Help!!! Chlorine Loss is crazy...suspect ammonia

[dconley22]

Ok here we go. I really hope someone can help. I have taken care of my 30,000 gallon pool for 2 seasons this being the start of the 3rd. I have always used liquid chlorine 12.5%, muriatic acid, and baking soda. I opened my pool on mothers day, May 14. The pool looked clear. I even tested in it had chlorine and the ph is 7.4. Since then I have not been able to hold chlorine. The first week I kept chlorine levels above 30ppm. I was vaccuming and bushing a lot. The first few times it got cloudy and with in a few days cleared up. It only got cloudy when I was brushing a grayish material off the pool walls and floor. After 10 days still wasn't holding. I test myself with a Thompson test kit. I wanted to make sure my levels were right so I had the pool store test it also.

They confirmed what I had also tested

FC=26ppm - just dipped down below the 30 I was keeping it at.
Ph=7.4 - 7.6
CYA 35
Calcium hardness 230
TA= 84 - so I added enough baking soda to make it around 100.

Water is perfectly clear, you would think its perfect if you won't testing the chlorine.


Still wouldn't hold chlorine so I kept bumping it up. I was losing 10 ppm a day and 3-5 at night. I was testing night 11-6, and daytime 6-4 as I am working.

After reading posts I wonder if I have an ammonia problem. I ordered an ammonia test kit it should be here tomorrow or Wednesday. After still not holding Chlorine I went higher starting Friday keeping it above 45...still nothing, then Sat I went above 50 but it keeps coming down.

Yesterday and Today I have been testing a lot. Here are the stats.

9:30pm sun =41.5 (It dipped so I added 5 gallons of 12.5%bleach)
11:30pm sun = 63
10:00am Monday = 58.5
11:08am Monday = 58.5 (Didn't want to take a chance so I added 4 gallons 12.5%bleach, estimated I should be around 74.5.
2:23pm Monday = 63 ( way lower than I was expecting)
3:00pm Monday= 58.5 (I added 3 gallons 10% bleach as I had to by some from Walmart.)
4:30pm Monday = 63.5
6:48pm 55.0 (I tested twice and it cam back the same.) I added 4 gallons of 12.5 % bleach)

No I am waiting to test tonight to see what happens over night.
I have added some acid as I know liquid chlorine raises PH but I can't get an accurate reading on the test as I believe the high chlorine is messing with the color.

I hope someone can help. I have put 75 gallons of bleach into my pool.

I have a new filter coming June 6 but the water is clear. I am just replacing the original Jacuzzi model that I have.

I was going to keep this up till I get the ammonia kit. Only other option I can think of is draining the pool. I hope there is a way around it. Last year it took 9 days to hold chlorine.

 

[tim5055]

Welcome to TFP!!

First I have no idea what a Thompson test kit is.

But, secondly, why are you trying to maintain such high FC levels????

With a CYA of 4 your shock level is 16. we never advocate mush higher than that unless you are in the final 24 hours of a SLAM Process and suspect mustard algae.

If you are holding those levels of chlorine I don;'t believe you have an ammonia problem.

 

[dconley22]

I suspect ammonia and nothing was holding...still is not. CYA is 35. At first I suspected Mustard Algae so I stayed high. After 10 days still wasn't holding even though pool is clear. I want to let FC go down but I am afraid if it's ammonia I will have to push higher. How long should this go one for. Over night Chlorine test shows 3 -6 ppm loss depending on the tie interval between test.

- - - Updated - - -

I meant a Taylor 2006 test kit.

 

[zea3]

Please stop dumping so much chlorine into your pool. The higher your chlorine level the more quickly it will drop. There is some technical information that explains the process in Predicting the rate of chlorine loss based on CYA levels

If you were to have ammonia, it would quickly deplete the majority of your chlorine within 15 minutes. The fact that you have chlorine hours after adding it shows ammonia is not likely to be your problem. You need to allow the chlorine to drop to 10-20ppm so we can help trouble shoot your problem.

 

[Richard320]

If you had ammonia, you don't anymore. The pool wouldn't hold any FC for more than a few minutes.

I would hunt down hiding places for algae like behind the lights and inside ladder tubes and beneath ladder rungs and behind steps.

 

[dconley22]

I will let the chlorine go down. At the rate its been going down it will only take a few days. Normally I only loose 2 - 3 ppm a day.
I can add some water should I?????

