cloudy water in endless pool

Jump to latest Follow Reply
There's nothing locally, they only sell the granules.
I live in the sticks.
The postage is reasonably cheap only £7, which is about what I would pay in fuel (which is prohibitively expensive here) and parking if I drove to the nearest town.
:lol:
 
If you do these two calculations for each product you can tell exactly which is cheaper.

volume * percent concentration = ounces of 100% chlorine in the container (chlorine-ounces)

price / chlorine-ounces = price per chlorine-ounce

go for the product with the lowest price per chlorine-ounce.
 
The forum is generally against them because they add metal to the water which can result in staining of the pool and hair.

There is no added benefit over just using chlorine.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
That'll save me some money then :lol:

Now. I took out just over half the water and I've refilled the pool with fresh water.
The water does look clearer, but not perfect yet.

I've redone my tests and I get the following results:
Alkalinity 90
Ph between 7.2 & 7.5
FC 0 (because I haven't put any in yet)

BUT CYA is 100!!!!
The test I have for this is fiddly (need to identify when a black spot vanishes at the bottom of a thin plastic tube)
Is there a better way to test? Could my kit be getting old, it does say that it should be replaced after a year.

If this test is accurate is there anything I can do to reduce CYA? I don't really want to empty the pool again :?
The kit states adding unstabilised chlorine will reduce CYA. I have something called "Bio-Shock" would that do any good?
 
That is the only CYA test there is. There are more detailed instructions and video available for all the tests in the extended test directions thread in the testing forum.

Only way to reduce the CYA is by replacing water. Using unstabilized chlorine will just not make the CYA go up any more.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
Ok thanks. Oh dear.

I need to get a new test kit &/or chemicals as I'm out of the chemicals for the CYA test now. :(
Then I can rerun the test and take it from there.

Could there be CYA in tap water? Just wondering why it hasn't reduced....when I get my kit I'll test it.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
There is no CYA in tap water. Why do you think it should have gone down?

The CYA test maxes out at 100 and if the test shows over that, it could really be way above 100. You can dilute the pool water with half tap water for the test and then double the reading to get a better idea when you get the test reagents.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
Well replacing the water should have made it go down. But there is a chance you started with something well above 100ppm and you are still near that level after water replacement.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
The reason that I asked if the pool was outside was because the type of chlorine that you would use for an outdoor pool would be different than one indoors. It is a matter of whether the sun’s ray strike the pool or not. If they DO (outdoor pool), you would need a stabilizer for the chlorine (that would be the CYA). If it is indoors, CYA isn’t needed and you should be using just Sodium Hypochlorite. You should be able to get this at almost any market. In the US the brand name is Chlorox but just buy the generic/cheapest. Make sure that it is around 6% and it is UNSCENTED.

Now, here’s what I would suggest to get your pool crystal clear:

Assuming that your pool is still around 0 PPM on the free chlorine test, add about 12 ounces of the bleach (6%) or 5 ounces of the 15%. Run the swim current for about 3 minutes and test the chlorine level again. Keep adding chlorine until you get to about 3 ppm. You’ll want to try to hold it there for about a day. My guess is that you’ll finally end up adding a total of 30 ounces of 6% (12 ounces of 15%) over the first 24 hours. Once you get the water at 3 ppm, hold it there until the water is crystal clear, it won’t take longer than 2 more days. Once it is clear, let the free chlorine level slowly drop down to .5 ppm and maintain it there for the rest of the pool’s life. This means that you should add about 3 ounces of 6% bleach after every time that you swim (1 ounce of the 15%) and about ½ that on days that you don’t use the pool. Always target that the pool should never be below that .5 ppm and never about .75 ppm (unless there is a continuing cloudiness issue). Two more suggestions: Always shower before using the Endless Pool. This will greatly reduce that amount of chlorine that you will use as you won’t need as much chlorine to oxidize the body oils/organics. Hopefully you have a shower in that shed! Second: When you leave the pool for extended period (vacations/work), calculate the number of days that you’ll be gone and multiply it by 3 ounces (or 1 ounce of the 15%) per day and add this all at once. The hope is that when you return the chlorine level will be at the usual .5 ppm.

Let us know how it goes,


Swan
 
Swan said:
The reason that I asked if the pool was outside was because the type of chlorine that you would use for an outdoor pool would be different than one indoors. It is a matter of whether the sun’s ray strike the pool or not. If they DO (outdoor pool), you would need a stabilizer for the chlorine (that would be the CYA). If it is indoors, CYA isn’t needed and you should be using just Sodium Hypochlorite. You should be able to get this at almost any market. In the US the brand name is Chlorox but just buy the generic/cheapest. Make sure that it is around 6% and it is UNSCENTED.

Now, here’s what I would suggest to get your pool crystal clear:

Assuming that your pool is still around 0 PPM on the free chlorine test, add about 12 ounces of the bleach (6%) or 5 ounces of the 15%. Run the swim current for about 3 minutes and test the chlorine level again. Keep adding chlorine until you get to about 3 ppm. You’ll want to try to hold it there for about a day. My guess is that you’ll finally end up adding a total of 30 ounces of 6% (12 ounces of 15%) over the first 24 hours. Once you get the water at 3 ppm, hold it there until the water is crystal clear, it won’t take longer than 2 more days. Once it is clear, let the free chlorine level slowly drop down to .5 ppm and maintain it there for the rest of the pool’s life. This means that you should add about 3 ounces of 6% bleach after every time that you swim (1 ounce of the 15%) and about ½ that on days that you don’t use the pool. Always target that the pool should never be below that .5 ppm and never about .75 ppm (unless there is a continuing cloudiness issue). Two more suggestions: Always shower before using the Endless Pool. This will greatly reduce that amount of chlorine that you will use as you won’t need as much chlorine to oxidize the body oils/organics. Hopefully you have a shower in that shed! Second: When you leave the pool for extended period (vacations/work), calculate the number of days that you’ll be gone and multiply it by 3 ounces (or 1 ounce of the 15%) per day and add this all at once. The hope is that when you return the chlorine level will be at the usual .5 ppm.

