Very high CC, cloudy blue water.

[splashpad]

Normally I just throw it in the rocks around the outside of the pool.

Perfect! Just making sure it wasn't accidentally going back into the pool

 

[IT_GUY_23]

You can get some FC reading with ammonia.

The best way to confirm ammonia is the pH and TA will drop when adding liquid chlorine and oxidizing ammonia.

Oxidizing ammonia creates acid by releasing hydrogen.

More than 95% of ammonia is in the form of the ammonium ion (NH4+)

2NH4+ + 3OCl- --> N2 + 3H2O + 2H+ +3Cl-

When adding 12.5% sodium hypochlorite (liquid chlorine) to a pool to oxidize ammonia, every gallon of liquid chlorine will create the equivalent of 15 ounces of 31.45% hydrochloric acid.

10 gallons of 12.5% liquid chlorine added to 25,000 gallons of pool water with ammonia will lower the TA by about 23 ppm or the equivalent of adding 150 ounces of full strength 31.45% muriatic acid.

Every 8.53 gallons of 12.5% liquid chlorine is equivalent to about 1 gallon of 31.45% acid.

Well, the PH certainly does not appear to be dropping, if anything it has been steading climbing since I added 2 gallons of muriatic acid over the last week. The TA has been dropping, it started at about 380 and is now down to about 200.

 

[jedigrover]

Clean your test vial and sample container to be sure you aren't getting interference from older samples / reagents. Make sure you're starting clean.


Definitely just use the 10mL sample, at least until you take care of the major issues. I only go for the 25mL sample if I'm getting a single drop (0.5ppm) CC on the 10mL test--just to see a little more clearly how much CC there is. For large adjustments, save reagents and use the 10mL.

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

I don't think we have the gallons of your pool unless I missed it, but google tells me that type of pool is likely around 12-15K?
Pool math says 2 gallons of 31.45% acid would have dropped the TA from 83-67ppm
297-313 should have been the end result
(doing a lot of assuming on pool size and the type of acid you're using)

Also, 380 seems really high. Is your fill water high?

 

[JamesW]

Check the pH and TA before and after adding liquid chlorine to see if they drop as expected.

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

Just to recap all the ideas in the thread we haven't tried yet since I am sure it's getting confusing to keep track of it all...!

• Test your tap water, and see what kind of result you get
• Test your tap water with a few drops of bleach added, and see what kind of result you get
• Use a new container to gather the pool water
• Use a new or thoroughly cleaned vial to test the pool water
• Test your PH and TA before adding chlorine to your pool
• Test you PH and TA after adding chlorine to see if they both dropped
• Post a pic of the pool if possible
• Ammonia test strips if you wanted to bother with that
• Report the results of FC/CC test without any delay, as soon as the water turns clear on both

 

[splashpad]

• Report the results of FC/CC test without any delay, as soon as the water turns clear on both

Report is actually Record

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

Report is actually Record

I meant to report it to us all eagerly awaiting the results! Lol
But yes, record it as well!

 

[IT_GUY_23]

Just to recap all the ideas in the thread we haven't tried yet since I am sure it's getting confusing to keep track of it all...!

• Test your tap water, and see what kind of result you get
• Test your tap water with a few drops of bleach added, and see what kind of result you get
• Use a new container to gather the pool water
• Use a new or thoroughly cleaned vial to test the pool water
• Test your PH and TA before adding chlorine to your pool
• Test you PH and TA after adding chlorine to see if they both dropped
• Post a pic of the pool if possible
• Ammonia test strips if you wanted to bother with that
• Report the results of FC/CC test without any delay, as soon as the water turns clear on both

Thank you for compiling this list, I will run through all of these steps/tests and report back in a little while, probably ~3 hours.

Also, I am seeing different volume calculators for the pool, but I think it is about 15,700 gallons, based on being 18' x 33' x 54" tall.

I will report back as soon as I have all of the results!

 

[jedigrover]

According to Taylor, Chlorine levels > 25ppm can bleach the indicator to a brownish color. Is it possible that's what you're seeing with the orange color (brown is technically a shade of orange).

Complete™ kit for Chlorine, pH, Alkalinity, Hardness, CYA, Salt (FAS-DPD–high range) (.75 oz bottles)

 

[maxBR]

My 2 cents- get a speed stir. It's a big help in keeping your FC tests consistent and my readings were much improved after I started using one.

 

[IT_GUY_23]

The verdict is in!

