swim after bleach?

[poolhelp101]

just learning with bleach....chlorine a little low this morning between 1.5 and 2.0 , temperature to reach 90 today...need to add chlorine? should I? and how soon can you swim after adding chlorine?

[aylad]

You can add it today, or you can wait until this evening, it's up to you. Once you've put the bleach in the pool and you know it's disbursed, it's fine to go ahead and swim. If you raise it higher than about 5 ppm or so, I'd wear faded suits.

If it were my pool, I'd go ahead and swim today, and just shock it later tonight when you're done.

Janet

[poolhelp101]

thanks! I haven't figured out yet how much and when to add the bleach to maintain the pool. I added one gallon on Friday night and I was at 5...my cya stays about 60. any suggestions on when to keep adding for maintenance? my pool is 20,000 gallons, vinyl liner. Thanks..this forum is great help!

[aylad]

At CYA of 60, your chlorine needs to stay at a minimum of 5 at all times. Your best bet is to test your water daily, and add whatever amount you need to get back to 5-10 ppm. If you'll search the forum for mwsmith's posts, there is a link to a calculator in his sig that will help you figure out how much to add, based on your gallonage. It's generally best to add it at dusk or later, so it doesn't get consumed by the sun, and it has all night to work in your pool. AFter a few weeks of daily testing and additions, you'll get a good feel for your pool and how often you're going to need to add chlorine.

Janet

[poolhelp101]

i added 2 gallons bleach last night....brought chlorine to 6.0...as the night went, it seemed to be getting a little cloudy. added 4 oz. of clarifier last night. this evening, pool is a little more cloudy, but can see the drain... ta is 180, cya 60, ph 7.8... does the bleach increase the ph and could the ph being 7.8 be the cause of the cloudiness? what do you advise me to do to help get rid of the cloudiness? thanks

[aylad]

Bleach will sometimes increase pH a little, but that's not causing your cloudiness. I have a feeling there's something more in the water that needs sanitizing. With a CYA of 60, shock your pool up to 20 ppm, and see if that clears it up.

Janet

[poolhelp101]

i didn't get to shock as you suggested last night (kids stayed in the pool until wee hours) anyway this morning the pool is almost clear but still lacks the sparkle. before work i checked the cl it was low..my reading was 1.0, ph 7.5. i also had the water anaylized this evening at a pool store and i want to check with you before doing anything. the pool store results are tc .8 fc .2, ph 7.5, ta 150, hardness 298, no metals didn't test for cya. my tests never shows hardness (the color never changes??) their advise is to decrease ph as it is too high???? do you agree with that? also to add scale inhibitor due to the hardness and to shock the pool (shocking the pool is the only thing i knew they were telling me right) please help me and tell me what to do. the water seems so much clearer today i don't want to mess up! thanks!!

[poolhelp101]

didn't know whether to address the ph and hardness or not before getting the chlorine level up so i went ahead and started adding bleach...was going to add 4 gallons(my cya is 60 and i have 20,000 gallons) but after adding the second gallon i noticed the pool to cloud...since i am new to bleach...would you please tell me if that is normal and if i should go ahead and add the rest of the bleach tonight? thank you

[ChuckD]

didn't know whether to address the ph and hardness or not before getting the chlorine level up so i went ahead and started adding bleach...was going to add 4 gallons(my cya is 60 and i have 20,000 gallons) but after adding the second gallon i noticed the pool to cloud...since i am new to bleach...would you please tell me if that is normal and if i should go ahead and add the rest of the bleach tonight? thank you

In the interest of getting you an answer (albeit a bit later than you needed) I'll throw a couple pence in here. First stop getting your water analyzed at the pool store. Keep your testing consistent, meaning test it yourself the same way every time. One of my biggest suspicions about taking a sample out to a store for testing is how the sample degrades in the process. I suppose if the store's down the block it may not be too bad, but what if the pool store stop is one of several errands you have to run? The sample may sit in your car (in the sun?), the sample can be mishandled by the PS employee, the equipment may not be maintained too well, etc, etc. So for that reason, I firstly support aylad's suspicion that you may have something else going on, and I suggest you provide your own CL measurements to the forum.

C.

[poolhelp101]

i have posted my results and i agree about pool stores and samples. my results was higher ph than pool store got, mine is 7.8. i did as aylad suggested, a day later but i did begin it....i stopped after the second gallon being added as the water began to get more cloudy while adding the bleach...so i stopped and posted the question if that is normal and should i continue on the shock to 20??? this morning, the pool is cloudy, can see the bottom, but is more cloudy than before adding the bleach... i'm hoping to get advise if that's is normal and just keep on with the bleach???????

[Simmons99]

poolhelp,

Now I am no expert - but I have seen many people come to this forum with the same problem as you and there have been several people trying to help them. They all say the same thing - 1. Get a good test kit, 2. Test your own water 3. DON'T add anything (clarifier, etc.) unless told to 4. bring chlorine up to shock levels for your CYA reading 5. test 2-3 times a day to bring up your chlorine level back to shock until you can hold a chlorine level overnight 6. run filter 24/7 & 7. be patient

I have yet to see someone who followed the instructions go away without the problem being resolved

Just my 2 cents :)

[poolhelp101]

i have no problem following the advise given me and i am trying to. i have read alot of the posts and i will do what is told me as i see everyone is very satisfied with the advise they get. i am too, just have questions as i go and i am far from an expert on anything. maybe i'm asking too many questions?? i appreciate all help that is given me. i do have a pretty good test kit...i was too late in finding out about Ben's kit to order one but i definetely will next season.... but when it started to cloud while adding bleach, i thought it was best to stop and ask if that was normal...but i still don't have that answer.... is normal to cloud like that while adding bleach and is your advise to continue on with the bleach in this case??????

[Watermom]

Janet gave you good advice as always. Go ahead with the bleach. The bleach is not causing the cloudy water. With cya of 60, you let your chlorine drop way too low and you may have the beginnings of an algae bloom. Sometimes that is what cloudy water can mean - it doesn't necessarily have to be green to mean algae is trying to get a foothold on your pool. Shock it and keep the cl high for a few days and run the pump 24/7. You should see it starting to clear within a few days hopefully. Then, make sure your cl stays within range in the future.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=365
Hope this helps.

[poolhelp101]

thank you so much for the reply. and i apologize...i should have explained what happened a little better. the pool was clear, just lacked sparkle and this was when i let it dropped way too low...then as i was adding the bleach last night..it started to cloud..i'm sure of that..that the bleach was making it cloud up..i could see the it coming thru the jets.. could i possibly be having another type of problem since you said the bleach isn't making it cloudy...something was and it was when i was adding the bleach. i hope you aren't getting frustrated with me asking so many questions and i am not questioning anything you are telling me, i have read thru this forum and you guys are helping everyone. i just want to make sure we are both on the same page as to what was going on with what i was doing so you can help me. thanks...please please advise

[aylad]

As long as you are adding plain, unscented bleach, then the bleach is not causing the cloudiness. If you are using bleach with "improved whitening power" or any additives, then that may be what you're seeing, and in that case you need to take it back and exchange it for plain, unscented.

Janet