Ready to fill it with dirt and start a garden
- Thread starter izjay
- Start date
carlscan26 said:
I don't run the fountains 24 hours a day, but I do run them for a while after I get the chlorine up to 30 ppm. I have the vacuum line open and have some flow through it. I brush daily and run my robot cleaner once a week. I also put in a clean filter cartridge yesterday.
You might be outgassing some chlorine from the aeration from the fountains, though usually that isn't noticeable. However, a small percentage of a large FC number as with shocking might make that noticeable. In addition to turning off the ozonator, I'd stop running the fountains and other aeration sources and see if your overnight chlorine loss drops. I'd say you are fairly close to being stable, but something is still making a higher chlorine loss than typically seen. Because of your higher CYA level, the higher shock level makes the "1 ppm FC overnight loss" rule difficult to achieve. If you get down to 2 or less, you're probably good, especially if at that point you let the FC drop down to 15-20 and the overnight loss becomes 1 or less.
chem geek said:
OK. I will try all of this. I also have a question regarding the CYA test. Does the high chlorine level affect this test in any way? I just want to make sure the last test (around 60) was accurate.
Not high FC. However the test can be affected by cloudy water. From the extended test kit directions:izjay said:
Question from left field - is there any chance that you have an auto-fill device on your pool which keeps the water level up?
izjay said:
Ok, then, no problem. I'll just go away now. You can pretend I was never here.
Move along, folks. Nothing to see, here... everyone just be about your business...
chem geek said:
I turned off my fountains and my ozone unit. I also cranked my FC up to 47 ppm. It dropped from 47 (11:00 pm) to 39 (7 am) overnight. Is there some point where I just throw in the towel and drain/refill the pool? The amount of chlorine I am going through is ridiculous. Or, should I just put a ton of chlorine in the pool all at once? I am not sure what the highest safe level is in terms of possible damage to the pool.
Have you checked every possible place for hiding algae? Ladder, lights, and everything else in the water?
Bama Rambler said:
Yes. I took the light out and cleaned behind it. I took it apart and soaked all the parts in a strong chlorine mixture and I replaced the gasket. I took the main drain covers off and cleaned those too. I don't have anything else in the water like ladders. I brush the pool surface every day.
So... I just noticed something in my plumbing. My ozonator has a mixing chamber and water is diverted into it through a 3/4 inch pipe off of the main pool plumbing system. I have been meaning to add valves to it so I can cut off flow to the mixing chamber and eliminate the air that it is mixing in that chamber. It still does this even though I turned off the ozone. I just added the valves. When I cut the PVC pipe, I notice there is a dark orange/brown film on the inside of the pipes. I can easily wipe it off with my fingers. I have noticed a similar film in the pipes connected to my SWG cell, but I have never been able to rub it off the PVC. Is it possible that this is algae and it is starting to loosen up with the high chlorine levels? I would assume that all my pool plumbing has a similar layer of funk on it. I would like to raise my chlorine level as high as possible. Can someone tell me what the highest I should go is? I am at around 50 right now.
Another thing to mention is that the mixing chamber for the ozone unit is clear plastic. So, this means it has been allowing light to enter on the intake side of my SWG. I also just disconnected my SWG cell and the orange/brown layer that is coating the PVC has loosened up. Before, I couldn't even rub it off with a rough towel. Now it is coming off with my finger. Can someone tell me if it would make sense for me to use some sort of algacide? I know the chlorine should work, but it seems like I may have a significant problem within my plumbing.
I think what you're seeing is organic staining thats being attacked by the high chlorine levels and is coming loose.
Yep, it certainly sounds like the chlorine is doing it's job on it.
There's no magic bullet for this. I know you are going through a lot of chlorine, but there really isn't another chemical that you can use that won't cause something else you'd have to deal with.
You're winning. Stay the course.
There's no magic bullet for this. I know you are going through a lot of chlorine, but there really isn't another chemical that you can use that won't cause something else you'd have to deal with.
You're winning. Stay the course.
Even with a CYA of 60 (which is not high) isn't FC of 40-50 overkill for shocking? Wouldn't it be just as effective and more economical to use a lower shock level?
In addition to the loss from killing organics, there will be some percentage of loss during the day to UV. As a percentage, the UV loss is greater at higher FC levels, so more of the higher levels are wasted during the day. I doubt that the higher levels are physically hurting anything, since this isn't a vinyl or fiberglass pool, but it would probably be best to stay around the shock/mustard shock level, from an economy POV.
Ohm_Boy said:
My pool (salt) has a CYA of around 60. I see on the CYA/Chlorine chart that the shock level is 30. Is there a different level for mustard algae or is 30 what I should be shooting for? Over the past couple of days I have been trying to keep the FC level in the upper 40's (just to hit it hard) and it takes over two gallons of chlorine a day to do this. Yesterday, I started the day at FC 39 and added chlorine (almost 3 gallons) throughout the day. It went up to as high as 51, but dropped back down to 41 by this morning.