Thanks for the help.

The Light is underwater. Can I take it out. I will brush again first thing in the morning.

- - - Updated - - -

Could the problem be dirty sand? Or bad filter?

 

[Richard320]

I will let the chlorine go down. At the rate its been going down it will only take a few days. Normally I only loose 2 - 3 ppm a day.
I can add some water should I?????

Thanks for the help.

The Light is underwater. Can I take it out. I will brush again first thing in the morning.

- - - Updated - - -

Could the problem be dirty sand? Or bad filter?

Yes. There's typically one screw at the bottom then the thing tilts out and there should be enough cord to get it to the edge of the deck. Check out the pictures: Think I may have found my FC demand issue?

 

[Donldson]

You have CYA, you are holding insanely high FC levels, and you aren't showing any CC results so I can only assume either you aren't testing for it or you don't have any. This is absolutely not what you would see if you had ammonia in your pool. Your FC losses can be easily chalked up to you going so gung ho on you FC levels. Dosing to 75 on only 35 CYA? Yeah, I think I know why you are getting such high chlorine losses.

 

[dconley22]

OK I am letting it go down. Should I add water. Checking the light now. I have had CC readings of .5 - 2.0 at different times especially at the higher levels.

Thanks Everyone.

 

[Donldson]

If that is all the higher your CC ever went then you never had ammonia.

 

[dconley22]

Ok just pulled the light. I had chunks of greenish stuff come out. I pushed a gush of water in and a huge green cloud came out. It wasn't quite as bad as yours but mine was a green mess. I brushed and cleaned really good. I hope this was the problem if not I fixed something that was wrong. Thank you would have never checked the light. I am going to drain and add water daily to reduce the chlorine level down to mid 20's and see if it holds.

 

[dconley22]

OK. So now I have cleaned out light area (suspect that was the FC loss) and have been burning off the high chlorine levels. Last night though I was at 42 and this morning I am down to 37.5. Is this happening because I have to high of chlorine levels? I saw a chart that shows how high chlorine goes down based on CYA during the day, but should I lose overnight though? I am letting it get down to shock level 16ppm as my CYA is around 35 - 40. I hope when it gets to that level I pass the overnight loss test. Pool is clear no CC. Just can't figure this out.

 

[Razorhog]

OK. So now I have cleaned out light area (suspect that was the FC loss) and have been burning off the high chlorine levels. Last night though I was at 42 and this morning I am down to 37.5. Is this happening because I have to high of chlorine levels? I saw a chart that shows how high chlorine goes down based on CYA during the day, but should I lose overnight though? I am letting it get down to shock level 16ppm as my CYA is around 35 - 40. I hope when it gets to that level I pass the overnight loss test. Pool is clear no CC. Just can't figure this out.

Let your FC come back down out of the stratosphere and go from there. There is just no reason to have it that high, you'll save money and trips to the store! I bet when you get back down to normal levels you'll see a normal drop in FC per day. As a side note, pH testing is not reliable when your FC is above 10.

 

[camueller]

OK. So now I have cleaned out light area (suspect that was the FC loss) and have been burning off the high chlorine levels. Last night though I was at 42 and this morning I am down to 37.5. Is this happening because I have to high of chlorine levels? I saw a chart that shows how high chlorine goes down based on CYA during the day, but should I lose overnight though? I am letting it get down to shock level 16ppm as my CYA is around 35 - 40. I hope when it gets to that level I pass the overnight loss test. Pool is clear no CC. Just can't figure this out.

Earlier this year I was wondering where my chlorine was going so fast. It turned out with all the rain we had had, I drained out so much water my CYA level went down below 30. I had been trying to SLAM my pool with 16ppm and saw it falling faster than I would have liked. When I realized my CYA was low and added enough to get me back to about 40 ppm, my daily chlorine usage went to barely anything again.

So, make sure you don't have any green lurking behind any lights or fixtures, and get your CYA level in check with your chlorine level, and I am confident all will be good.

 

[dconley22]

OK...SO i have let the chlorine level go down. Last night I was at 22.8. This morning I was at 21.4. I had a combined chlorine level of .08 which I am surprised about coming out of the very high FC levels the last few days. I do have pollen in my pool as there is a fine layer on my car. I think this might be causing the CC reading. I will keep it above 20 until the CC goes away. Hopefully tonight I pass the OCLT. My CYA is around 45ish. Thanks everyone. This site is amazing.