High Cyanuric Acid and phosphates

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VargusAZ said:
So I should no worry much 5.5 to 6.5 ppm may be okay with this heat?

This is my first year using CL. Thanks
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Honestly I think your FC consumption is a little high; however your LC is a bit old. I run about 3.5 to 4.0 in Chandler. Have you done an OCLT recently to see if you have some algae? Also does your pool have heavy swimmer load? If so that may explain the higher FC demand.
 
Thank you both. I am not sure what is an OCLT?

So before I went away from 10 days, I was clearly around 4ppm loss per day. I used 5 tablets and raised my FC to 20% of my CYA before I left but I came to zero tablet and an FC of .5ppm!!
And yes the temperature is higher now than before I left but we were already in the 110F.

So either something happened when I left for 10 days or it's the additional 5-7 degree Fahrenheit. Which is possible since we tied the Phoenix temp record twice the last 3 weeks. Just don't want algae.

Thanks
 
OCLT stands for overnight chlorine loss test. You basically raise your chlorine to the upper range and test it after the sun goes down. You then get up and test it again before the sun comes up in the morning. If you have a FC loss of less than 1 ppm, you pass the test. If not, it means that something other than the sun's ultraviolet rays are consuming your chlorine. With the amount of FC loss you're experiencing, I would bet that there's something else in your water eating your FC.
 
DeanP66 said:
OCLT stands for overnight chlorine loss test. You basically raise your chlorine to the upper range and test it after the sun goes down. You then get up and test it again before the sun comes up in the morning. If you have a FC loss of less than 1 ppm, you pass the test. If not, it means that something other than the sun's ultraviolet rays are consuming your chlorine. With the amount of FC loss you're experiencing, I would bet that there's something else in your water eating your FC.
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Yes I am familiar with it, I just forgot the acronym. I used it during slam to know when I was done. I'll check tonight.
 
Results are in:
FC at 7:55pm last night 3ppm
115oz of CL added at 8:10pm to bring FC to 9ppm
FC at 9:20pm last night 8.5ppm
FC at 6:00am today 9ppm
FC at 6:05am today 9ppm

So the only odd think is my FC being 8.5ppm last night at 9ppm this morning. But per the pool app I should have had 9ppm. So maybe it was fully spread yet or at night seing the pink color may not be the easiest.

So let's assume the measurement last night whad a .5 ppm margin of error looks like I am not losing FC overnight. Am I reading this right?
 

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So we got a haboob (dust storm) yesterday and thunderstorm today. My goal for the last last few days has been to up the FC at night to 9/9.5ppm

How do you adjust to dust storms or thunderstorms?

Do you just measure more frequently and keep the FC at your regular goal (9ppm in my case)?

Or do you adjust your ppm goal to a higher value for the next day(s)?

Thanks
 
So OCLT was good when I checked a week ago, we also got one dust storm and a couple of thunderstorms.
I am still pouring 110 oz or more per day. Seems high??
I poured a gallon last night and I had 3ppm before I did, I am back to 3ppm tonight. Max temp was 114F with excessive heat warning.

Any thoughts?
 
110oz to 128oz a day seems high to me. Are you using the pool a ton? Does your pool get any shade?

My pool is a bit bigger and I've been putting in 96-128oz (10%) every night and that's been keeping my FC in a good range. My CYA is at 50 and my sun gets a little bit of shade in the morning.

If your CC is below 1 and you passed the OCLT then I would assume its just the sun using most of the FC and you'll need more than a gallon of bleach a day. Maybe someone else has some suggestions?
 
Another thing I thought about. What is the date on the bleach you are using? Where do you store the bleach? If the bleach is older and/or you keep the bleach outside it won't be as strong.
 
Thank you @Cwiggs
My pool is in full sun, no shade all day long.
CYA measured at the begining of July was 60.
CC measured mid June was .3
I can measure both again this week.

I store the bleach in the garage and yes it is a little old since I could not find anything better at lowes or HD, it's 20147.
Is this too old?
Where do you get your bleach? I get mine from lowes at $8 for 2 gal.

Another thing I am thinking of, work has been crazy and I often put the bleach late at night like 11pm or midnight. Is there any value to pour the bleach sooner and have it longer in the pool in the evening before sunrise?
I used to pour it sooner but again temperature was lower a month ago.

Thanks
 
VargusAZ said:
I store the bleach in the garage and yes it is a little old since I could not find anything better at lowes or HD, it's 20147.
Is this too old?
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Yeah, I think your issue is the bleach just isn't as high of a percentage as you think. You can read the wiki about the breakdown of bleach over time here. It's been well over 100F for a while in Phoenix, at 100F 12.5% goes down to 9.71%. I assume it's worse when it's 120F+ in your garage.

The stuff from the home depot near me is also kept outside, so who knows how long it's been outside by the time you put it in the pool; assuming Lowes has it outside.

I keep my bleach inside in the summer since it's just too hot outside.

Looks like your bleach is also almost 100 days old. I think others on the forum recommend not buying stuff older than 90 days, but ideally the newer you can get the better.

If you want to test your bleach effectiveness, measure the FC in the pool after the sun goes down. Use the PoolMath app/site to verify how much the FC should go up if you put in your bleach. For example, PoolMath says if you put in 64oz of 10% bleach it should raise your FC by 3.3ppm. Wait about 15 mins and measure the FC again, it should have gone up by by 3.3ppm, if it didn't the bleach is probably lower % than previously thought.

VargusAZ said:
Where do you get your bleach? I get mine from lowes at $8 for 2 gal.
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Recently I've been getting Kemtek 10% chlorinating liquid at Frys Food since it's on sale for $5.99 for 2 gallons. I've ordered from them twice now and both batches were within 60 days old. Ace hardware also tends to have a sale on 10% liquid chlorine for $2.99/1gal. I bought from them once, but the bleach was older than I liked, and I noticed it when using it in the pool; it just didn't up the FC like I thought it would.

If there are no sales I tend to get the liquid chlorine from A&M on Southern & Val Vista. They have 4 gallons of 12.5% for $16.99 ($8 bottle deposit). I'd check around for a local pool store like A&M and see if they have a good deal, otherwise try Frys/Ace while their stuff is on sale.

VargusAZ said:
Is there any value to pour the bleach sooner and have it longer in the pool in the evening before sunrise?
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I don't believe this would make a difference. If you don't have anything in your pool using FC (like Algae), you should have little to no FC loss over night when the sun is down.

Hope that helps!
 
Thank you @Cwiggs. Yes it helps a lot, I got 20 gal from frys and will keep them in the house. I didn't take them from the pallet on the front as they were newer one ona shelf in the back. They are about 30 days old (210)

What do you do when away for a few days?

I tried the tablets (which is what I had used for 2 years before I discovered this forum) it worked for 3 days but not for 10.
 
I haven't taken a trip longer than a few days since I started using Liquid Chlorine. For 10 days you might be able to bring the FC up to SLAM levels AND put in trichlor tablets? You'd want to make sure to do the math before hand though. I think really the answer is to get a SWCG. I plan on getting a SWCG before next summer.

If you can't afford a SWCG I did find a pool company that you can basically "rent" one from for around $80/month. You can read more about them here. I've never used them, so can't really recommend them, but it's an idea. Cost wise, it's still cheaper in the long wrong to get your own SWCG installed, but that's a big up front cost some might not want to do.
 
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