bleach doses and algae

[karen936]

My stabilizer got to high, don't know the number sorry. I stumbled on this forum and some answers read lots of stuff. I use 3" puks. What I did yesterday. Will have water checked after holiday.
My test showed no free chlorine ph good alkalinity 100
My pool was light green. I had been vacuuming brushing cleaning the filter to no avail. I have never in my 30 years with this pool had a problem but I have always used puks. I use powder plus shock.
So I turned off chlorinator. My pool is 10,000 gallon concrete pool.
I added 6 gallons of non scented bleach from the grocery store.
I had already cleaned and vacuumed again.
Then I brushed. the chlorine test after showed orange color and ph slightly higher.
It stayed orange about 4 hours till last night when it became a yellow.
This morning yellow still but much lighter.
My question? How long do I have to put in the bleach at high levels? Second what would the normal dose of a no problem 10,000 gallon pool of bleach be. (dose) and how often.

[PoolDoc]

A single 121 oz jug of 8% Walmart bleach will add about 8 ppm of chlorine to your pool.

If you've been using 'pucks' (trichlor) for years, your stabilizer levels are likely VERY high, possibly MUCH higher than 100 ppm. Read the info about the chlorine-stabilizer relationship: http://pool9.net/cl-cya/

You can manage a high CYA pool successfully, but you will need the K2006 kit to do so (honestly, you need it, anyhow): http://pool9.net/test/

You should maintain very high chlorine for at least a couple of days after there's no detectible trace of algae.

[karen936]

Thanks.

I had the water tested for the stabilizer and it went to 100 that's there max. I got the strips and it was over 250. Here in SW Florida we have had large down pours the last two days in the evening and with the chlorinator turned off all this time and using the bleach instead it has actually come down some. As of this morning it was down to around 100. I have a test kit but it does not test for cyanuric acid. Thanks for the help. I've been doing this pool for so long I can tell by the look of it when it's not right and it has a way to go yet the water looks like a sheet of glass not sparkling like
it should be.

Thanks again. Karen

[Watermom]

There is no way your CYA could have come down from 250 to 100 in days. That just isn't possible. Who knows what that CYA reading is. No test can distinguish past 100 but with the right kit, you can always try and do a dilution and at least get a ballpark figure.

Welcome to the Pool Forum, by the way! :)

[PoolDoc]

I had the water tested for the stabilizer and it went to 100 that's there max. I got the strips and it was over 250.

When a test is done, and the 'max' is reached, you usually need to interpret the result as being "X or higher", and not "X"! In your case, the first test did NOT mean your CYA=100; it mean your CYA = 100 . . . OR any higher value, including 500! Most likely, the 2nd result is also a 'max', indicating your CYA is 250 or MORE.

Once you get the K2006 (http://pool9.net/tk/), you can do an accurate dilution with distilled water, and test up to 500 ppm CYA.