New to the forum and questions about test results

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I agree with Dave. Even though your water is clear, it sounds like you have a "nascent" algae bloom....if you were to allow your FC to drop to zero I'd bet your water would cloud up and turn green within a day. By adding the chlorine bits at a time, as you are, you are just staying ahead of it, but not really killing it....it's consuming the chlorine as you add it. So you need to shock.

Read about How To Shock Your Pool in Pool School. :wink: :goodjob:
 
Thanks guys for the info. Yesterday I put 9 128oz bottles of bleach in the pool, had it up to 19...than this morning down to 5, now I got to get more bleach and do it again...it's really frustrating. I was doing soo good yesterday, holding it up there.
bleached out, frustrated pool owner
Astrid
 
One thing you need to have is POP ...... pool owners patience. Getting rid of algea is not really difficult. You just need to jump on top of it and keep on top of it till it is dead and your water clears.

Lots and lots of brushing to keep the dead algae stirred up so the filter can work and remove it is also good. Vacuuming it isnt a bad idea either.
 
see, the problem is, that I must have invisible alge, because the pool is crystal clear, the walls as clean as they can be. And off to the store to buy tons of bleach !!!!!
Astrid
 
Your pool might have ammonia or fertilizer in it, instead of algae. Fertilizer can wash in from landscaping. Ammonia sometimes develops in the pool over the winter, especially if the CYA level fell from when you closed. The treatment is exactly the same, lots of chlorine, so there is nothing really different to do about it. It just might explain why you need so much chlorine when the water is clear.
 
Now, where we are.......nowhere !!!!!
may 2nd chlorine was 0 put 12 128oz bottles of bleach in
may 3rd chlorine was 5.0 I put 9 128oz bottles of bleach in
may 4th chlorine was 3.5.0 put 9 128oz bottles of bleach in

some is not right here, I put every day a huge amount of bleach in and nothing is changing, I am very frustrated. I wonder if the bleach maybe was watered down???? I use bleach from Big Lots, the name is snoo-ee and nowhere on the lable is the precentage like 6% stated.
shouls I try a diffrent brand????
I am very close to dump to packages of shock in the pool, because this way we are not having any succsess. Any ideas will greatly appreciated.
Astrid
 
I would suspect the bleach is old. It loses strength over time. Very good chance Big Lots got a deal and it's just too weak for your purpose.

You are much better off finding a pool store that has liquid chlorine, if you can get a gallon of 10-12.5% for around $3.00 a gallon that is a very good price. Plus, because it is double the strength, that means less jugs to carry.

Otherwise Clorox brand, TArget/Walmart store Brand, and Aldi bleach are also good.

I would stay away from discounters like Big Lots and Dollar Stores.

Besides the problem with the bleach, you could still have an ammonia issue, which can cause huge chlorine demand... The fact that your CYA lowered on it's own since the winter, shows there may have been bacteria that entered the pool, consuming the CYA and turning it into ammonia.

What time of day are you adding the bleach? Try adding it after sunset, and let it do it's thing overnight without the sun destroying it. Even with CYA, you can still lose 50% of the chlorine to UV rays. Then test again in the morning and if its still very low, add more and bump it back up. The sooner your reach shock level, and hold it there, the sooner this saga will end for you.... :goodjob:

Hope this helps.
 
DO NOT use Big Lots, Dollar General or any other store brand such as that. Tha suff they get is either close to being "out dated" or just plain Crud. Last year I thought I would save some $$ and bought bleach at a dollar store and ran into big problems with it. We use strictly Wal-Mart brand bleach and dont have any trouble with it at all. 96 oz jugs are like $1.58 right now .....

Do not use scented bleach either.

I didnt realize you were using that type of bleach or I would have said something earlier ...... sorry !
 
astrid said:
may 2nd chlorine was 0 put 12 128oz bottles of bleach in
may 3rd chlorine was 5.0 I put 9 128oz bottles of bleach in
may 4th chlorine was 3.5.0 put 9 128oz bottles of bleach in
...something is not right here......I use bleach from Big Lots, the name is snoo-ee and nowhere on the lable is the precentage like 6% stated.
Click to expand...
Check this thread from last year: http://www.troublefreepool.com/bleach-what-brand-t5530.html, .
The 4th posting states that "Big Lots sells one called Sno-ee Bleach which is 3% (called the manufacturer and verified)."

This is what I found out on non-branded bleach. If it doesn't say the %, I don't buy it: It's not that much less expensive!
 
Well well well....as you said: The saga is coming to an end, first of all a big thank you for responding to my threats and keeping me sane !!!
I bought bleach at WallyWorld (walmart) and saw a huge difference already while I was pouring it in the water. I brought the chlorine up to 20, held it the whole day whoo hooo, and this morning I had still a reading of 15. I assume I am done shocking, if I need to keep the chlorine up longer please let me know. I am sooo thankful to all of you. See after 30+ bottles of that cheap a.. bleach I knew some was fishy!!!!
a more relaxed and happier Astrid
 

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Great news Astrid!

Do an overnight test. Test after dark, record the result. Test first thing in the morning, before the sun hits the pool. IF you lose less than 1ppm of FC, you are good to go. In general, we have three criteria (criterium :mrgreen: ) for "knowing" when we are done shocking.

You lose less than 1ppm of FC overnight;
your CC is .5 or less;
Your water is crystal.

Hope this helps.
 
I guess we are there.....last night FC was 16, this morning 15 with 0 CC, the CYA is 40. One more question, is it safe to swim today or should I let the FC level come down a bit?
a very relaxed and oohhh so happy Astrid
 
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