New BBB user with FG pool

[gorji]

I've decided to register and take advantage of the vast amount of knowledge here.
I'm looking to see if I should use an automatic chlorinator or use one of the floater with tabs in them.

have a 13000 fiberglass pool 13x30.
I really like this forum and wish to get activated.
Thanks
Gorji

[aylad]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

The automatic chlorinator and floater are both going to do the same thing--use trichlor tabs in a constant trickle into the pool. Either way works. Do you have a specific situation that you're trying to find an answer for?

[gorji]

I have the Hayward Chlorinator CL200. A cursory google search shows a few threads where folks are dissatisfied.
In general are we better off just using bleach on a regular basis or should I continue using the chlorinator? Or should I use the floating device (with the tabs in them)?

Another question I have is the stabilizers mentioned in the forum. I know they are needed. But while they are good, they are a menace too? If so, then how do we handle them? Thanks

[Watermom]

Some stabilizer is necessary in an outdoor pool or else you can't keep chlorine in there. Stabilizer -- CYA (cyanuric acid) is kind of like sunscreen for your chlorine. Trichlor tabs (whether in a chlorinator or in a floater) have CYA in them. If you use them too long, your CYA level gets too high and that is not good. The higher your CYA level, the higher the chlorine levels you need in a pool to keep algae away. Many people don't realize this and they end up with algae even though they are keeping their chlorine levels at the same level they always have. We see this all the time. (See the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below for more about the correlation between CYA and chlorine.)

Whether or not you can use the trichlor tabs for awhile depends on what your current CYA level is. Do you have a test kit that can test CYA? The kit we recommend is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C which you can get through the test kit page link in my signature. But, it is only available online, so you need a kit to use in the meantime. Go to Walmart and see if they have the HTH 6-Way kit (not test strips). That one will suffice until you can order a better kit and it can test CYA levels. If they don't have it, at least pick up a cheap OTO/Phenol Red kit (red and yellow drops). This kit cannot test CYA though. If the OTO kit is all you can get, go to a reputable pool store and ask them to do a CYA test for you. Tell them you want them to use the "disappearing black dot test" and not teststrips. Report back with all test results.

Please list all the ingredients on the trichlor tabs you are using.

Also, please fill out our pool chart with your pool's information. This will make it easier for us to help you.


Pool Chart Entry Form (http://goo.gl/cNPUO)
Pool Chart Results (http://goo.gl/PXaLu)

Hope this helps.

[gorji]

Thanks.
I filled the forms requested.

I don't have a specific situation but want to ask: If I have adequate stabilizer, should I use bleach or tablets as a source of chlorine.
Question 2: I have never "shocked" my pool; never had algae and tried to keep my Chlorine levels adequate. Am I doing something wrong?

My pool is clean, clear and does not smell the chloramines.

Thank you

[Watermom]

Thanks for completing the chart. I see from your info that you have the Taylor K-2006C kit. Good for you! Can you run a complete set of current testing numbers and post them, please? Make sure that CYA is one of the results you give us.

If you have adequate stabilizer, you should not use trichlor tabs (or dichlor powder) as they will cause your stabilizer to get too high.

Contrary to what pool stores tell you (boy do we use that phrase a lot!), you do not have to shock your pool weekly. The only time you need to shock is if you see a CC reading greater than 0.5, have a huge swimmer load (like a big pool party) or have cloudy water or some other water issue. If you are diligent about maintaining your water chemistry properly, you won't need to shock often at all.

[gorji]

Thank you
pH 7.6
Free Cl 2.0
Total Cl 2.0
Alk and Calcium were normal
CYA = 40-50

I have another question: If I have adequate stabilizer, I should use 6% straight bleach?
Will this bleach react with the stabilizer and not be lost or what?? How often will I have to add bleach?
At what level is the CYA considered high?

Thanks so much.

[Watermom]

Your CYA level is perfect where it is so don't use any more trichlor tabs. Just use bleach for your source of chlorine. Bleach doesn't do anything to the stabilizer. Test your pool every evening and then add enough bleach to get the chlorine level back up to 6. If by the next evening, you have less than 3ppm of chlorine, you should take it a little bit higher. The goal is to have enough in there so that you never drop below the minimum required by your CYA level. (See the Best Guess Chlorine Chart.) Also test your pH every day for awhile.

After a few weeks of daily testing, you'll soon learn how your pool behaves and you may be able to test and add bleach every other day. But, you do NOT want your chlorine to drop below 3ppm or you risk an algae bloom.

