In Pool Furniture Burning Chlorine

[jchichizola]

Hi everyone, I had a pool built and completed in April. It’s about a 10k gallon gunite pool. I live in central FL. I followed all of the builder’s instructions, but it seemed ever since they installed the SWC I have been struggling to maintain chlorine. A friend had a similar sized pool built by the same company and they installed a Jandy PLC1400 SWC. I looked at mine and the builder only installed a PLC700. The builder swapped out the unit and replaced the board, but my chlorine struggles continued, albeit slightly improved. I had the SWC set to 80% running 12 hours a day and still had a net loss of 1 ppm. It also seemed like it burned 3 ppm overnight, which would mean and OCLT fail.

My CC has been next to nothing, so I was hesitant to SLAM. For the heck of it I decided to remove a couple of aqua chairs (cheaper ledge loungers) I had on the Sun shelf. The chlorine loss stopped almost immediately and now I can run my SWC at 50% and still have a net ppm increase. I also now have no overnight loss.

Obviously the chairs are the culprit, but does anyone know why? I see no algae on them and no water has been released from them. The chairs weren’t cheap so I am trying to figure out how to continue using them. Any thoughts on why the chairs could be driving the chlorine down? Suggestions on how I should try to clean them?

Thanks!

 

[HermanTX]

Obviously the chairs are the culprit, but does anyone know why? I see no algae on them and no water has been released from them. The chairs weren’t cheap so I am trying to figure out how to continue using them. Any thoughts on why the chairs could be driving the chlorine down? Suggestions on how I should try to clean them?

Welcome to TFP.
What are the chairs made of? You could wash them down with household bleach and rinse them very good before putting back in the pool. This seems odd to be related to chairs.
I assume you do not have a cover on your pool as those tend to have algae hiding there.

With a 10k pool you definitely need the PL1400 SWCG as that provides you more flexibility on pump run time and output % setting.

 

[jchichizola]

Welcome to TFP.
What are the chairs made of? You could wash them down with household bleach and rinse them very good before putting back in the pool. This seems odd to be related to chairs.
I assume you do not have a cover on your pool as those tend to have algae hiding there.

With a 10k pool you definitely need the PL1400 SWCG as that provides you more flexibility on pump run time and output % setting.

Thanks for your response.

The chairs are resin and filled with pool water. Over time I would assume the water within gets dirty, but the resin is very thick and doesn’t appear to be leaking anywhere. The only thing I could think of is if the chair material is porous or the material or chemicals used during production are causing an issue.

It could also be coincidental, but I find those odds extremely unlikely since I have battled with the chlorine for the past few months and on the same day I remove the chairs the issue is miraculously resolved. I also didn’t add any chemicals other than some muriatic acid that could have helped the chlorine.

No cover. Pool is within a screen enclosure.

 

[ajw22]

SLAM with the chairs in the pool and the process should eventually sterilize whatever the chairs have on it.

Had the Aqua Chairs been sitting outside before being put in the pool?

My lounge chairs around the pool get mold and mildew on them.

 

[jchichizola]

SLAM with the chairs in the pool and the process should eventually sterilize whatever the chairs have on it.

Had the Aqua Chairs been sitting outside before being put in the pool?

My lounge chairs around the pool get mold and mildew on them.

They went right from their shipping box into the pool.

Since the pool seems fine without the chairs, couldn’t I just soak the chairs in a high chlorine bath on their own outside of the pool?

 

[ajw22]

They went right from their shipping box into the pool.

Ok, but we don’t know the environment they were sitting in the factory.

Since the pool seems fine without the chairs, couldn’t I just soak the chairs in a high chlorine bath on their own outside of the pool?

You can.

What do you have that is large enough to put them in other then your pool?

How do you know when they are sterile?

You would need to do a OCLT on the chair bath.

 

[jchichizola]

Ok, but we don’t know the environment they were sitting in the factory.



You can.

What do you have that is large enough to put them in other then your pool?

How do you know when they are sterile?

You would need to do a OCLT on the chair bath.

They only sit in about 9 inches of water. I was thinking a long and wide outdoor Rubbermaid bin. Fill it with about 12 inches of water and chlorine then use my Taylor FAS-DPD kit to test every few hours.

 

[ajw22]

They only sit in about 9 inches of water. I was thinking a long and wide outdoor Rubbermaid bin. Fill it with about 12 inches of water and chlorine then use my Taylor FAS-DPD kit to test every few hours.

You need to add at least 30 ppm of CYA or the sun will eat the chlorine if it is outdoors.

 

[jchichizola]

You need to add at least 30 ppm of CYA or the sun will eat the chlorine if it is outdoors.

Ok will do. Thanks for the advice!

 

[JamesW]

Obviously the chairs are the culprit, but does anyone know why?

Your conclusion that the chairs are causing the problem is weak at best.

In my opinion, there is not enough information to make any conclusions about the loss of chlorine.

What material are the chairs made of?

Can you show pictures of the chairs in the water?

 

[jchichizola]

Your conclusion that the chairs are causing the problem is weak at best.

In my opinion, there is not enough information to make any conclusions about the loss of chlorine.

What material are the chairs made of?

Can you show pictures of the chairs in the water?

I have tested it twice over the past week.

Chairs left in the pool = chlorine loss of about 1 ppm with SWG @ 80% for 12 hours. OCLT fail

Chairs out of the pool = chlorine maintained at 6 ppm with SWG @ 50%. OCLT pass.

Pump runs from 7am to 7pm
Testing done at 8am, 6:00pm & 10pm

Chemicals tested with Taylor K2005
Chlorine - see above
pH - 7.7
CYA - 75
TA - 100
CH - 350
No copper
Salt - 3400
Phosphate - < 100

The chairs are drained ready to be cleaned and I don’t have a picture of them in the pool. I’d be happy to take one after I clean them and replace them to see if the issue persists.

 

[HermanTX]

They went right from their shipping box into the pool.

Since the pool seems fine without the chairs, couldn’t I just soak the chairs in a high chlorine bath on their own outside of the pool?

So the chairs fill with pool water as you place them in the pool? Can you seal the opening or does water drain from the chair if you remove them?
One idea is to fill the chairs with water & bleach mixture, then seal the hole. Clean the surface of the chairs with bleach before placing in the pool.

 

[jchichizola]

Yes, I have attached a pic of the chairs. There are two holes about the size of a quarter on the rear of the chair behind the head area. The whole chair is basically hollow. You submerge them in the pool to fill them with pool water and then place them on the ledge. At that point gravity will cause the water to sit inside the chair in the foot and the butt areas and will keep those areas submerged on the shelf. There are no plugs for the holes, but they are well out of the water and the plastic resin of the chair is quite thick all around, so I don’t think they are leaking and am leaning toward the material they are made of or something on it that is just causing the chlorine to be constantly trying to oxidize.

And your suggestion is exactly what I will try in terms of cleaning them. I will use a magic eraser, then some bleach and rinse them off and see if I still have an issue.

I also emailed the manufactures to see if they can offer any insight.