New pool - can't hold chlorine levels

[dw9000]

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Well I finally got my pool filled 23,500 gals.

I added a gal of 10% bleach during the fill. Checked both chlorine and PH using the little blue daily kit from my TF100.

The chlorine didn't register nor did much PH.

I added a box of borax, brought the PH up.

I added another gal of 10% chlorine.

Checked the next day, my PH was still 7.2, chlorine still at 2 ppm. I added another gal of 10% bleach.

Checked today, PH was still kind of high so I added a little PH minus, seems to have brought it down around 6.8.

Chlorine still around 2ppm after 4 gals of 10% bleach in the past 6 days.

The water is clear and seems smooth and not irritating, am I ok?

 

[BuckeyeChris]

Do you have any stabilizer in the pool? What is your cya level?

 

[dw9000]

Yes, I was in a pinch so I went to walmart and got a 7lb container of stablizer/conditioner,, I forgot to mention I added 5 lbs of that to the skimmer

 

[YippeeSkippy]

You just dumped it in the skimmer?? I caution you to avoid doing that as the CYA *could* clump into a wad and cause blockage until it dissolves, and assuming it makes it to the filter you now can't backwash for at least a week if necessary (lest you just backwash it right out). The best way to dissolve CYA is to put it into an old sock and hang the sock either from a broom stick or something in front of a pool return (to keep it away from the pool edge yet get good circulation) or put the sock in the skimmer and run the filter until its all dissolved. Squeezing the sock now and then speeds things up.

I don't know why you FC isn't showing...but while shopping at Lowes today I walked through the garden section and noticed the boxes (3x gallon jugs 10%) of Kemtech liquid chlorine...sitting in the heat, for who knows how long?? That sure can degrade the liquid chlorine down a bunch. My point is are you sure of the strength and freshness of your chlorine?

 

[dw9000]

Yes, lesson learned, going forward I will use a sock in front of the return.

I bought the bleach maybe 2 mths ago, it might be weak. That is why I just added the whole gal. It didn't have that really sharp bleach smell.

 

[ping]

Please post all the values that the TF-100 can test for:

FC
CC
CYA
pH
TA
CH

You want to keep the pH in the 7's not below, see our Recommended Levels.