Need help big time

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Tom

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Jul 21, 2007
5
:( I'm new to this forum and I have a major problem. My pool, 25,000 gallon inground, will not hold chlorine. All the chemicals are balanced and holding firm. My supplier has reccomended a major shock attack. Three pounds every three hours. As of six a.m. I've shocked this pool 8 times for a total of twenty five pounds of shock. NOTHING!! This has been going on since I opened in May. I'm at the end of my rope and wallet. Why can't I hold FC if everything else checks out fine when the watewr is tested including the stabilizer? I'm on my third supplier and they all say I need to use massive amounts of shock and now I'm worried about the liner... I'm ready to fill it in and make a big flower garden out of it.
Would it be better if I switched to a non-chlorine product? Can anyone give me another alternative?
Thanks
 
As I have learned here, you need to remember that shock is something you do, it is not a product.

If you post your numbers, people here can tell you what you need to bring your chlorine level up to so you can shock the pool.


As for switching to a non-chlorine product, I can personally vouch that if you swtich to something like Baquacil or Soft Swim, you life will be a living heck with your pool.

I am one of the ones who converted from soft swim (thats the way the pool was kept when we bought the house) to bleach. My pool is absolutely beautiful now, and all i do is add a 1/4-1/2 gallon of bleach a night.
 
Be leary of shocking with powdered chlorine. Unless it's lithium hypochlorite, it's adding either calcium or stabilizer that you may not want or need.

Posting your complete #s will get you the best advice for your situation.
 
Reply to chlorine problem

Sorry about not adding the numbers , never had this happen before. This is a run down of the test this morning:
TDS: 600
CYA: 150
Tot. Chlor: 0
Free Chlor: 0
pH: 7.5
Tot Alk: 190
Tot. Hardness: 180
no metals
no Algae
The store recommended the major shock treatment because I haven't been able to get a chlorine reading all season, telling me that I have to saturate the pool with the shock and get it to hold for six hours after which we can bring it ti the 1-3 ppm reading.
 
Your problem is high CYA levels. WIth CYA at 150 you need to bring FC up to at least 25 and hold it there to kill the algae. There are all kinds of problems with high CYA levels. I suggest you replace at least 1/3 of your water, and preferrably more, to get the CYA level down to a more manageable number
 
Hi, Tom,

Just to reinforce what Jason said, that incredibly high CYA level has just about rendered ineffective your chlorine. If you can get your CYA down to 100 or less you can limp thru the rest of the Summer but, eventually, a 30-50 range is best.

Interesting the pool store results tested "no algae"....I wasn't aware they could do that. In fact I would suspect you have algae in your pool and that's why the chlorine never stays for any length of time.

Last thought.....as mentioned, it's helpful to think of shock as a process you do with chlorine. The packages labeled "Shock" in the poolstore are simply high-priced chlorine (almost always).

You should keep adding chlorine to your pool. It is keeping your pool from turning completely green. If you can get your CYA down, you will be able to maintain a good chlorine residual.
 
I understand that shock is the process. Like many other words we get caught in the habit of using it as a catchall. Currently I am taking water out and will replace what is removed later and start all over with a new test and go from there. My hardness level is climbing so I have to switch what type of "shock" I use. You hit on the same idea I have for the rest of the season to just keep circulating and chlorinating till I close. The cost of this is getting out of hand and with no kids around the sooner I close the better I can regroup for next year. Truthfully a gazebo and garden is sounding pretty good about now.
Thank you all for the help.
 
Your frustration is very understandable. I think there's light at the end of the tunnel. You're gonna' use a lot of chlorine getting back up to speed but then I think you'll drop down to a very comfortable dosage within a few days at most.

What you need to do is not complex and can be done completely without pool store chemicals. Find big jugs of Clorox on sale at the grocery store or Sam's Club or Wal-Mart and get a bunch. My guess is you'll probably need 8 jugs of the big size (1.41 gal) and you'll put it in all at once. I'd do it in the late afternoon.

If you have a test kit that will go above 5ppm, test for Cl the next AM and bring it back up to 25ppm (download "bleachcalc" from this site or, better, use JasonLion's nifty calculator found in any of his posts.)

Next bring the Cl back up to 25ppm each evening until you detect little chlorine loss overnight. Your water should by then be sparkling and you should be able to go to "maintenance" mode. That means letting your chlorine drift down to 5-10ppm and keep it there the rest of the summer. I suspect that will be about 1 small jug of Clorox daily or a little less.

Keep reading this forum and asking questions. The vast majority of us are here because it's a resource to help us learn how to keep our pools pristine with very little money spent. Lot's of folks here will help you towards that end.

While all the above is going on, jump in the pool and consume some adult beverages......it won't help your pool but you won't care one way or the other!! :lol: :lol:

BTW, How does your water look?
 
8) I've already begun the adult beverages... I work on Sundays so I'm gearing up for the task. Believe it or not the water looked great before I started this mess. I'm going to see how the rest of the day goes and after my work week ( OT will have to come to keep this up) I'll rehash my options. I'll let you know how it works out. Thanks again
 

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Last year when we had a major aglae problem at opening a product called correct kit (or maybe clear kit...regardless I can't find a link for it) The product worked amazingly, however...after we used it I was unable to detect chlorine in my pool for a couple of months. I was told that there was a bromine product in the kit that made it impossible to get chlorine readings. Perhaps someone else knows more about this system. On a positive note...my pool was clear for the entire season. I'm not an expert by any means, but figured that there was a chance that my experience could help you out in some way.
Good Luck!
N
 
:shock: Well I pumped out almost half of the water and replaced it, started to reintroduce and check PH, Alk, and chlorine. It's now 5 am and the pool in balanced except it still will not show any total or free chlorine. I have a double shift ahead of me today and I'm just going to continue to run the filter and clorinator to keep the water clear and see what happens. I can't get the water checked until Monday so I don't have numbers yet. Also I switched the type of 'shock' I was using so the hardness level doesn't climb a do damage to my liner... Well off to the railyard I go. I just love this season.
 
Get a measurement for your CYA level and then follow the suggestions in Ben's best guess chart for chlorine levels, see the link in my signature, and everything will work out. You might well need to shock one more time to get it to hold a chlorine level, but with a more plausible CYA level things should be much simpler from here on out.
 
FYI, also thought we should mention that the product your pool store was calling "shock" is most likely what was pumping your CYA way up there too. If you are going to shock your pool, stick with the bleach alone. Most of the powdered stuff has cya in it (few exceptions) so you will be right back where you started.
 
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