Any hope before we can get a test kit?
- Thread starter bsnobles
- Start date
Another update: major storm last night - just under an hour after I added 5 more gallons of bleach. So I didn't get to test the shock level of FC. The power went out. It came back on about 4 hours later so we cleaned out the surface debris and restarted the pump/filter. We didn't add any more bleach last night.
I tested the water again this morning. Here are the chlorine, pH and CYA results:
FC: 2.5
CC: 3.5 (I read organic material makes this high. Does that include a few pieces of pine straw or leaves?)
pH: 7.0
CYA: still at 50
In pool school I read not to check pH during shock process since the result is unreliable. Since the filter was off for about 4 hours during the process and we got a bunch of rain, I checked it. Now I don't know if I need to raise the pH before adding any more bleach, or just continue with shock process as normal?
Thanks again for all the help.
I tested the water again this morning. Here are the chlorine, pH and CYA results:
FC: 2.5
CC: 3.5 (I read organic material makes this high. Does that include a few pieces of pine straw or leaves?)
pH: 7.0
CYA: still at 50
In pool school I read not to check pH during shock process since the result is unreliable. Since the filter was off for about 4 hours during the process and we got a bunch of rain, I checked it. Now I don't know if I need to raise the pH before adding any more bleach, or just continue with shock process as normal?
Thanks again for all the help.
The shock process is underway. Current chlorine values:
FC: 2
CC: 7
The highest FC value I've reached is 5, about an hour after adding 6 96 oz jugs of 6% bleach. The values above are about 2.5 hours after adding another 6 96 oz jugs of 6% bleach.
Three questions:
Am I not adding enough bleach at a time?
Should I not add bleach & test when the sun is hitting the pool directly?
At what point can we swim? I saw on another post the balance of FC/CYA determines when it's ok to swim - even if the numbers are not just right. We are super eager to get in the pool. Should we just accept that it may still be days before that will happen?
Thanks!
FC: 2
CC: 7
The highest FC value I've reached is 5, about an hour after adding 6 96 oz jugs of 6% bleach. The values above are about 2.5 hours after adding another 6 96 oz jugs of 6% bleach.
Three questions:
Am I not adding enough bleach at a time?
Should I not add bleach & test when the sun is hitting the pool directly?
At what point can we swim? I saw on another post the balance of FC/CYA determines when it's ok to swim - even if the numbers are not just right. We are super eager to get in the pool. Should we just accept that it may still be days before that will happen?
Thanks!
High CC's can irritate the skin and eyes so I'd stay out. Something is eating the chlorine almost as fast as you put it in, eventually you'll get it all killed. Possibly ammonia, it's going to take a lot of bleach, but keep after it as often as possible.
We are still shocking. The highest FC reading I've had so far is 19. The CCs are staying lower than before - the past three readings have been 1 - 1.5. The lowest CC was this morning at 0.5, but there were 0 FCs.
I'm putting in the recommended amounts from the poolcalculator.com but when I test an hour later it still falls a bit short of shock level FC (which is 20 since our CYA is 50). So I add more bleach, rounding up the recommended amount to a full 96 oz jug of 6% bleach. So far we've gone through at least 72 jugs of bleach - most of which have been 6% 96 oz jugs. Some have been 8.25% 121 oz jugs. For a first time pool owner this seems outrageous - spending ~$30/day on bleach! Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Could there be some novice mistake I'm making that is dragging this out longer than it should?
I'm putting in the recommended amounts from the poolcalculator.com but when I test an hour later it still falls a bit short of shock level FC (which is 20 since our CYA is 50). So I add more bleach, rounding up the recommended amount to a full 96 oz jug of 6% bleach. So far we've gone through at least 72 jugs of bleach - most of which have been 6% 96 oz jugs. Some have been 8.25% 121 oz jugs. For a first time pool owner this seems outrageous - spending ~$30/day on bleach! Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Could there be some novice mistake I'm making that is dragging this out longer than it should?
You are not making any mistakes. Your pool has a lot of organics in it and it takes a ton of chlorine to get them out.
You have prolonged the process just a bit by not replenishing your chlorine often enough but that's water under the bridge.
Every chance you get, test and boost that chlorine back up to 20 ppm. It's mandatory.
That your CC's are reducing is a very good sign. The organics are getting burned up..... don't get cold feet now.
Keep your chlorine up. Re-read "How to Shock Your Pool" up in Pool School. It is a lot to take in but you need to be filtering, backwashing, cleaning, vacuuming, brushing and keeping that FC at 20.
Your situation is not at all unusual and your pool will clear soon and your FC demand will reduce to normal
You have prolonged the process just a bit by not replenishing your chlorine often enough but that's water under the bridge.
Every chance you get, test and boost that chlorine back up to 20 ppm. It's mandatory.
That your CC's are reducing is a very good sign. The organics are getting burned up..... don't get cold feet now.
Keep your chlorine up. Re-read "How to Shock Your Pool" up in Pool School. It is a lot to take in but you need to be filtering, backwashing, cleaning, vacuuming, brushing and keeping that FC at 20.
Your situation is not at all unusual and your pool will clear soon and your FC demand will reduce to normal
Thanks duraleigh and msgtdan! What's frustrating is that the pool is clear and has been clear for over a week I think. It's the CCs that keep reading over 0.5 which has us continuing the shock process. We'll keep at it - hopefully we're close to the end of shocking. The latest CC reading is 0.5, but FC is low again since I wasn't able to add any bleach today before now.
Keep the faith. There is always one of the 3 criteria that people struggle with. Usually it is cloudy water, but for you it is the CC. The good thing is that the CC could disappear very quickly and then you just have the OCLT to check.