Do I need to shock? Waiting for Ben's kit.

[ShelleyAnn]

I am waiting for Ben's kit to arrive. In the meantime I'm wondering if I need to add some extra bleach or do a shock. We are in a bit of a heat spell...90s the past 2 days and expected for another day, have had a bunch of boys in the pool on and off, and some birds have begun using the pool for their own personal latrine since their eggs hatched the other day. I've noticed that I'm loosing clorine faster the past two days, but have no experience to measure it against since we've only had a pool for 4 weeks. I only had enough chemical to measure CYA 2x, and added all but 2 cups of a 4lb container. I took it to a pool store but have no confidence in her measurement of "53" because I watched her squirt it in while she was talking and she wasn't paying attention to what she was doing...I'm guessing it's between 30 and 50. Our water has been beautiful since the day we filled it in late April, but I can't tell if we've got cc and with the chlorine level going down so fast am wondering if we do. Sometimes I think I catch a wiff of that chlorine smell that indicates cc, but when I try to smell it, I can't. Here are the #s I know about with my little HTH kit from WalMart:

15 x 30 AG vinyl pool with 14,850 gallons
CL - darker than 1-2 but slightly lighter than 2-4
ph - 7.5
hardness - doesn't really turn red after the indicator any more, a slight yellow I'd say and then a clear with a tint of blue after 40 drops or so of the titrant so that would maybe be a 400
Alk - 70-80

Thanks for your help

Shelley

[duraleigh]

Hi, Shelley,

My guess is that your are ok like you are. Thanks for posting the numbers that you could....very helpful.

I think I'd just try to keep doing what you're doing...holding the Cl where you are.

Go out by your pool around dusk when the air is still and walk around it to see if you get the chlorine smell. If you get it clearly, I would shock the pool up to around 15 or so. If the smell is gone the next morning, you've done the "'ole redneck testing method and cure" for CC :D

Seriously, I have done that more than once since I seldom test for CC....it really does work.

Sounds like you've got a good grasp of the knowledge you need to keep your pool sparkling all Summer. Good work! :)

using the bleachcalc, I think your CYA is 30.

[ShelleyAnn]

I never thought of using the bleach calc to back out how much cya I had...30 it is!

Shelley