High Chlorine and CC

[Snydovers195]

Hi All,

New, first time pool owner. Been lurking on the site for a few weeks. Read the ABCs and many other posts. Appreciate all of the knowledge sharing and support the site offers.

Finally posting as have a couple of questions for which I haven’t really found good answers on other posts. Please go easy on me.

Background: Bought a new house with a pool about a month ago. Had pool company open pool. Since then been reading as much as possible about pool chemistry, and how to maintain a pool simply and effectively. Brought me to this site! Live in Canada, so waited for a trip to the US to pick-up the TF 100 test. Did that this weekend. Previously was using test strips as it was all I had. Before leaving, did a SLAM based (unfortunately) on test strips and pool math app. Was trying to get water clearer. Left safety cover on while gone. About 36 hours.

Returned with my TF test. Excited to test.

Not so excited with results. Test said FC was 65! After 6-8 hrs now down to 52. CC is about 1.

My questions are:

1. Is it unhealthy to swim at current FC and CC levels, and if so should I just wait a day or two to see if they come down? (My CYA is 110. On its way down. Legacy from prior homeowners who used pool service and pucks it appears.)

2. When doing the chlorine test, after adding the R-0871, should the water in the test tube be crystal clear? When I was adding the reagent it got to a point where it was no longer pink, but the water seemed to have a tinge of amber colour.

Thanks all!

 

[HermanTX]

1. Is it unhealthy to swim at current FC and CC levels, and if so should I just wait a day or two to see if they come down? (My CYA is 110. On its way down. Legacy from prior homeowners who used pool service and pucks it appears.)

It is only safe to swim when FC is at or below SLAM level. Even at CYA of 100 the max FC level is 39ppm. So don't swim. Also take the cover off to release CCs and let UV (the Sun) absorb some of the FC.
Have you turned off the UV system?
So you have switched over to Liquid Chlorine which is great.

You will have to drain some water to reduce CYA. it degrades very slowly so if you want CYA of 50 then that is draining at least 50% of your pool water.

2. When doing the chlorine test, after adding the R-0871, should the water in the test tube be crystal clear? When I was adding the reagent it got to a point where it was no longer pink, but the water seemed to have a tinge of amber colour.

I like to use the word "colorless" - it is not always "clear" but should not have any hint of pink.
Also, if you let the vial sit, it will start to turn pink again so do not be alarmed.

 

[Snydovers195]

Hi HermanTX,

Thanks for the reply. I will stay out of the pool for now. Thanks. The cover is off. I have not learned how to turn off the UV, so it is still on. If it would significantly speed the chlorine reduction then I will figure it out.

Appreciate the guidance on “colourless”. I also appreciate the comment on the return to pink. That happened to me and I was saving that for a second post

Thanks again!

 

[HermanTX]

Thanks for the reply. I will stay out of the pool for now. Thanks. The cover is off. I have not learned how to turn off the UV, so it is still on. If it would significantly speed the chlorine reduction then I will figure it out.

A UV system is usually a combination of UV light system and the addition of pucks to a chlorinator. Just remove all chlorine pucks. The UV light is fine. Please read

UV Systems - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Snydovers195]

Thank you again HermanTX. I will look into disconnecting the UV at some point. For now, sounds like it is not hurting anything. For sure, we have removed the chlorine pucks!