First time for TFP, I think I'm on the right track!?

[cjb400]

Opened pool 5/24, slightly cloudy, nothing green
PH 7.2
FC 0
TC 0
Alk 120
CH 275
* added 121oz 7.25% bleach, and 4lb CYA in sock, filter running 24/7

5/25
FC 2
CC 5
CYA 20

5/27
PH 7.5
FC 2
CC 1
CYA 30-35
I just recorded these results to perform an OCLT before I add more chlorine. Do I need to bring the level up to SLAM it?

Thanks!

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

CC above 0.5 means you should SLAM.

 

[cjb400]

Thanks!

I forgot to post that I added another 121oz chlorine on 5/26. The pool gets sun almost all day. I will check the level in the morning and add more chlorine.

 

[rmturner54]

If you're cc is really 1. You need to slam

 

[Richard320]

A few gallons now to head off a bloom could save you twenty or thirty later.

 

[cjb400]

Thanks for the advice. I added 2.5 gallons of chlorine early this morning after I took a water sample out for tests. I also vacuumed the small amount of debris in the middle and brushed the whole pool.

 

[Azgirl71]

Welcome to TFP!

 

[cjb400]

So I thought everything was going good until now. It's 10:45 pm and I just did a CDT and my level is 0.5 ppm after I added 2.5 gallons of 7.25% bleach this morning. My CYA level of 30-35 is still too low. I added 4lbs of CYA last Sunday. When should I retest and add more? I'm going to go add more bleach now.

 

[Richard320]

CYA of 30 is ideal for the SLAM. If you raise CYA, you also need to raise the shock level, and that can get very very high very fast.

Keep the FC up until you pass all three tests at the same time. Then deal with fine tuning the rest.

 

[cjb400]

Ok, that's good because I don't have anymore to add. So my FC is 0.5 and CC is 0.5 which is down from 1. Should I maintain SLAM level until it is 0? I thought 0-0.5 was OK?

 

[April]

Your not done slamming until you pass all 3 test.

CC is 0.5 or lower;
You pass an OCLT (ie overnight FC loss test shows a loss of 1.0 ppm or less);
And the water is clear.

 

[cjb400]

@April. I passed all three. The water has been crystal clear, my OCLT test was 1ppm, and the CC is now 0.5. I'm going to add bleach now to bring it up to SLAM level tonight and retest tomorrow afternoon.

 

[cjb400]

The bleach I bought from Dollar General says it has 7.86% available chlorine in it. So I'm going to use the chart to add enough to bring the FC level up to 12ppm based on my CYA of 30.

 

[April]

Some say that the dollar store bleach can be old and weaker than it says on the bottle.
But I don't know for sure. I have never used it.

It may not raise your FC LEVEL as much as it should.

 

[cjb400]

Dollar General sells name brand items as well as their own brand. The DG brand was comparable to Chlorox, but cheaper in price.

 

[April]

Dollar General sells name brand items as well as their own brand. The DG brand was comparable to Chlorox, but cheaper in price.

Yes they do sell name brands also. I'm not saying I don't like the dollar store. I'm saying that on TFP there are ALOT of threads saying that bleach purchased at the Dollar Store may not be full strength. I just wanted you to be aware that if you add "Dollar Store bleach" After you test, your level may not be as high (strength is less) as Pool Math tells you. It may cause your OCLT to be incorrect.

 

[Azgirl71]

To check the strength of the bleach, test and add bleach to your target level. Then test 30 mins after you add to see if you hit your target. If you did not, then your bleach is weak and you can lower the % in pool math to a lower number and add from there.

This happened to me. My liquid chlorine should have been 10%. When I did this it did not reach target. I changed my % to 6% and hit my target every time.

 

[cjb400]

Thanks I will try that the next time I add bleach. Right now I have confidence in the DG brand bleach. There is a no name brand that I would not use for my pool.