Let us know how it goes,


Swan
Click to expand...

Swan, welcome to TFP.

Without knowing the OP's current CYA level how can you give the above advice? It can take days to clear a pool, even once shock level is achieved.

We also advise maintaining CYA levels of 20-30ppm in all indoor pools, as it it easier to maintain FC in the 2-3ppm range, rather than trying to manage FC levels at precisely 0.5-0.75ppm, especially when the OP is having a difficult time locating a good test kit.

Below is a quote from one of our expert members on the topic:

chem geek said:
You can, of course, not use any CYA in an indoor pool or any pool not exposed to sunlight, but if you do so and don't keep the FC level extraordinarily low, then the active chlorine (hypochlorous acid) level will be much, much higher. The same regulations in some areas that prohibit or recommend against using CYA in indoor pools also have an FC minimum of at least 1 ppm. This results in the active chlorine level being over 10 times higher than in a pool with CYA that has enough FC to prevent algae growth (in outdoor pools). This higher active chlorine level oxidizes skin, hair and swimsuits faster as a result. It chemically reacts over 10 times faster to create disinfection by-products such as THMs from skin. It also outgasses chlorine faster.

The regulations on CYA only think of CYA as protecting chlorine from sunlight with little understanding of the chlorine/CYA relationship and how most of the chlorine is bound to CYA resulting in much lower active chlorine levels as a result. In Europe, especially in Germany, the commercial/public pool standard does not use CYA, but as a result they try to minimize the active chlorine level by having a lower FC range of 0.3 to 0.6 ppm if no ozone is used or 0.2 to 0.5 if ozone is used. Also note that the regulations of commercial/public pools in the U.S. do not account for the chlorine/CYA relationship even when CYA is used since they simply give ranges of FC with ranges of CYA rather than specifying an FC/CYA ratio range which would give much more consistent disinfection and oxidation rates.

It is true that a pool not exposed to sunlight will often need some form of supplemental oxidation, such as UV or ozone or non-chlorine shock (MPS), and that lowering the active chlorine level using CYA makes the oxidation rate from chlorine that much slower. So using supplemental oxidation for indoor pools makes a lot of sense. Ike, if you aren't using supplemental oxidation, then you should probably target something like 4 ppm FC with 20 ppm CYA to have a somewhat higher oxidation level and should seriously consider a supplemental system. Even those not using CYA often find problems with CC and smell in indoor pools

My wife has personally experienced the side effects of this rule where her swimsuits degrade (elasticity gets shot) and her skin is flakier and hair frizzier when using an indoor pool with 1-2 ppm FC and no CYA over the winter while in our own outdoor pool with an FC that is between 7.5% and 15% of the CYA level the swimsuits last for many seasons with no noticeable degradation and her skin and hair are not as affected by the chlorine in the pool.
Click to expand...
 
dmanb2b:

The secret here is that the pool is indoors and doesn't need the stabilization of the CYA. Regarding maintaining the observation that it is "easier to maintain FC in the 2-3ppm range, rather than trying to manage FC levels at precisely 0.5-0.75ppm" comment, it is quite easy in a 2000 gallon pools to maintain the FC at .5 ppm: Once the cloudiness issue is resolved (and I'll stand by my 3 day estimate), adding 3 ounces after each swim and checking the FC the following day before swimming is really pretty simple. If the FC level is a bit higher (say 1.0 ppm), cut back on the amount you add. Simple!!

Here is what Endless Pools has to say on the subject:

26.6 Oxidation and Chlorine Requirements
The Nature 2 system included in your pool kit significantly reduces the amount of chlorine you’ll need to
use. This purifier adds silver and copper to the pool, which will kill bacteria and algae in the water. However,
it does not oxidize or “burn-up” small particles of debris in the pool. Maintaining a minimum level of 0.5
ppm free chlorine in your pool at all times is necessary. Adding 1/2 cup of Clorox a day will add about 0.5
ppm of free chlorine to a standard sized pool. How quickly that chlorine is consumed depends upon water
temperature, bather load, and the amount of direct sunlight the pool receives.
a. Chlorine Stabilizer and Outdoor Pools
Your Taylor test kit comes equipped with testing procedures for cyanuric acid. Cyanuric acid is a chlorine
stabilizer, meaning it protects chlorine from getting broken down by sunlight. If your pool is located
outdoors, we recommend using the granular form of stabilized chlorine (Should have an active ingredient of
sodium dichlor) instead of Clorox. Another option would be to supplement Clorox by adding cyanuric acid.
Either method will necessitate testing for cyanuric acid every two weeks. These chemicals are readily
available at any pool supply store.
b. Chlorine Stabilizer and Indoor Pools
Many customers are sold a stabilized chlorine product for use in their indoor Endless Pool. Endless Pools
would not recommend this practice, as Clorox bleach is ideal for this setting. Using a stabilized chlorine
source is more expensive, and it also requires the periodic testing for cyanuric acid levels. If the level gets
too high, it can render the chlorine ineffective, and it may necessitate the partial draining of the pool in order
to lower the levels.


Regards,


Swan
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply