Brought up CYA but still not holding Chlorine

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Renee1

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Jun 6, 2016
61
Jackson, NJ
Hi,

I posted last week about our pool not being able to hold chlorine. We brought up our low CYA (was 20, now is 40), and it seemed to be fine for a few days. But the last 4 days or so we are dropping our chlorine from 5.5 to 3 within 24 hours. Today the FC was 2, after it being 4 yesterday afternoon and then we added enough chlorine to bring it back up to 5.5. So here are my numbers:

FC: 2
CC: 0
CYA: 40

I don't know what to think. The water is still crystal clear, but at this pace, of almost a gallon of chlorine a day, something doesn't seem right. Should I ONLY be testing/adding in the morning perhaps? Or only the evening? I'm trying to keep the testing 24 hours apart, but we seem to need so much chlorine and it doesn't last.

I want to avoid SLAMMING if I don't need to, and I don't have any algae, and a combined chlorine of 0 doesn't indicate any problem in that area.

Any help is appreciated.


Renee
 
Hi. So you're saying that its normal to go from 4 to 2 within 24 hours correct? We are using 8. something percent household bleach by the way. For example, today we had to add over 140 ounces to adjust from 2 to 5 FC. Is it normal to have to use a gallon a day? I don't remember using this much last year, but I could be wrong. I certainly understand the benefits of not using the tablets anymore, but MAN, this is much more expensive!

Thanks for any additional insight.

Renee
 
On the expense -- with your size pool you would need 14oz of trichlor to dissolve each day to provide 3 ppm FC.

Most pucks are about $2.50 a piece. You would need just under 2 pucks per day to meet the FC requirements. Or just under $5 per day when using Trichlor.

If using 10% or 12.5% liquid chlorine, I would suspect the cost is close to a wash.

Remember, with pucks, with increasing CYA, tomorrow, you would need more Trichlor to provide the FC you needed, as the required FC would go up as your CYA increased.
 
borjis said:
my pool is less than half the gallons you have and I go through 1 gallon of 6% a week.

But it's also covered most weekdays and only opened when the sun is down or weekend swim days.

CYA is 50
Click to expand...



ONE GALLON A WEEK? We are using almost a gallon a day! This is what makes me think something isn't right because I know that last year we didn't use this much chlorine.



Renee
 
Is yours covered 5 days a week mostly with a non-clear cover?

I found that made a big difference. Also keeping the cya at 50 instead of 30.

do you swim daily and have guests over often, that will eat it up quick too.

At my last pool which had a lot more sun exposure, it went through 2 gallons a week of 8%.
(20,000 gallon plaster pool)
 
borjis said:
Is yours covered 5 days a week mostly with a non-clear cover?

I found that made a big difference. Also keeping the cya at 50 instead of 30.

do you swim daily and have guests over often, that will eat it up quick too.

At my last pool which had a lot more sun exposure, it went through 2 gallons a week of 8%.
(20,000 gallon plaster pool)
Click to expand...


No, we do not have a cover. I don't know how we could possibly cover a large pool every day when we are done swimming. I'd rather put more chlorine in!! I guess I could raise the CYA a little. We do have a lot of sun exposure, although it's not 100% in the morning until about 11 am. I was mostly concerned that there could be something else wrong. Seeing how others used 1 or 2 gallons a week makes me think there is another reason we are using so much. A gallon a day seems like a lot, even for a large pool like we have.

Renee
 
Also for reference ONLY, (even though my pool is an AG, vinyl and only 1/2 the size of yours) I cut my daily chlorine usage in half when I up my CYA from 40 to 50. With a CYA of 50, I target 7ppm every morning. Even with heavy use on occasion, the lowest I ever was the following morning was 3.5ppm. Good Luck !!!
 

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Run the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test to see if you lose FC overnight. If you do you have some organics in the water that are consuming the FC. If you pass the OCLT then try bumping up CYA to 50. Some areas have stronger UV exposure and may need a little more CYA. Also if you have kids and dogs swimming in the pool, the organics that they bring in the pool with them will bump up chlorine use. You can have them shower or hose off before getting into the pool, and tell the kids no peeing in the pool!
 
That's a pretty big pool, can't compare usage to a covered pool 1/3 the size.
I don't see a gallon a day as out if the norm. It's about 3bucks for a gallon of 12.5% up here. $20-$25 a week is not too bad if you are crystal clear
 
mknauss said:
On the expense -- with your size pool you would need 14oz of trichlor to dissolve each day to provide 3 ppm FC.

Most pucks are about $2.50 a piece. You would need just under 2 pucks per day to meet the FC requirements. Or just under $5 per day when using Trichlor.

If using 10% or 12.5% liquid chlorine, I would suspect the cost is close to a wash.

Remember, with pucks, with increasing CYA, tomorrow, you would need more Trichlor to provide the FC you needed, as the required FC would go up as your CYA increased.
Click to expand...


This is why i went to a SWG after doing the math i saw this swim season around 7 months ( with heater ) costing at least $120.00 a month just for LC so total around $840.00 at least . So i went to discountsaltpool.com got the 1$ upgrade to the RJ60 plus ( they still have upgrade but now its 4$ and cost is up too) I did the install that will help it pay off in the long run for sure. BTW i love every minute in my TFP thanks mostly to you all here.
 
Thank you to everyone that responded! You were all so helpful. I will perform the OCLT and see how it goes. I see that it may not be off base to be using this much chlorine, but I guess it can't hurt to check. If that checks out fine, I could probably increase the CYA slightly easily enough.

Thanks again...hope I don't have to bother you all again.!!

Renee
 
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