George, what's wrong with table salt other than expense?
Sanchz, I am not aware of benefits to using salt (minus a swcg) to help maintain properly chlorinated/balanced pool, so this should be way down on the list of things to add to your pool now.audone said:The type of salt I use is in a pellet form used in water softeners, double check to make sure its just salt some will have other chemicals added. In US some larger grocery stores will carry it. You could also check with your pool store they will carry pool safe salts The people at my pool store see value in adding salt, I have talked to other pool people who have not heard of it and are a little skeptical. Again these are the things I've found that work with my pool.
The best sanitizer is chlorine, I would shy away from any non-chlorine alternatives. See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/alternative-sanitizers-and-chemical-free-pools-the-truth-t3025.htmlSanchz said:I can get chlorine-free shock, but I've used it under these conditions with no luck.
You mentioned a TC level of 15 ppm in your first post. How did you measure that?Sanchz said:If I get the time, I might as well give it a try. I might need a new OTO reagent, though. I just want to let you know that I'm always emailing salespeople to see if I can get one proper test kit shipped here, but they're classified as HAZ-MAT whch makes it really hard.
I kind of suspect that there's no (more) growing organisms right now, since chlorine levels have been way too high for almost a week and it doesn't seem to get used up. I hope this is true.
Thanks for your help so far guys.
I know you have few choices, but I would not even consider the test strips as indicating much of anything (you may have read some of the test strip stories on here). The diluted OTO test is probably better...how did you do the test?Sanchz said:Test strips with a top measurement of 10 ppm being more strongly coloured than that plus a diluted OTO test; I know it's not very accurate but at least I'msure it was over 10 ppm.
First, it could be that a potion of the 3 ppm TC reading is actually CC. Regardless, if you CYA is high, which I think we both suspect, then being at 3 ppm will not prevent algae. If I take a wild guess at your CYA level being 100 ppm, then you need to maintain a minimum of 8 ppm FC at all times according to the pool calculator. To effectively kill off algae you would need at least 25 ppm FC for a sustained period of time. It is possible that your CYA level is much higher, and if so, the pool could be at the point where no reasonable amount of FC will clean it up.Sanchz said:I think it might be a chemical problem too. The thing is, I do regularly add chlorine and the test kit always shows at least 3 ppm of TC;
but since I don't really know the CYA levels, it apparently is not enough to kill everything in the pool.
linen said:First, it could be that a potion of the 3 ppm TC reading is actually CC. Regardless, if you CYA is high, which I think we both suspect, then being at 3 ppm will not prevent algae. If I take a wild guess at your CYA level being 100 ppm, then you need to maintain a minimum of 8 ppm FC at all times according to the pool calculator. To effectively kill off algae you would need at least 25 ppm FC for a sustained period of time. It is possible that your CYA level is much higher, and if so, the pool could be at the point where no reasonable amount of FC will clean it up.
Since you are already familiar with doing a diluted OTO test, maybe run a OCLT? If you do, be warned that if your levels are too low you might be reading CC and if you levels are to high you will need to do quite a dilution and your ablitity to resolve small changes will be compromised.
Wow...if that is 12.5% Sodium Hypochlorite in your chlorine the pool calculator says that you had 75 ppm FC in your 10000 gallon pool! That is much too high! Tough on equipment, surfaces, etc. THere is a chance that the chlorine you are using is not "good". As to the testing the next day, even with a significant algae outbreak, that much chlorine would not disappear so quickly...I would definitely suspect your test solution and possibly your chlorine source.Sanchz said:first shock dosage of 6 gallons of liquid chlorine killed all the algae and left the pool milky but apparently algae free, with chlorine levels being low the next day.
Had you been using trichlor or dichlor products prior to this point? If you have not,you should have no CYA, if you have, then it could be high. If you haven't maybe we could figure out how much you have added since.Sanchz said:I had added about 2 gallons more of liquid chlorine the next day, and flocculants helped clear it up for a couple of days. So, the chlorine had indeed worked, and I suppose that CYA is not really THAT high, but who knows...
