Too much chlorine

[my4boys2002]

I noticed water was cloudy, I added bleach lastnight. My husband told one of my boys to clean the pool he added bleach also. In total I think 1.5 bottles of bleach was added. Chlorine was off the charts lastnight. Is there anyrhing I should do or should I just wait til it drops. Thanks

[CarlD]

Hi! and Welcome!

Without test numbers it's hard to say. If your pool is cloudy due to algae, high chlorine levels is what you need to clear it. If it's cloudy due to high calcium levels, the chlorine won't do much.

Grey or green cloudiness usually means algae. Milky white cloudiness usually means you added too much calcium (such as if you continually use Cal-Hypo to shock).

So...what size pool do you have (gallons if you know, dimensions if you don't)? Is it concrete/plaster/tile, vinyl or fiberglass?

You'll need to get us test results for the following:
FC (Free Chlorine)
CC (Combined Chloramines) or
TC (Total Chlorine--either CC or TC is OK because TC= FC + CC)
pH (VERY important!)
T/A (Total Alkalinity)
CH (Calcium Hardness--important for concrete pools, only important for vinyl pools if it's too high)
CYA (Cyanuric Acid, called Stabilizer or Conditioner).

A pool store can test it for you but be wary of their advice and trying to sell you stuff.

They push Calcium increasers (I can't tell you how many vinyl pool owners have been scammed into buying calcium--useless for vinyl)

They put Phosphate Reducers--we've yet to see a case in MY memory where somebody needed this--even levels of 3000ppb (parts per billion) don't need it and they push it when then level is 1/6 that at 500ppb.

They sell total alkalinity increasers--it's just baking soda in a fancy package at a high price.

They sell pH increasers--THAT is just Arm&Hammer washing soda at a fancy price.

They sell algaecides that do more harm than good--filled with ammonia or copper.

They sell clarifiers and flocculents you don't need.

All of this is sold to you because you are panicking about a clouded pool. You are not alone. Most of us have been there. Most of that will have NO effect on your problem and some will make it harder to clear up.

So...don't buy anything just yet. If you've done business with them before you can say you just want to see how their stuff is working or something like that. It's a FREE analysis.

[my4boys2002]

it's a 15ft round pool calc has it at 5,300 gallons.
Ph 8.2
TA not sure
CYA 40
Chlorine when I used the nightly test it was orange, when I did the drop test it was 16ppm.
I added some PH down to decrease my ph levels

[waterbear]

High chlorine levels interfere with the pH test and make it read high when it is not. There is a chance that your pH might be on the low side once the chlorine levels drop. Recheck the pH once the chlorine is below 10 ppm.
In the future do not try to test or adjust pH when the chlorine is high.