Testing Free Chlorine

[SummerDay123]

Hello, this is my first summer owning a pool. You might see me posting a lot of questions!

Please help me with this, I'm having a hard time testing my FC. I have the Taylor 2006 kit with the powder. After I put the powder in the sample water, I swirl it and add the drops. The color starts to turn clear then all of a sudden it starts turning pink again, if I pause like for a second to look at the water color it starts turning dark pink. Its like the color goes backwards from almost clear to darker than the original color. what am I doing wrong? Am I adding drops too slow?

Also, I learned from this site I should use bleach as chlorine. I've been using Leslie products. Is it ok to just switch to bleach now? (assuming I can find some)

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[TonyM]

HI and welcome. There will be plenty of experts to stop by soon, but to start you should add your equipment info to your signature line so everyone knows what you are working with.

I had a hard time trying to "hand-swirl" the cylinder - if you can, get a Speedstir. I cant imagine going back to the hand swirl after getting one for myself. Makes life much easier. Here is a thread about them for more info.

On the chlorine - Yes, you will soon hear to stay away from the pool stores. You can use bleach (unscented - "regular" (not splash-proof) or liquid chlorine from places like Wallyworld or Lowes, HD, etc. I use and prefer the 10% "Pool Essentials" from Walmart, but you might have to search for it. Fortunately, most people don’t realize that this works just as good as regular bleach for cleaning, so the Covid run is not as bad as, say, with Clorox.

 

[SummerDay123]

Thank you so much! I'll be counting down the days until that stirrer arrives. Thank you for the chlorine tip too!

 

[Oly]

When the pink color is gone and the sample clear, that is your number. If allowed to sit the pink may reappear, this is normal so disregard.