No chlorine

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brandiealred

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Aug 26, 2013
12
Hi,

I am not sure what to do. I am a new pool owner and just recently switched it to a salt water pool (4 months ago). My pool reading is showing no chlorine. Here are my test results according to a local pool store.

TC: 0
FC:0
pH:7.7
Acid Demand:7
Calcium: 500
Stabilizer: 120
Salt: 3400
Phosphates: 1000

They told me to add 4 cups of muriatic acid, wait 1 hour, add bottle of phosphate remover (32oz). Wait 24 hours then add 2 bags of shock.

I have completed through the phosphate remover.

13kgal, Hayward cartridge filter, salt cell

Thanks in advance!

Brandie, Palm Coast, FL
 
Hello, and welcome to TFP!

You don't need phosphate remover. That's the pool store's cash cow. As long as you have chlorine in the pool, you don't need to remove the phosphates.

A salt water pool has to be "kick started" with bleach. The salt water system won't bring a pool with zero FC up to the proper range. We can get into the details later, but for now you essentially need 235 oz to bring your FC up to 12. At that point, the SWG SHOULD take over, as long as you don't have organics in the pool.

Now to CYA (stabilizer). 120 is high. And I bet it's higher than 120. Anytime you get over 100, measuring CYA gets extremely inaccurate. Also, it's not uncommon for the pool stores to make errors when measuring CYA.

DO NOT add more shock. Your CH of 500 and CYA of 120 (+) are already too high. All shock products either add CH (Calcium) or CYA (stabilizer), neither of which you want more of in your pool.

My complete recommendation is this:
1. Get 2 gallons of PLAIN bleach (not outdoor, scented, or low slosh) into the pool.
2. Consider what you are going to do to lower CYA. You may have to drain 1/2 the pool to get into the 70-80 range, so keep that in mind as you make this decision. This will also assist you with lowering your CH level.
3. Get a good test kit. We recommend the TF-100 from http://tftestkits.net You will have more reliable results when you do this yourself than what you will get from the pool store. Also you do not have to worry about them trying to "pool store" you with products you do not need.

Again, welcome, and let's talk about how you want to fix the issue!
 
Welcome to TFP. :wave:

What size and type pool is it?

Don't worry about the phosphates any more.

Do you have any way of testing the water? You will need a good test kit but if you have something, we can help until you can get one ordered and delivered.

The first thing you need to do is get some chlorine in there. Since I don't know what size your pool is I can't tell you how much bleach to add. but you can use the Pool Calculator to figure it out. I'd shoot for about 10 ppm FC.
 
Unfortunately, I had already added the phosphate remover before finding your website. I truly appreciate your help. I will be adding bleach as soon as possible. Is there a way to lower your CYA without draining half the pool? We live on a salt water canal and the EPA is funny about that.
 
Your only option is draining and replacing water to lower the CYA.
Or let it turn into a swamp over the winter and hope that the CYA gets converted to ammonia ... but that is not guaranteed to happen.
 
Also, they calculated my pool size, but now I don't trust their expertise anymore. My pool is 12x29 ft and kidney shaped. It is also, 4 ft deep in the shallow end and 9 ft deep in the deep end. Am I right about the 13,000?
 

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Now my TC is 5 and FCC is 5. I have two little girls who are dying to swim. When can I let them in again? The pool is still cloudy and I want to wait until after this weekend to empty out the pool. Will that be ok?
 

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