Super high chlorine?!?

[Wanttotravelmore]

We just got back to our place in Belize after being gone for 6 months. The pool looked clean but this is my test for chlorine….I’ve never seen this colour before. I’m assuming the chlorine is just really high. I pulled the pucks out of the water yesterday (24. Hours ago) but the levels are still crazy high. The PH is really low (not shown on this picture). Do I just wait until the chlorine burns off, dump and add water or do you think there is something else going on? No one is swimming in it right now.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

Yes your chlorine is very high and is most likely bleaching out your PH reading. Taylor makes a test kit (K-2005) that reads up to 10 ppm. If you start adding chemicals to lower the chlorine you will more than likely bottom it out and be starting all over to build up a chlorine level. With no one using the pool time is on your side. P.S. Having a place in Belize and too much chlorine in the pool are the kind of problems I would like having, ha ha. Im envious.

 

[Wanttotravelmore]

hello

I’m dealing with super high chlorine levels even though I took the pucks out more than 10 days ago. Can this even be possible? Air Temperature is 80+ And it’s mostly sunny. The pool looks clear. How long does it take for levels to go down? I’ve owned a pool for 25 years and never seen this before.

 

[woodyp]

It'll burn off on it's own. what's your CYA level?

 

[tim5055]

It'll burn off on it's own. what's your CYA level?

Pucks for six months and chlorine that high I'm guessing just as high...

 

[JamesW]

What is the TA and CYA?

I would probably add some hydrogen peroxide or sodium thiosulfate.

 

[JamesW]

5 quarts of 3% hydrogen peroxide or 0.5 lbs of sodium thiosulfate will lower the FC by 10 ppm.

Lower (Neutralize) Chlorine Level | Horizon Commercial Pools

Sometimes it becomes necessary to quickly reduce the level of chlorine in your pool or spa. One way is to add Sodium Thiosulfate to neutralize the excess chlorine.

www.horizonpoolsupply.com

 

[Wanttotravelmore]

It'll burn off on it's own. what's your CYA level?

Unsure as I don’t have anything here to measure it (Belize) I am getting some test strip sent here this month so hopefully I can get this figured out. The first 5 years the pool was a salt water pool but when the controller failed we didn’t replace it and just started adding chlorine pucks. Lesson learned! Thanks for your help, I will be patient.

 

[JamesW]

The chlorine is very high and it can be especially corrosive to metals like copper when the pH is also low, so the high chlorine itself creates a hazard, especially if the pH is really low.

At super low pH, the chlorine begins to turn into elemental chlorine, which will attack copper at an accelerated rate compared to regular chlorine.

Also, you are not going to get a valid pH test while the chlorine is that high, so I would go ahead and drop the chlorine to below 10 ppm and then get a pH, TA and CYA reading and begin to address the numbers as needed.

Waiting for the sunlight to reduce the chlorine reduces the pH just as much as using hydrogen peroxide.

2HOCl + UV --> 2H⁺ + 2Cl^- + O₂

So, there is no benefit to waiting for the sun to reduce the chlorine vs. using hydrogen peroxide.

What is the TA?

Do you have a heater?