Extremely high chlorine-What was I thinking?

[Lorelai]

Hi, I made a rooky mistake and dumped 13 bottles of bleach into my pool without testing the water first. When I opened the pool, there was obvious sign of algae so I added bleach yesterday and had my mom just dump several bottles of bleach over the course of today until I got home to test the water. I put in 6 bottles yesterday and my mom added 7 bottles today. (Clorox 121 oz. 8.5% strength from Sam's Club)

Well, now that I have tested the water I am a bit scared that I might have royally messed things up.

FC-87.5 I added 175 drops before a color change and still there was a slight pink to the water
PH-more than 8.2
TA-50
CH-125
CYA- black dot somewhat/barely visible at 10

What should I do? Is the following correct
Use 26 oz of muriatic acid to lower PH and then add 127 oz baking soda to raise TA

 

[borjis]

wow that is pretty high, but your CYA being at zero, if you get direct sun daily and have algae to kill
should lower itself over a period of weeks.

sounds about right on the acid and baking soda. I would add half at a time then test the water.

 

[Richard320]

Do nothing to the pH. High FC - and yours is - affects the dye. You can;t trust that pH reading.
Do nothing to the TA yet. You don't have a plaster pool, so there's no danger of etching the plaster.

For the chlorine, I'd say: wait.

If the liner's going to bleach out, it's good bet it already has. With hardly any CYA, you'll lose a massive amount of FC just to the sun. I'd guess as much as 50% per day.

Take advantage of the high FC and brush that pool. Just wear disposable clothing in case you splash yourself.

And don't do that again.

 

[borjis]

oops ya I left out what Richard said, don't do anything until you are back to a normal level.

PH test is useless if chlorine is 10ppm or more.

 

[n240sxguy]

FC 87.5? We have a new record I think.


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[Lorelai]

Thanks so much!

What are my chances of being able to use the pool on Monday for the holiday?

I found this site last year and have probably read just about all the pool school documents at least twice and really should know better. I was trying to rush the process!

Also, is it okay to put in my Aquabot Sport into the pool to vacuum? Or would the high chlorine level damage the machine?

 

[Isaac-1]

If need be you can use chlorine reducer to get FC down to swim level, if the pool is otherwise clear and free of algae.

p.s. if your local pool store does not have Sodium Thiosulfate based Chlorine reducer, you can also use common 3% hydrogen peroxide which typically sells for under $1 per QT at dollar stores, the downside is you get about a 1-1 effect volume wise with bleach using the 3% hydrogen peroxide method, so you might have to visit several stores to buy enough.

Ike

 

[borjis]

If you have full sun daily until monday it's possible.

generally you shouldn't swim in above "shock levels" and if you do swim
around the shock level or a little below, your swimsuit will likely pay a price.

 

[Isaac-1]

You might also want to get some CYA in there which will buffer the FC some.

I would keep the robot out until the FC comes down a good bit

The CYA will of course slow the FC burn off rate too, so there is a trade off

 

[Fungi]

Wouldn't it be best to get the chlorine down to prevent further damage to the liner? I used Sodium Thiosulfate when I goofed to 26ppm and it works very quickly.

 

[Isaac-1]

I think we are mostly working around the theory that much of the damage is already done and the FC is likely declining on its own

 

[Fungi]

But if it only goes down ~3 to 4ppm per day, It could be high for weeks. o.o

 

[rick6668]

I do feel for you, but wow. I can't imaging adding 175 drops and keeping track.
I'd love to know the color of the Chlorine Block test.

 

[Lorelai]

I should have taken a picture. It was a very deep red.

- - - Updated - - -

I just saw in another post that baquacil oxidizer reduces chlorine. I am thinking of getting a bottle. Any thoughts?

https://buckstovepoolandspa.com/shop/baquacil-oxidizer-shock

 

[smforte]

Ouch...I thought mine was bad several years ago at 47 after the "pool store" told me to dump in a 25 lb container of dry chlorine which by the way did bleach out my liner.....that was also my last trip to the pool store!

 

[Donldson]

It will work if you really need to use your pool. All it is is hydrogen peroxide, so if you can't get the oxidizer locally just get a few bottles of peroxide from the store.

Honestly, if you don't plan to swim for a few days then the sun will burn it off quickly enough that it might not be worth the cost. As was said before, any possible damage is likely already done.

Have you measured it today?

From my HTC One via Tapatalk

 

[4knights]

If you have full sun daily until monday it's possible-your swimsuit will likely pay a price.

And anyone that uses hair dye. Green hair could be the new rage!

 

[Saturn94]

And anyone that uses hair dye. Green hair could be the new rage!

Just for clarity. high chlorine doesn't cause green hair, copper in the water does.

Now what it might do to that pretty new dye job, I don't know....might bleach it out?

 

[4knights]

I have tested for copper and had none but the girls hair still turned green, must have had that copper in the blonde dye

 

[Lorelai]

I didn't test it today. I will first thing in the morning. While I was at work, I had my mother backwash to dump water and then refill. Unfortunately, we only get about 5 hours of direct sun on our pool.