Very high combined chlorine

[Bdfletch]

That is how I am testing, but I will check to see if the reagents are still good

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I was also getting a nice swirl on, but I just learned that it's best to move fast once sample turns pink, this is something I haven't been following. Thanks again for all the help, this site is the bomb

 

[MarianParoo]

Good luck and let us know if you notice any changes.

 

[wjr75]

Buy a speed stir they are awsome.

 

[pabeader]

Just out of curiosity, what size sample are you using? Also, what is the lot code on the reagent bottle?

 

[Bdfletch]

Bottle is a pint purchased last summer, lot c1026 exp 04/16 , r-0871. Tested this morning and had a fc of 5 and a cc of 20, dumped another 25 gallons in last night, still can't seem to get to shock level. I checked the color of the t-0871 and it is clear, hasn't been froze or in sunlight. I am getting tired of dumping 80$ worth of chlorine everyday and still having a pool with very high cc.

 

[pookiesunshine]

Bottle is a pint purchased last summer, lot c1026 exp 04/16 , r-0871. ...

Well, that label says it is expired, but i think you have been getting high CC for a while now. Have you tried getting water tested at a pool store just to confirm high CC? [not for accuracy, just general confirmation of high levels.] If your water is clear you might want to get some new reagent just to be sure it is not off.

 

[Bdfletch]

Is it possible the reagent for testing combined chlorine is off and maybe giving a false high?

 

[Bdfletch]

I have been using the 10ml sample size

 

[PAGirl]

Someone once mentioned they tested high CC because there was residue left in the testing vials.... Have you cleaned them?

Probably not it since you aren't registering much FC, but worth mentioning.

 

[Bdfletch]

What is the proper procedure to clean them?

 

[Bdfletch]

So here is today's report, tested at 14:45 EDT, fc 1 cc 6, pH too low to get a reading, ta 60 cya 60, took a sample to local pool store, results were nearly similar, bought 25 more gallons of 12.5% , added 18 lbs of baking soda, waited a couple of hours for the sun to go down then added all 25 gallons of bleach, tested approximately 20 minutes later and got a fc of 1.5 and a cc of well over 20, a little baffled as to where the chlorine is going, since Monday I have added 75 gallons

 

[PAGirl]

Strange that your PH also dropped dramatically.

 

[Bdfletch]

That could be because I added 5 lbs of cal hypo on Monday night

 

[max2k]

if I understand this correctly cal hypo might rise pH shortly, not lower it.

I wonder about your 12.5% chlorine- can you take 1 gal of tap water (please test it for FC first, it needs to be 0), add 1 oz of your liquid chlorine to it and test the solution? This should give you close to 1000 ppm reading. Since it would take a lot of drops to measure you can dilute it 1:10 twice with the tap water to get it down to 10 ppm and test that. The point of all this is to make sure your 12.5% LC has correct concentration, you're off by so much that it doesn't make much sense. For example, when adding 1 gal of LC to my 55k pool I get FC increase by approximately 2 ppm which makes sense. I never noticed significant degradation of the LC I'm buying over couple weeks it spends in my garage and I never bothered to shade it as it's not in direct sunlight. Either you got a very big pool or something is really off.

One more thing- when adding chlorine you do make sure water circulates as it takes some time to mix it through?

 

[pabeader]

Could we get a picture of your pool and the surrounding area? There might be something we can see that isn't obvious.

 

[Swampwoman]

So we know you used MPS,(non-chlorine shock) which might explain high ccs, but we now also know that something is also consuming your FC, right?

It sounds like a chemical duel of sorts...something contraindicated chemically speaking may be in your water. Example, RV antifreeze from opening? (Do you use it, and if so, do you pump it off before opening the lines?) Pesticide or Fertilizer overspray? (Are you near a farm or woods that the MOE might spray?)

Have you used any formulations of algaecide that contain ammonia? These avenues are worth investigation.

 

[Casey]

That's an awful lot of chlorine to be dumping in one clip.

 

[Bdfletch]

I live on a farm, and at one time there could have been traces of liquid fertilizer in one of the tanks used to fill my pool, I always dump a gallon of rv antifreeze into the pump for winterization and have always just pumped it back into the pool. Also the very first time we filled the pool 4 years ago, we used well water that was known to be high in iron, and a fine clay, since then I have really never had it balanced.

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I did use some algicides from Costco the first year we opened the pool not sure what kind though

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Not too sure how to post a picture

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Also my chlorine just used to be used for roundup, they were rinsed out well though

 

[Bdfletch]

Did a quick test this morning, fc 3 cc27, very strong chlorine smell, almost burns my eyes

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Pool is crystal clear for the first time in three years as well

 

[zea3]

I am also concerned about the amount of bleach you are adding at one time. Extremely high chlorine levels will bleach out the test and give a false 0 result. Please do not add any more bleach until we give further instructions.