[gorji]

Thank you.
Soooooo how much bleach should I add to a 13,000 gallon pool with a pH of 7.6 and CYA of 40 and Free Cl of 2 and Total Ch of 2?
Is there a chart or table I can look this up please?

[Watermom]

If you take a look at the Best Guess Chlorine Chart below, you can see that for a pool with a CYA of 40 needs to have chlorine levels between 3-6 all the time and if you are fighting algae or cloudy water, then your shock level would be 15.

In a 13,000 gallon pool, each quart of 6% bleach will add just a little over 1ppm of chlorine. So, each evening, test your chlorine level and add enough bleach to raise it back up to 6ppm. The next evening, if you find that you have dropped below 3pm, then you'll know you need to maybe take the chlorine to 7. You want to be able to make it through an entire day without it dropping below 3ppm.

Also, check your pH daily and keep it between 7.2-7.8.

You might find the bleach calculator helpful. Look in the Forum Q & A section near the top of the forum homepage. One of the first few threads is called "bleach calculator" which has the link you can download to your computer. It actually has more than just the bleach calculator. If you click in the upper left hand corner, it will drop down a list of other available calculators you can use.

[gorji]

Watermom: I really appreciate the insights here.
I have another point to inquire: When adding bleach to a pool like mine, will the chlorine be unstable or will it somehow combine with the stabilizer present and not be so volatile?
Thanks

[Watermom]

I'm not sure I know what you are asking. Bleach is not volatile in a pool. It does not combine with the stabilizer; they each do their own job. Bleach will do a great job in your pool. It is not a stabilized form of chlorine, but having chlorine be stabilized simply means that is has CYA (stabilizer) in it. Since you already have the stabilizer in your pool, all you need is the chlorine --- thus the bleach. Does that answer what you were asking?

[gorji]

Sorry about the confusion. I thought that the Cl is volatile and thus needs to be stabilized. Since bleach has chlorine in it, isn't it volatile too. Maybe volatile is not the right word; I guess I mean does't the bleach use go up if its not stabilized with some compound?
Thank you Watermom.

=====================

I read your answer again and now understand how this works. Sorry if I asked you the same question again.

[Watermom]

Not a problem.

[gorji]

Thank you;
This whole thing is a great experience for me. It does raise one question: Why not just use bleach from the beginning?

[Watermom]

Why not just use bleach from the beginning?

You can! Many of us do. But, if you use only bleach from the beginning, you will have to add your CYA separately. People who use stabilized forms of chlorine (trichlor and dichlor) that have the CYA in them have to monitor their CYA levels periodically throughout the summer to make sure they don't get too high. The people who just use bleach from the get go and thus have to add the CYA separately, pretty much can forget about CYA testing for the summer after that first week.

[PoolDoc]

To answer a couple of things more specifically:

1. Chlorine, cyanuric acid and around 12 species of chlorinated cyanurates remain in equilibria with each other. For most interactions, the reaction kinetics are VERY fast.

2. Chlorine is not volatile in a chemical or physical sense; only figuratively. Rather chlorine undergoes rapid hydrolysis in water, forming HOCl <=> -OCl, with both species subject to rapid photolysis when exposed to solar UV. Chlorinated cyanurate species are NOT subject to this photolysis, but remain in equilibria with those species. HOCl is the primary actor in most sanitation and oxidation; -OCl is not as active. But even though the presence of CYA greatly lowers the HOCl present, the chlorinated cyanurates form a LARGE reservoir of instantly available HOCl, so that stabilized chlorine appears more active in practice than the absolute level of HOCl present would suggest.

-- membership upgraded.

[gorji]

I appreciate your comment and those above.
I turned off my Chlorinator yesterday and added the appropriate amount of Clorox I got from BJs. BBB method. I find this forum great and I am also reading the Taylor Guide that came with my kit which IMO is also feature and fact rich.

[Watermom]

We don't really care for that book in the Taylor kit. Don't go by their tables and chemistry guides.

[gorji]

Thanks to all of you I'm doing well with the chemistry.

Do the fiberglass pool have different ph, Cl, alkalinity requirements than normal liner covered pools?

[PoolDoc]

Do the fiberglass pool have different ph, Cl, alkalinity requirements than normal liner covered pools?

No.


(I got the easy one, Watermom! :innocent: )

[Watermom]

No.


(I got the easy one, Watermom! :innocent: )
That's ok. You deserve an easy one every now and then cuz usually I send you all the complicated ones! ;)