How much bleach?

[drako4]

Hi,

Pool has been set up for about 8 days. Intex 12'x30" vinyl. 1700 or so gallons.
Numbers have been fairly consistent for about 4 days. Just tested this afternoon with taylor K 2006.
Here are my numbers:
PH 7.6
FC = 4ppm
CC= 0
TA= 120
CYA- tested first thing this a.m. and was 40ppm. First time testing this. Was a bit tricky to see exactly when the black dot disappeared. Very hard to see dot at 40ppm.

Upon setting up the pool I was advised to use 1 lb of dichlor over a bit of time and at that point my CYA should be somewhere around 40ppm. I am just a few TBSP away from using all of the dichlor. ( about 7 TBSP left). I appear to be losing on average of about 2, 2.5 ppm of chlorine during the course of the day. Since my FC was 4ppm at 1 o'clock I added 1.5 TBSP of dichlor to tie me over to the evening. I have been maintaining FC anywhere from 3-6 ppm. CC has be 0 for a few days.

My question now is, since my CYA is 40ppm when should I switch over to the bleach and how much. We are going away for a couple of days tomorrow and I have no one to manage the pool:( Any suggestions. I am a bit nervous. Not sure if I will let the pump run 24/7???? and not sure what I will come back to. Our temps right now are anywhere from 90-97 degrees.

Thanks to everyone who helped me get to this point. My family is enjoying the pool and thanks to all of the advise, so far pool has been crystal clear. Continuing to add borax and soda when needed.

[CarlD]

Your numbers are FINE!

Little Intex donuts can be a lot of fun--We had a 15' for 3 years.

Now you can start using bleach to chlorinate your pool, which is really, really cheap and effective.

One quart of regular 6% bleach will add almost 9ppm of chlorine to your pool. I suggest before you leave you add that quart to raise it near-shock level, cover it (the Intexes usually come with a cover) and don't worry!

One pint of bleach will add 4.4ppm of chlorine to your pool. The Di-Chlor has done its job. You have a nice CYA level, your pH is good, and the bleach won't affect either. Plus you can get it anywhere!

[drako4]

Will it matter if my filter is running or not?

[aylad]

I would make sure and run it for at least 2 hours after your bleach addition, and then you can shut it off it you want to, especially if you're covering it. If it's only for a couple of days, then you shouldn't have any problem at all--and even if you do, the fix is pretty easy!

Janet

[CarlD]

I had an inexpensive plug-in outdoor timer I used on my Intex. I think it was about $40 or $50 and it hung on the wall next to the outdoor outlet, designed for outdoors. I'd run the pool 8-10 hours/day.

[aylad]

My friends down the street have the same type of timer on theirs, but their pool is under a big oak tree with lots of big leaves that clog the skimmer. Running the pool while you're home is obviously a necessity, but while you're gone, you'll have to make the decision as to whether you can safely run it without plugging up the skimmer with leaves, etc. or not. As I mentioned in my post above, if it's too risky, then it would be okay for a couple of days without running. If it's not a danger, then by all means run it via timer!

Janet

[drako4]

Hi,

I am back!! This afternoon we returned home to a very clear pool! YEAH!!!!!
Here are my numbers:

PH 7.4 -7.5 Very close
FC 8.5
CC 0.5
TA 130

I did as was recommended and added 1 gallon of bleach and let the filter run for 3 hours prior to leaving and then covered.

Do I need to do anything at this point to bring down my FC and CC? Not sure how to do that...

Thank you again for the advise. I am so glad I found this great group of people. I honestly did not think of the pool one time while away. I just had enough faith in what I have been told thus far and I will continue to swear by the BBB method!

By the way... I love my test kit. I feel like it is so accurate and takes away all of the GUESS work:)

Carrie

[Watermom]

The FC will come down on its own. If someone has a CC level above 0.5, we recommend shocking the pool. If it is 0.5 or below, you are ok ------ although, if you want to shock the pool to get the CC down to 0 that is fine, too. Glad it was clear when you got home!

[drako4]

If I decide to shock the pool, approx. how much bleach should I put in? As the FC comes down on its own, will the CC as well?

Do I need to test my CYA again at some point?

Cheers:)

[Watermom]

In your pool, 1/4 of a cup of 6% bleach will raise your cl by 1ppm. With a cya of 40, you should keep your cl between 3-6 all the time and your shock level will be 15. CC will NOT come down as FC does.

Have you used anything besides the dichlor to raise the cya? If not, I wouldn't worry about testing for it again for quite awhile. Maybe sometime in another month or so and maybe in the fall when you get ready to close the pool. The people who have to test for it frequently are those who are using trichlor tabs and dichlor powder to shock with.

[aylad]

I'm willing to bet that if you'll just leave the pool uncovered for awhile during the day, that CC will disappear without shocking the pool. Otherwise, your numbers look great, so I would test it again before shocking. Of course, it never HURTS to shock, but no need to expend the bleach if you don't need to.

Up to you.........

Janet

[drako4]

I have not used anything other dichlor to bring up CYA.. I was going to just uncover and see what happened for today, but, we now have a forecast of rainshowers all day.

Might be a silly question but here goes anyway.. If I uncover will the rain change any of my readings. I am not sure how rain really effects a pool. Should I leave covered?

Cheers:)
Carrie

[aylad]

The rain probably will dilute your chlorine, albeit only a little--unless it's a storm with lots of wind that would blow debris into your pool. It shouldn't affect any of the other readings. So whether to cover it or not is up to you--do you need the water replenishment, or do you need to keep debris from blowing into the pool? If it's just passing rain showers, I'd leave it uncovered, but that's just my opinion.

Janet

[AnnaK]

Very heavy rain may increase your pH some. The splashing and splattering acts to aerate the pool much like a fountain does. Covering it would prevent that, of course.

Have you ever calculated how much water you add by raising the level of your pool by 1"? It's a useful calculation to do because you'll know how many extra gallons have been added to your pool by that 1 inch, and you can use the pool calculator to figure the effect of adding chemicals to the new volume. It also tells you whether a rainfall of 1/2", 1", 4" will make a difference and what difference it may make in the dilutions.

[drako4]

Hello,

Well the day after returning home I decided to shock since my FC was 5.5 and CC=0.5.
I did leave the pool uncovered but cc did not go away. I added 1 quart of bleach that evening and took the FC up to about 15. I left it uncovered.
My CC did go to 0 the following morning.
Upon testing this evening though, my FC is 5.5 and CC is back up to 0.5. There has been no swimming. Just wondering why the CC is up again. I know I was told that it was not necessary to shock with a CC of 0.5 or less. I was worried it might get away on me so decided to shock the pool. However, to do it again would probably have the same outcome??
Any ideas on what I should do or just leave it at this point. My PH is currently 7.4.
Prior to leaving My CC was consistently 0.

As always. Thanks!

[Watermom]

Don't worry about it. A CC reading less than 1ppm is insignificant.