confusion on testing, chemicals and chlorine

[stellenbrav]

forgive my ignorance but this is all new to me. i've read many threads here and folks are talking about their chlorine being 10-12 ppm. my cheapo wal-mart 5 way test kit says to not get in the pool if the content is more than 3 ppm the pool shouldn't be used. am i missing something or should i get a better kit?:confused:

[CToon]

Mostly everyone using CL that high are either shocking the pool at those levels or need to keep it that high for the CYA (stablizer) levels.

Have you tested your CYA level ? Using Bens Best Guess Chart for CYA levels, you'll be able to tell where you need to keep your CL at.

If you need to keep it over 5ppm , a better kit like the one Ben sells would make life a whole lot easier..if not , you're fine with what you have

[SoCalBoo]

and a pool with ch at 3ppm is not unsafe. not even close. the kit is giving you bogus info.

[Simmons99]

and a pool with ch at 3ppm is not unsafe. not even close. the kit is giving you bogus info.

It MAY BE unsafe depending on the CYA level. No one can say what the right level is without the CYA level. Check Ben's best guess table. If you have a standard 30-50ppm of CYA - then a chlorine level at 3ppm is good to keep away algae and kill bacteria in the pool.

Oh - and you can use that kit above 5ppm - just take one part pool water and one part distilled water. Then test - take your results and multiply them by 2. Then you can test to 10ppm with the standard yello OTO test kit.

[CarlD]

It's a standard rule in the pool industry to parrot the fiction that chlorine levels over 3ppm aren't safe.

This comes from either the EPA or FDA saying that something like 25 or 30 years ago, but the same agency also said it was unsafe to drink water with chlorine levels over 4ppm!

So, according to the parroted fiction, if your water is has 4ppm of chlorine you can drink it, but you can't swim in it! See the irony?

CYA inhibits chlorine's action so the safe maximum level for swimming varies depending on the CYA level.

There's quite a discussion going on in the China Shop right now about safe chlorine levels that are documented scientifically. It's tough to follow, but it's VERY informative.