If here is truly something called chlorine lock, I my be a victim!

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briansc

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Jul 8, 2014
4
Pleasant Hill, California
A couple of weeks ago I attempted to rebalance my pH as it was registering below 6.8. I mixed about 2 lbs of soda ash with fresh water and immediately the pool turned blue and cloudy. Yikes!!! I have a chlorine generator (Chlorine Genie) which, up till now, has been heaven. To my surprise, I wasn't getting any chlorine reading whatsoever. I called the dealer who suggested that the line might be clogged and gave me a couple suggestions on how to free the line. I was able to get a good reading right from where the chlorine enters the pool. The water then appeared to have a scale floating on top. Suspecting algae, I put in an algaecide which gave the water an appearance as though something was suspended in it. We are now at day 5. Had the filter running about 12hrs a day. The next day after shocking the pool twice, dismantled and cleaned the filter, which was now encrusted in blue sand since I had been vacuuming up the substance that had settled in the pool. Had also been brushing the pool to get all the algae off all the surfaces. 4th of July the water is crystal clear after putting in 3 packets of oxidizer but still not getting any kind of readings for anything. Attempted to fix the pH again. Dissolved 1lb of soda ash in non-pool water. Waited a couple of hours to make sure there wasn't any powder remaining. Poured it into the pool and the water again turned blue and cloudy. Next day added 1gal of bleach. Took readings .5 on chlorine the next day nothing registers. By this time I got the TFP-100 kit so the test kit is fresh.

Please, I really need HELP. I realize its going to need lots of baking soda and/or borax and bleach but am not sure what I should attack first. I also realize I just may have to drain part of the water but would rather not if possible as we are under draught conditions here in Northern California.

Sorry this is so long but am at my wits end. Have had this pool for 25yrs and have NEVER had this problem. This is my 4th year with the Fiberglass surface and chlorinator. Thanks in advance for your assistance.
 
Welcome! :wave:

The blue sand sounds like some kind of copper compound precipitate. It could be from your heater, with your low pH water etching it, or it could be from the algaecide, if it was copper based.

1 gallon of bleach in a 30,000 gallon pool isn't going to do much. If you were trying to shock it, you never came close.

I'd like to know why the water is so acidic. California water tends to be heavy on the Calcium and alkalinity and your saltwater generator should be driving pH up, not down.

Post up a set of reading as mentioned above, and we can tell you what needs to happen next. I expect besides a pH problem, you've got an algae bloom starting to build up for a full blown assault and your SWG can;t keep up with the demand.
 
Your CH level is way way too high. You need to get the CH level way down. That is going to take a massive amount of water replacement (or a reverse osmosis treatment if available).

The high CH level is what is causing the pool to turn cloudy.

This should be dealt with soon, as the PH is dangerously low, but if you raise PH you will get calcium scaling.
 
When I said I shocked the pool initially, I went to Leslie's and got 6 packets of Power Powder Plus. Put in 1 container of Yellow Out, waited 30 minutes then put in 3 packets of PPP, then the next day put in 3 more PPP. Still had 0.5 chlorine reading. Kept brushing and vacuuming and searching for answers. Also put in 3 packets of Fresh 'N Clear (chlorine-free shock). Found this site and ordered the TFP-100.

Seeing as the pool store products weren't cutting it, I read that putting in bleach might be advisable to achieve balance. So I began with 1 Gal, diluted 10:1, did the same the next, and again another day.

The water is crystal clear but the walls, stairs and floor of the pool are turning a beautiful shade of light blue. How much bleach should I start with and don't forget the pH is still low too. Pool is 15' x 40' IG, 30K gals, originally a plaster pool but 4 yrs ago it was refinished with fiberglass. Again, I've been reading so instead of all this bleach perhaps I should first drain the pool by 1/3 and replace with fresh water and then start to try to balance it. The Chlorine Genie is not a traditional SWG. It uses salt to generate chlorine much like a water softener. The water is not salty.

Thanks.
 
If your test results are right, your CH is completely out of control at over 5 times the optimal upper limit, and the only thing keeping it from causing Calcium scaling problems if your acidic water conditions, acidity which is not good for your pool surfaces or equipment. The Power Powder Plus just added to your problems since it is Cal-Hypo powder which adds both FC and CH to the water, Cal-Hypo should rarely if ever be used by most people the the SW United States as much of the region already has high CH fill water, and the CH levels just get worse over time in pools as it is left behind by water evaporation.

Unfortunately the only way to lower CH is through water replacement or RO (Reverse Osmosis) Water treatment which is only available in a few areas, RO often costs about as much if not more than complete water replacement even where available.

Ike

p.s. Assuming that CH test is right you are looking at needing to replace at a minimum 80% of your water, and that is making the extraordinary assumption that you have a low CH water fill source, the practical reality is you are probably looking at a near 100% water replacement.
 
Before I put in the "Yellow Out", I tried Algae Control a step 4 Algae preventer. The active ingredient is, and its a long one, Poly[oxyethylene(dimethyliminio)ethylene(dimethyliminio)ethylene dichloride) 60%. Says it contains 5.76 lbs of active ingredient per gallon. I thought I saw a little scale or scrum when I opened the pool, have a Pool Star cover which I close every night. Do I dare try to attack the algae with this stuff seeing as I have all so many other issues to deal with.

Call the Chlorine Genie guy this morning. They will be coming out first ting next week, hopefully. He, the actual inventor of the Genie, seems to think he can fix the problem without having to drain the pool. We will see.

The water is crystal clear. Who'd have guessed it was so messed up. I tested the CH again, even using the extended directions and still came up with 2500 before there was even a hint of blue. I will also try to get the CYA levels up, but frankly am not sure how to do that. I will also continue to add bleach since that doesn't seem to hurt anything. the FC was still around 1. The Genie guy will be working on getting the pH stabilized.

Thanks so much for all your help. Will let you know how things progress.

p.s. CH of fill water tested at 100-125
 
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The pool store should never have told you to use PPP.

As mentioned above, read the extended pool test instructions and make sure you are doing the CH test right. It's one of the harder tests.

You don't have to dissolve bleach before pouring it in.
 
YippeeSkippy said:
Color me confused but.. isn't that how *all* SWGs work?
Click to expand...
No, the difference is that the salt water (brine actually) is only in the Chlorine Genie that generates chlorine gas added to water that is then added to the pool and some sodium hydroxide from the other side of the cell is also added (that might add some salt to the pool as well) so the pH can be controlled. The pool water itself does not have extra salt in it. It's basically an off-line chlorine generator, not an in-line one. You don't even have to run the pump to add chlorine to the pool from the unit.

Some Chlorine Genie units add copper and silver ions to the water so I suspect that too much copper was added so when the pH was raised it precipitated some copper turning the water green. The cloudiness sounds like it's calcium carbonate clouding from the CH being way too high so raising the pH and TA from pH Up (sodium carbonate) product would cause that cloudiness.
 
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