Need help with chlorine. I'm a newby

[stormbean]

Have an intex vinyl pool. Ph and Alkalinity are fine. Shocked it. But now the chlorine in very low. Pool has been up for two days. Currently using chlorine puck with floating dispenser. Is there any other way to increase the chlorine (other than short term). Am I just being impatient. (wouldn't be like me to be impatient LOL!)

[PoolDoc]

Nope, you'll have to add chlorine daily, at least till your stabilizer comes up. And then, it will probably be every other day. Using the floater will help. Be careful to make sure floater keeps moving, and doesn't 'park' against just one point in the pool.

[Watermom]

What did you shock it with? We usually just use bleach for our chlorine. If you tell us the volume of your pool, somebody here can make a recommendation for you.

[CarlD]

Be sure to watch your pH...Tri-chlor is VERY acidic and will push your pH down. You can add 1/4 box (about a lb) of 20 Mule Team Borax when you see pH go below 7.2. It's the best thing for raising pH and far cheaper than the pool store chems (which are merely overpriced Arm & Hammer WASHING Soda--not baking soda).

Carl

[stormbean]

Thank you for your help. I shocked it with HTH pool shock that I bought at Walmart. Our pool is just shy a bit more than 19,000 litres. Any ideas of how much bleach we should use?
Thanks for the Borax tip, Carl. Much appreciated.
Tracy

[Watermom]

What are the ingredients in HTH pool shock? In your pool, each cup will add about 0.75ppm of chlorine. I'd add about a half a gallon (2 quarts) of plain, household 6% bleach. That should take you up to about 6ppm. Then, this evening, test it and add however much bleach you need to get back up to about 6ppm.

Did you add any stabilizer yet? Trichlor pucks have stabilizer in them, but it will take a little time for the stabilizer level to come up. In the meantime, I'd suggest testing morning and evening and each time, add a little bleach. Until you have a stabilizer reading, your chlorine will be lost pretty quickly to the sun.

[stormbean]

Watermom... A big thanks. Added some bleach this morning and will do so again this evening. I am going to take a risk at sounding REALLY stupid but here is goes... How do I get a stabalizer reading? I have a test kit that tests for Bromine, Chlorine, Ph & alkalidity. What else (other than Trichlor can I use to add stabilizer)

[CarlD]

It's not a stupid question. It's a good question. OTO test kits test for chlorine/bromine (you have no bromine, that's for people who use bromine instead of chlorine) and pH.
There are basically 3 ways to test for Stabilizer, AKA, "CYA" for Cyanuric Acid"
1) Take a sample to a pool store.
2) Some of the more expensive strips by Hach and LaMotte have a CYA test pad, but aren't very accurate.
3) Get a CYA test. Most pool stores don't sell them but some do. Better still, go to Watermom's Sig and click on the link to test kits. Order the Taylor K-2006 or K-2006c test kit from Amato (it helps support PF a little). That has the CYA test. The classic CYA test is the "Black Dot" test: You pour treated pool water into a vial with a black dot at the bottom. The chem makes the pool water cloudy. When the black dot cannot be seen from the top of the vial, it will show a CYA level on the side of the vial.

Carl

[aylad]

What else (other than Trichlor can I use to add stabilizer)

You can also add stabilizer via dichlor (granulated chlorine is usually either cal-hypo or dichlor, and is usually what people refer to as "shock"--if you use the dichlor, be very aware of your pH because it is very acidic like trichlor it) or you can just add stabilizer by itself--it's usually labeled conditioner, balancer, or stabilizer--but if you'll look at the label, the active ingredient should be cyanuric or isocyanuric acid.