Consequences of too much Chlorine

[benpanepento]

Hello,

Out of curiosity, what are the consequences of adding too much chlorine? If for example during SLAM, when nobody is swimming anyway, what is the harm is adding too much? Thanks!

Ben

 

[ajw22]

Depends on the type of pool. Way too much chlorine can bleach a liner.

Why are you asking?

 

[benpanepento]

Just wondering and trying to learn. Like when someone is posting in here about a green pond, and the suggestion is to add a gallon of bleach daily to start. Why not add a lot more than that?

 

[ajw22]

Just wondering and trying to learn. Like when someone is posting in here about a green pond, and the suggestion is to add a gallon of bleach daily to start. Why not add a lot more than that?

The person making that suggestion has calculated how many ppm of chlorine that will add for the poo gallons. All of our chlorine recommendations are based off of FC/CYA Levels

 

[YippeeSkippy]

When you add far more chlorine than necessary, you just are making a love offering to the sun gods who will whisk it away quickly.

 

[SemperFly]

I like to keep mine a bit outside the high end of the range. So, for a typical concrete/plaster pool, there's no risk of damage to other pool equipment (pumps, heaters, etc) from too high fc as there would be say, if the pH got way out of control for too long?

[edit] I only use liq CL, btw [/edit]

 

[duraleigh]

what are the consequences of adding too much chlorine?

Similar to, "If two aspirins is really good for me, I will feel spectacular if I take 12!"

there's no risk of damage to other pool equipment (pumps, heaters, etc) from too high fc

Only up to a point. Really high chlorine is absolutely harsh on any metal surface. It is just not a good idea to wander carelessly too far outside the guidelines TFP has established

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

The person making that suggestion has calculated how many ppm of chlorine that will add for the poo gallons.

He said "poo" huh-huh-huh-huh!

(Yes, I'm a little stir crazy.)

 

[SemperFly]

No, not similar at all...I never said I keep my CL level at six times the max recommended. But thanks for the reply

 

[Leebo]

If a user is facing a green pool and doesn’t have a test kit they’re kinda at a standstill without knowing their CYA level. Sure they could just start dumping in chlorine (I’ve done it) but the results are likely gonna be poor. Adding just a gallon per day in this case simply keeps the pool from getting worse until the test kit arrives.

Now, let’s assume either the user has a clear pool or the user knows their cya level, why not just use a lot??? The main reason is that it’s kinda wasteful. A percentage of the chlorine is consumed by the sun, so the higher the FC level, the more that goes bye bye to sunlight. Sure you may speed up the slam slightly, but it’ll cost you money in chlorine.

 

[markayash]

25 years ago at a different house I kept having algae issues and found a lady who was recommended..She said add 20 pds of Shock ( use to all be cal Hypo and $1 a pd ) and after 4 days your chlorine will read 0 so add 20 more pounds..
I thought she was crazy but after 4 days my level was 0 and I added 20 pounds more and it fixed the issue

 

[duraleigh]

25 years ago at a different house I kept having algae issues and found a lady who was recommended..She said add 20 pds of Shock ( use to all be cal Hypo and $1 a pd ) and after 4 days your chlorine will read 0 so add 20 more pounds..
I thought she was crazy but after 4 days my level was 0 and I added 20 pounds more and it fixed the issue

What is the takeaway from that?

 

[markayash]

What is the takeaway from that?

If your having issues with Algae it will use up the Chlorine, that was probably her way of SLAM a pool 25 years ago.
Things have changed

 

[duraleigh]

I get it now.

 

[SemperFly]

Similar to, "If two aspirins is really good for me, I will feel spectacular if I take 12!"

Only up to a point. Really high chlorine is absolutely harsh on any metal surface. It is just not a good idea to wander carelessly too far outside the guidelines TFP has established

Thanks for the edit, duraleigh. I usually like to keep my fc a couple of points higher the the top of the range as a buffer for my forgetfulness. If I miss a day, I'd rather not have the levels get below the minimum. In my pool, I haven't found that the rate consumption is much different to maintaining the middle of the range, so it's not costing me any extra $$ in wasted CL, it's just a little bit of insurance. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't rotting out the heater internals in the process.