I think you are familiar with it, but I want to make sure you have read the Shocking process. Remember it is a process that can take some time...usually more than a day or two. It is important to keep your pools FC level at/above the recommended shocking level until you pass the OCLT, or in your case, a modified version of the OCLT with the tools you have available. In the end it is better to sustain at/just above the recommended FC level until all algae is removed rather than using a bolus method, where the highs might damage something, and the lows drop well below your minimum shocking level.Sanchz said:I waited like 2 days or 3 (while trichlor pucks where in) till I added any more liquid/ dichlor chlorine and then kept adding once in 3 days (while at the same time dealing with more flocculants in order to achieve clarity); till I noticed that the walls were getting a bit green, and then I brushed and shocked once more; and kept adding chlorine daily and shocked even one more time (4 days ago when it got cloudly after some "moderate" use).
Sounds like you are seeing an improvement, but like I mentioned above, continue maintain the recommended shocking level until you pass the modified OCLT.Sanchz said:I've not used flocculants since the last time it got cloudy and just kept adding chlorine and running the filter in "normal" schedule, and I can see an improvement today.
However, the diluted OTO test I did yesterday (fill half the container with pool water, half with tap water which shows no chlorine when tested on its own; and add the drops) was still beyond the 3ppm colouring, so I must confess I "guessed" a 15ppm chlorine level.
I am not sure about what a pool would smell like at 75 ppm (see my comments above), but my experience when FC is at typical shocking levels, I do not smell what I think of as a chlorine smell. My nose is not the best however...Sanchz said:I can say that the water smells like chlorine, but it can't be CC; it's faint but it's there, fresh chlorine smell, which makes me think the levels are too high.
If a pool has no CC but sufficiently high FC levels, will there be some mild chlorine smell in it???
Let us know how it goes and if we can be of any help. If in the end you can't get a reasonable guess as to how much CYA you have in the pool, you may still want to drain/partial drain and refill (especially if you can not find a source for a test kit) unless you expect to get a lot of water changes (heavy rain, splash out) and plan on stopping use of the trichlor/dichlor (which I would do regardless).Sanchz said:I'll perform a proper OCLT on Friday if I get a new OTO bottle and post the results.
linen said:Wow...if that is 12.5% Sodium Hypochlorite in your chlorine the pool calculator says that you had 75 ppm FC in your 10000 gallon pool! That is much too high! Tough on equipment, surfaces, etc. THere is a chance that the chlorine you are using is not "good". As to the testing the next day, even with a significant algae outbreak, that much chlorine would not disappear so quickly...I would definitely suspect your test solution and possibly your chlorine source.
linen said:Had you been using trichlor or dichlor products prior to this point? If you have not,you should have no CYA, if you have, then it could be high. If you haven't maybe we could figure out how much you have added since.
linen said:In the end it is better to sustain at/just above the recommended FC level until all algae is removed rather than using a bolus method, where the highs might damage something, and the lows drop well below your minimum shocking level.
linen said:Let us know how it goes and if we can be of any help. If in the end you can't get a reasonable guess as to how much CYA you have in the pool, you may still want to drain/partial drain and refill (especially if you can not find a source for a test kit) unless you expect to get a lot of water changes (heavy rain, splash out) and plan on stopping use of the trichlor/dichlor (which I would do regardless).
Buford said:If you smell it, you have CC , you still have algae, or something alive, in your pool. Here is a thread on the matter chlorine-smell-and-other-s-t766.html . You are on the right track with Linen. It might be beneficial to get a new set of numbers and where the reading came from ( for example, a test strip, TF-100, pool store).
Previously you said you had a TF-100, do you have the R-0013 to test the Cyanuric acid (CYA)?
Have you made any progress obtaining reagents for your TF-100?
carlscan26 said:Sanchz, you have asand filter which is also the slowest for filtering and you also need to backflush it well and possibly often as you're clearing the pool. Have you tried adding some DE powder to it? It will help speed the clearing process.
Since you are having trouble ordering reagents, is there a pool store nearby that uses drop tests for their testing and that can perform a FAS-DPD chlorine test for you?