• Test your tap water, and see what kind of result you get - FC =1, CC=0, PH=7.5, TA=75
• Test your tap water with a few drops of bleach added, and see what kind of result you get = FC =3, CC=0
• Use a new container to gather the pool water - FC=6, CC=22
• Use a new or thoroughly cleaned vial to test the pool water - FC=5, CC=20
• Test your PH and TA before adding chlorine to your pool - TA=150, PH=8.0-8.2
• Test you PH and TA after adding chlorine to see if they both dropped - (I haven't added more chlorine since last night).
• Post a pic of the pool if possible - See attached picture
• Ammonia test strips if you wanted to bother with that - See attached picture - Level Indicates a minimum 8ppm of Ammonia.
• Report the results of FC/CC test without any delay, as soon as the water turns clear on both - All of the numbers above are done without any sort of delay, I did notice a difference in the TA reading based on this fact.

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

Alright well, I think it's safe to say we have an answer!
I wonder if that is as high as the test goes - so does that mean there could be even more?

Ammonia - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

There is the protocol. You need to prepare first though!
You are going to need a lot of chlorine. No one can really tell you how much it will take. I would start with a minimum of 15 gallons on hand. You don't want to run out in the middle of things. If you have to drive really far to get chlorine, I would get even more.
You'll need to be able to be around to test every 30 minutes for potentially hours
You need to make sure you have enough reagents to test

Alternatively, you could drain and refill to save time and money.

Strange that you have any FC. I don't understand that, but...

 

[IT_GUY_23]

Alright well, I think it's safe to say we have an answer!
I wonder if that is as high as the test goes - so does that mean there could be even more?

Ammonia - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

There is the protocol. You need to prepare first though!
You are going to need a lot of chlorine. No one can really tell you how much it will take. I would start with a minimum of 15 gallons on hand. You don't want to run out in the middle of things. If you have to drive really far to get chlorine, I would get even more.
You'll need to be able to be around to test every 30 minutes for potentially hours
You need to make sure you have enough reagents to test

Alternatively, you could drain and refill to save time and money.

Strange that you have any FC. I don't understand that, but...

Yah, I don't really understand how the ammonia level can be that high, but my FC isn't all consumed. It has been a steady almost all day, and I haven't added more bleach since the 4 gallons last night. What really doesn't make sense now is that the Ammonia protocol is saying to stop when seeing FC > 3.0 for 30 minutes. So, now I am unsure when I would even stop, if this is in fact the issue.

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

@mknauss @JoyfulNoise @JamesW @Texas Splash
I would wait on one of these folks to chime in before making a decision

Found this post with someone that had over 8ppm as your test indicates you likely do...

Helping neighbor w/ SLAM - ammonia nightmare?

After finding the forum and going thru a successful SLAM 2 years ago, I thought I knew what I was doing. My neighbor has no technical or mechanical ability whatsoever and still uses the same pool guy I used 2 years ago. Constantly having issues and his water is yet to get clear 1 month after...

www.troublefreepool.com

His water was literally fizzing.

 

[IceShadow]

With ammonia as potentially high as you're showing I would find out the cost of water replacement and see about doing that first. It might be a LOT of chlorine to get through it.

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

Yeah, that guy spent $3-400. That was before covid prices...
Im thinking yours isnt THAT high because it's not "fizzing" like his, but who knows at this point, none of this makes sense.

 

[IT_GUY_23]

@mknauss @JoyfulNoise @JamesW @Texas Splash
I would wait on one of these folks to chime in before making a decision

Found this post with someone that had over 8ppm as your test indicates you likely do...

Helping neighbor w/ SLAM - ammonia nightmare?

After finding the forum and going thru a successful SLAM 2 years ago, I thought I knew what I was doing. My neighbor has no technical or mechanical ability whatsoever and still uses the same pool guy I used 2 years ago. Constantly having issues and his water is yet to get clear 1 month after...

www.troublefreepool.com

His water was literally fizzing.

Wow, that was quite the read. I am actually going to go and dilute my ammonia test and see if how accurate of a number I can get out of it.

 

[IceShadow]

Don't know if water is as cheap in Chicago as it is here in Milwaukee, but if so, it's a few hundred dollars at most to replace 20k gallons. Yours is likely less.

A no-drain water exchange is how I would do it to avoid shifting the liner.

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[IT_GUY_23]

Yeah, that guy spent $3-400. That was before covid prices...
Im thinking yours isnt THAT high because it's not "fizzing" like his, but who knows at this point, none of this makes sense.

So, right now I am finding 10% bleach for $6/gallon or so, and I think the cost to refill would be about $320 based on last month's water bill. So, that would mean, I'd need to accomplish the removal of ammonia with less than 53 gallons of LC to be cost effective.