Cloudy Water, Cannot Keep Chlorine Levels

[Chipley3059]

Since I am keeping the test kit, here is what I got:

FC 0
CC 1
TC 1
PH 7.6
Alkalinity 180
CYA - I think I did this wrong because the water was NOT cloudy and I was never unable to see the dot. Maybe someone has tips before I do it again?

*** small plus, I was not able to return the kit but they have me a full refund so ***

 

[mknauss]

CYA - I think I did this wrong because the water was NOT cloudy and I was never unable to see the dot.

Did you follow the instructions?
Your area got some significant rain this winter. How much did you drain from the pool?

 

[Chipley3059]

Did you follow the instructions?
Your area got some significant rain this winter. How much did you drain from the pool?

I followed the instructions on the kit so . I’ll have to try it again tomorrow when I get home and have some daylight.

Yes, we got a lot of rain… we never ended up having to drain much. It got very full a few times but we always seemed to have a break long enough to let it evaporate enough to not overflow. It has been a constant cycle of rain, warmer temps, back to rain, etc.

 

[mknauss]

Ok. Odd your CYA would go to zero then.

You might want to do the ammonia protocol. See Ammonia - Further Reading

 

[Chipley3059]

Ok. Odd your CYA would go to zero then.

You might want to do the ammonia protocol. See Ammonia - Further Reading

To be completely honest, we never paid attention to the CYA before. We would check the Ph and chlorine levels and as long as it was clear, ph was good and there was at least 1ppm chlorine we left it alone.

It’s just me and my husband so the pool doesn’t take much to keep clear. Looking back at my past tests with the strips, the CYA pretty much always registered at 0.

I feel like a bad pool parent.

 

[mknauss]

You stated you used pucks primarily. They add CYA. So you have added a lot of CYA.

 

[Chipley3059]

You stated you used pucks primarily. They add CYA. So you have added a lot of CYA.

We typically use granular chlorine and supplement with pucks to maintain chlorine levels.

Managed to do a quick test before leaving for work - just tested chlorine and CYA since those were my main concerns:

FC=2
CC=1
TC=3
CYA = still not cloudy enough so I couldn’t see dot. Attached are pictures and the vial is full to the brim.

This is the first time the chlorine has been this high in the morning after adding it the evening before - my FAS-DPD test kit will be here sometime Wednesday.

 

[Chipley3059]

While I am waiting for the FAS-DPD chlorine test kit to arrive, should I be preparing to do Ammonia Protocol or just SLAM?

I appear to have 0 CYA but my CC is not high and PH isn’t low so based on what I read, ammonia may not be the issue. Now that it’s barely starting to hold chlorine levels overnight, I am thinking SLAM is the way to go. I just want to clarify because the ammonia protocol says NO CYA and the SLAM process says it’s best when it’s 30-50ppm…

 

[mknauss]

When you get your test kit add 10 ppm FC of liquid chlorine and test the FC after 30 minutes. If you have 5 ppm FC left, move onto the SLAM Process

 

[Chipley3059]

When you get your test kit add 10 ppm FC of liquid chlorine and test the FC after 30 minutes. If you have 5 ppm FC left, move onto the SLAM Process

Ok…. Have a bit of a silly noob question.

Do I test the FC just 30mins after adding it and not waiting until it circulates completely? I mean, will the chlorine have circulated enough within that time to test accurately?

 

[mknauss]

Do I test the FC just 30mins after adding it and not waiting until it circulates completely? I mean, will the chlorine have circulated enough within that time to test accurately?

Surprisingly, unless the pump is off, the chlorine will mix quite rapidly. Chlorine is hydrophobic. It disperses rapidly.

 

[PoolStored]

Do I test the FC just 30mins after adding it and not waiting until it circulates completely? I mean, will the chlorine have circulated enough within that time to test accurately?

Yes. Yes.

 

[PoolStored]

hydrophobic

hydrophilic?

 

[mknauss]

And if you have ammonia, the chlorine is consumed immediately as it is poured in the water. So test near where you added the product, at a return with the pump running.

 

[mknauss]

hydrophilic?

likely ?!?! I am not that much of a chemist ------

 

[Chipley3059]

And if you have ammonia, the chlorine is consumed immediately as it is poured in the water. So test near where you added the product, at a return with the pump running.

OK. The test kit was delivered so I can test when I get home. If I don’t need to do the ammonia protocol, should I get the stabilizer to 30ppm before starting SLAM or just start with the 0?

 

[mknauss]

Start the stabilizer dissolving and start the SLAM.

 

[Chipley3059]

Start the stabilizer dissolving and start the SLAM.

Added 2 gallons of chlorine to bring me to 10ppm per Pool Math.

30mins later:
FC 5ppm
CC .4 ppm

So I’m good to start SLAM and add 30ppm stabilizer right?

 

[mknauss]

Yes. Good job.

 

[Chipley3059]

Yes. Good job.

Sweet. So since I just did 10ppm of chlorine, that’s basically my first round