use. You will need one of the recommended test kits though. Strips are of no use and you need to be able to test for FC levels above 5 ppm. The only way to test for levels >5 ppm is to use a FAS-DPD test. A standard DPD test is not sufficient.
When you have the time, sit back and read some of the posts that we get when people initially sign up here and need help. 99% of chemistry problems here are problems because of less than accurate testing or pool store testing. Next to water, a high quality test kit is the next most important part of having a pool. It is the one component where you really cannot cut corners and still be ok.
When you have the time, sit back and read some of the posts that we get when people initially sign up here and need help. 99% of chemistry problems here are problems because of less than accurate testing or pool store testing. Next to water, a high quality test kit is the next most important part of having a pool. It is the one component where you really cannot cut corners and still be ok.
akilgore said:
I don't know. It depends on your CYA and the conditions in your water. In order to know what your shock level for chlorine is, your CYA must be known. This is why we need all of those test results that I mentioned in my first post.
How much bleach depends on how high the CYA is.
If you want someone to just tell you "go dump this much in," go to the pool store. They'll be happy to take your money and order you around. We try to teach you how to do things yourself.
Once you have some test results, it's easy to see what the target FC should be, and pool calculator will crunch the numbers and tell you to the ounce how much bleach to add.
But until you answer 257WbyMag's question, we can't give you an answer. You can keep asking, but we can't give you an answer. We can't even help you figure it out for yourself without test results.
If you want someone to just tell you "go dump this much in," go to the pool store. They'll be happy to take your money and order you around. We try to teach you how to do things yourself.
Once you have some test results, it's easy to see what the target FC should be, and pool calculator will crunch the numbers and tell you to the ounce how much bleach to add.
But until you answer 257WbyMag's question, we can't give you an answer. You can keep asking, but we can't give you an answer. We can't even help you figure it out for yourself without test results.
Pool stores will tell you that the Free Chlorine (FC) level in the pool is the same thing as the active chlorine level that kills algae, but that is simply not true. That's why everyone here is asking you to test your Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level. This is because the amount of active chlorine that actually kills algae is dependent not solely on the FC level, but on the CYA level as well -- more precisely on the FC/CYA ratio. The Pool School article (see the Pool School button on the upper right section of every webpage on this site) Chlorine / CYA Chart shows you how much FC is required at each CYA level. It shows you how much is needed as a minimum for maintenance to prevent algae growth and it tells you the higher shock FC level needed to kill algae that is already established (either visible or resulting in an overnight FC drop). Once you know your current FC and target FC (based on the chlorine / CYA chart "shock FC" level), then you can use The Pool Calculator to calculate the actual dosage for the size of your pool.
Sure, you could waste your time and money just dumping in some chlorine and maybe it will be enough at first, or maybe it won't, but that's a scattershot approach with a low probability of success. What we teach here is a methodical and consistent method of treatment where you add enough chlorine to maintain a high shock FC level to relatively quickly kill off existing algae. You keep adding chlorine to maintain the higher FC level and at first that may mean several times during the day because at first the chlorine is killing a lot of algae. As time goes on, the algae is killed and the amount of chlorine loss lessens so you don't need to add it as quickly. When the pool is cleared and you aren't measuring other evidence of needing high chlorine, then you lower your target FC level back to at least the minimum in the chart. This is all described in more detail in the Pool School articles Defeating Algae and The Shock Process.
If you then consistently maintain a minimum FC level relative to the CYA level, then you will not only not get algae, but you probably will never need to shock again except perhaps upon opening your pool if you let it go over the winter.
Sure, you could waste your time and money just dumping in some chlorine and maybe it will be enough at first, or maybe it won't, but that's a scattershot approach with a low probability of success. What we teach here is a methodical and consistent method of treatment where you add enough chlorine to maintain a high shock FC level to relatively quickly kill off existing algae. You keep adding chlorine to maintain the higher FC level and at first that may mean several times during the day because at first the chlorine is killing a lot of algae. As time goes on, the algae is killed and the amount of chlorine loss lessens so you don't need to add it as quickly. When the pool is cleared and you aren't measuring other evidence of needing high chlorine, then you lower your target FC level back to at least the minimum in the chart. This is all described in more detail in the Pool School articles Defeating Algae and The Shock Process.
If you then consistently maintain a minimum FC level relative to the CYA level, then you will not only not get algae, but you probably will never need to shock again except perhaps upon opening your pool if you let it go over the winter.
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