Keep dumping chlorine in?

[WillowWii]

For the past two years we have not been able to keep any chlorine in our pool for more then 30 mins. Prior to that we used very little chlorine because the cover keeps the level up.

We have already added 20 shock doses in the past month. We shocked it ten times in one day. This amount lasted less then an hour.

Water is always crystal clear. We have never had an algae problem ever.

What is the deal with the chlorine? Do we just keep pouring shock in? Can we do it all at once or do we need to space it out?

We've tested it with 4 different testers and the water analysis below is from the pool store and matches our results.

 

[Isaac-1]

My first suggestion is to read pool school (link in the upper right)

also tell us a bit more, what does the water look like? and what type of "shock" product are you using, around here we consider shock a process not a product, and one that can often take several days to complete, this involves detailed water testing to know when you are done, not a pool store random guess, dump some in, and if that does not work add this and that, oh and some more of that .

 

[WillowWii]

I did read the pool school before posting

How are these figures a random guess? 7/2: FC - 0, CC - 0, pH - 7.5, TA - 100, CH - 250, CYA - 35, Phosphates 0

water tested with a Taylor FAS-DPD kit, also separate checks with aquacheck, hth, and guardex tests... all with same results.

I thought my message and signature details were quite detailed....9 yrs, 30,000 gal, IG vinyl, Hayward Pro-Grid vertical grid DE filter (DE 2420 (flow rate: 48 gal per min),DE3620,DE4820,DE7220)
1.5 HP Hayward Super II pump single # C48LN134B1, Hayward CL200, CL220 clorinator
Coverstar solid Hydrolic auto cover (always covered when not in use.) crystal clear water

What other details are you looking for?

We have used bottled chlorine and Power powder plus 70% chlorine. Package instructions say two of these in 30000 will bring it to shock dose level. This is what mean by "shock dose"

What else are you looking for from me? no extras

We are testing it over and over and the figures are all in normal range?

 

[Isaac-1]

Ok I think you may be missing some stuff from pool school, also sorry I missed the part in your signature about the water being crystal clear. So going over it one thing at a time:

1, Something is consuming chlorine, this could be sunlight (particularly if you have low CYA levels), organics (algae, etc.) or possibly you may have amonia in your water (commonly seen in swamp like pools when opening, but their may be other sources)

2, bottled chlorine is going to be sodium hypochlorite / common bleach, powdered shock can be cal-hypo, dichlor or trichlor, each has different secondary effects, it is helpful to know which one, and if you have been using a lot of it, or using it over a long term, this partly provides a sanity check against the test results

3, what test kit do you have? You say the FC was tested with the Taylor FAS-DPD, was that the standalone test, or was it included in the K-2006 or TF-100 test kit? in particular how did you test CYA and CH?

hang in there, we will get to the bottom of your problem
Ike

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

You should put test results in the text box, otherwise you'll be changing your signature every day.

I suspect a low-grade algae bloom. The chlorine you've been dumping in is holding it at bay. Or you've added some clarifier or algaecide that consumes chlorine. Or you're one of those people who picked up whatever strange soil bacteria it is that converts CYA into ammonia. That will take a whole bunch of chlorine to get rid of.

Whatever the cause, the solution is the same: The Shock Process You'll be dumping bleach in that pool as fast as you can open and pour but eventually, you'll get it up to shock level. Then you'll be dumping some more to keep it there. Once whatever is wiped out, it should be smooth sailing.

Try using the search box for "ammonia" and see what others have battled with.

 

[WillowWii]

Sorry I didn't/ don't see the test box...where is it?

We have an auto soild cover so no swamp water in the spring. Its pretty clear when we first open it. The cover keeps everything out except a few acorns the chipmunks toss in from inside the reel box.

We do wonder if something the professional pool guy was putting in at opening. He may be dumping in what he does for every mesh covered pool and it may be stuff we don't even need. We had really high phosphates at first. We have already spent ~ $500 and just bough two more cases of chlorine.

We have read and know the shock process. We just can't believe how much chlorine we are using and making no progress. We will try more chlorine on the hourly schedule again. I'll do the search and see whats up with ammonia before too.

Thank you!

 

[Isaac-1]

Phosphates don't matter in a well balanced pool, phosphates are algae food, if your pool is balanced with the correct chlorine level then the chlorine kills off the algae faster than it can reproduce, so it does not matter how much algae food there is in the water, they are just another way the pool stores can sell you expensive chemicals that you don't really need.

Ike

p.s. if you want to test for amonia most pet stores sell aquarium amonia test kits (I think the cost is around $10)

 

[Richard320]

Sorry I didn't/ don't see the test box...where is it?

We have an auto soild cover so no swamp water in the spring. Its pretty clear when we first open it. The cover keeps everything out except a few acorns the chipmunks toss in from inside the reel box.

We do wonder if something the professional pool guy was putting in at opening. He may be dumping in what he does for every mesh covered pool and it may be stuff we don't even need. We had really high phosphates at first. We have already spent ~ $500 and just bough two more cases of chlorine.

We have read and know the shock process. We just can't believe how much chlorine we are using and making no progress. We will try more chlorine on the hourly schedule again. I'll do the search and see whats up with ammonia before too.

Thank you!

Where you typed "Sorry I didn't/ don't see the test box...where is it?" is the text box.