SLAM in progress but pool won't hold chlorine

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sarahconway14

New member
May 26, 2024
4
Navan, Ontario
Hi! This is our second summer with our 16x32 inground chlorine pool. Last summer we opened the pool and had beautiful clear water for the whole season. This summer we are not so lucky. We opened the pool on May 8th and cannot get the pool to hold free chlorine. It has gone from a swamp to a blue color but very cloudy, we cannot see the bottom. Water temp is 80 and we have a cartridge filter system. We bought brand new filters last week. I had the water tested this am at the store: FC 0.12; CC 0.85, CYA 45; calcium 251; pH 7.1; alkalinity 33. Based on what I learned in pool school and pool math, I started SLAM. It is a cloudy day here in Ottawa Canada! I've done 3 doses of liquid chlorine (32.4 L or 8.54 gallons total) and cannot get chlorine level over 1. It seems to be disappearing by the time I re-test and add another dose. I'm going to keep dosing but wanted to check here because I'm worried I've made a mistake in this process. Thanks for any help you can provide!
Sarah
 
sarahconway14 said:
Hi! This is our second summer with our 16x32 inground chlorine pool. Last summer we opened the pool and had beautiful clear water for the whole season. This summer we are not so lucky. We opened the pool on May 8th and cannot get the pool to hold free chlorine. It has gone from a swamp to a blue color but very cloudy, we cannot see the bottom. Water temp is 80 and we have a cartridge filter system. We bought brand new filters last week. I had the water tested this am at the store: FC 0.12; CC 0.85, CYA 45; calcium 251; pH 7.1; alkalinity 33. Based on what I learned in pool school and pool math, I started SLAM. It is a cloudy day here in Ottawa Canada! I've done 3 doses of liquid chlorine (32.4 L or 8.54 gallons total) and cannot get chlorine level over 1. It seems to be disappearing by the time I re-test and add another dose. I'm going to keep dosing but wanted to check here because I'm worried I've made a mistake in this process. Thanks for any help you can provide!
Sarah
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Welcome, sorry about the circumstances though.

Unfortunately with pool store water testing its common to have problems like that. Here at TFP weve learned to only trust a couple test kits and theyre explained here:
www.troublefreepool.com

Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared

What pool test kit should I buy? Why not use test strips? Our recommended test kits will pay for themselves in no time!
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
JohnT said:
Welcome to TFP!

How long are you waiting to retest and how are you testing? Algae can consume chlorine very fast.
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Hi, I've been retesting 1-2 hrs or so. Should I be testing more frequently? I've ordered the K-2006 from amazon but have been using test strips and a 2-way test kit with liquid reagents in the meantime. I was hoping with the CYA test this morning, I could at least start the SLAM and hoped to see some kind of spike in FC. Nothing yet though.
 
No need to test more frequently than 2 hours or so....

I would not slam without the FAS-DPD test. Slam level is safe for equipment. The strips are not accurate enough to stay safe.
 
okay, so I will start again once I have the FAS-DPD test. Once I do have the correct test: I'm dosing and then testing every 2hrs? Then dosing until chlorine is up to the SLAM level? I keep doing this every 2 hrs until SLAM level is reached and maintained? The frequency/length of time between testing is not super clear to me in the instructions.
 
If you can do every 2 hours, it goes faster.

You test FC, add enough liquid chlorine to get it to SLAM level FC. Wait at least 2 hours and repeat the same thing until you pass all three SLAM criteria.

Re-read this. Link-->SLAM Process
 
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