Is there a normal bleach consumption?

Jul 24, 2017
73
Fayetteville/GA
This is my 1st pool and I've been maintaining it myself, this summer will be my 3rd season of maintaining the pool. 1st year no issues, 2nd year turned green and couldn't get rid of it until I learned about this site and determined that 150 stabilizer level was my culprit. After a couple 50% drains I got the level down to 60-70 and after another year of just using bleach and no pucks with occasional drains/fills due to rain it's in the 50-60 range. Now that it's pollen season in southern GA I've been having to add approximately 2 bottles of 10% bleach every 2 or 3 days to keep my chlorine levels up. It feels excessive but I really have nothing to compare against. Would the pros here consider this normal, and if not what might be my culprit? As I mentioned stabilizer is a steady 50-60 and since we're not using the pool yet I've been trying to err on the side of slightly high chlorine levels between 8-10.
 
Most pools use about 2-4ppm of FC daily, a bit less when the water is cold, and a bit more when the water is warm and the pool sees more usage.

2 gallons (256oz) of 10% bleach in your 30,000 gallon pool will add approx. 6.7ppm of FC. If you add that every 2 days, that about 3.4ppm per day.

How does the water look? Can the pool pass an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

Please post a complete set of recent test results from your TF-100 if you still have it ( https://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/147837-All-levels-normal-pool-still-dark-green ).

Also, please add your test kit to your signature, I needed to research your posts to see what kind of kit you use.
 
Most pools use about 2-4ppm of FC daily, a bit less when the water is cold, and a bit more when the water is warm and the pool sees more usage.

2 gallons (256oz) of 10% bleach in your 30,000 gallon pool will add approx. 6.7ppm of FC. If you add that every 2 days, that about 3.4ppm per day.

How does the water look? Can the pool pass an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

Please post a complete set of recent test results from your TF-100 if you still have it ( https://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/147837-All-levels-normal-pool-still-dark-green ).

Also, please add your test kit to your signature, I needed to research your posts to see what kind of kit you use.

I use a TFT-100 kit, just added it to my .sig as you suggested. The water is blue and clear, although I wouldn't call it crystal clear -- there is so much pollen in the pool there is some slight cloudiness that I don't think can be helped. I'm running the main pump 8 hours/day and the vacuum for 6.

My last full test was a couple weeks ago, incorporating my current testing here are my #s
FC: 4 (just added 2 bottles of 10% bleach)
cc: 0
pH: 7.8 (added 4 cups acid, the pH always rises and need to do this weekly)
CH: 40
TA: 90
CYA: 50
 
If this were my pool, I would test & dose FC every day for the next few days to get a good idea of the daily FC usage, 3.4ppm a day seems a bit on the high side for a pool that is probably still too cold to swim in. What is the water temp?
 
On an unrelated note, I see your TA is 90.

You might work it down to around 70 to see if that helps stabilize the ph.

A lot of people have had less ph issues even having TA as low as 50.

Unless you have water features, which can also cause an increase in ph.
 
If this were my pool, I would test & dose FC every day for the next few days to get a good idea of the daily FC usage, 3.4ppm a day seems a bit on the high side for a pool that is probably still too cold to swim in. What is the water temp?

No thermometer, it's chilly :). Even in the winter when it was near freezing the pool was consuming about a bottle every 2-3 days. The pool water was likely never near freezing but we had a couple sub 32 nights.

On an unrelated note, I see your TA is 90.

You might work it down to around 70 to see if that helps stabilize the ph.

A lot of people have had less ph issues even having TA as low as 50.

Unless you have water features, which can also cause an increase in ph.

Thanks. The TF-100 test kit says shoot for 90-110, I probably dumped 50 lbs of baking soda in the last 6 months along with a LOT of muriatic acid in a counter-productive battle to try and reach 90-110/7.5
 
As long as TA is above 40, you can leave it alone. If it drops below 50, consider adjusting it up, otherwise you'll just be fighting it all season and wasting money. :) Many of us maintain TA around 50-60 to reduce pH climb due to SWGs, water features, etc.
 
Stay on top of your FC levels now as the water warms up. Follow domCT203's advice and get a good handle on your daily FC usage by adding chlorine and testing daily for a few days.

Don't assume you are seeing only pollen. Consider boosting your FC up to the shock level and test your FC loss while observing changes in water clarity now before swim season starts.
 
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