Newbie needs help very confused

[JazzMan2010]

I'm very confused now. I checked my water yesterday with my Taylor kit and had a CC of .2 and FC of 1. Yesterday my 4 yr. old daughter went swimming in the pool for the first time and last night got very sick. So, this morning i went out and tested again and showed a .5 CC and .5 FC. I also checked my salt chlorinator and it had its check salt level. So, i took my water in to the pool store to have salt checked. The guy said no probelm with that it was reading 3000. However, he said my total chlorine was over 4 but free chlorine wasn't even reading. He said my Free Chlorine was probably locked up due to high phosphates. So, i took it to another pool store were i used to go and they said i had Tot chlorine of .6 but a free chlorine of 0. They tested my phosphates and said it came under 300 and that wasn't the problem. The told me to boost my salt chlorinator to a 24 sanitize boost. So, needless to say i'm very confused. First, why is my check salt light on if i have a reading around 3000. Also, how did one store get super high chlorine readings but the other didn't, and why do i show .5 FC and they show nothing. I'm just trying to get my Free Chlorine higher and CC down so how do i do that? Thanks for any responses as right now my head is spinning as i feel bad my daugter may have gotten sick from the pool.

[CarlD]

I'm very confused now. I checked my water yesterday with my Taylor kit and had a CC of .2 and FC of 1. Yesterday my 4 yr. old daughter went swimming in the pool for the first time and last night got very sick. So, this morning i went out and tested again and showed a .5 CC and .5 FC. I also checked my salt chlorinator and it had its check salt level. So, i took my water in to the pool store to have salt checked. The guy said no probelm with that it was reading 3000. However, he said my total chlorine was over 4 but free chlorine wasn't even reading. He said my Free Chlorine was probably locked up due to high phosphates. THAT IS THEIR LATEST SCAM! I WOULD AVOID THAT STORE! So, i took it to another pool store were i used to go and they said i had Tot chlorine of .6 but a free chlorine of 0. They tested my phosphates and said it came under 300 and that wasn't the problem. The told me to boost my salt chlorinator to a 24 sanitize boost. So, needless to say i'm very confused. First, why is my check salt light on if i have a reading around 3000. Also, how did one store get super high chlorine readings but the other didn't, and why do i show .5 FC and they show nothing. I'm just trying to get my Free Chlorine higher and CC down so how do i do that? Thanks for any responses as right now my head is spinning as i feel bad my daugter may have gotten sick from the pool.

OK, it's not all that confusing. In fact, the message from BOTH pool stores was the same: Your Total Chlorine reading was WAY above your Free Chlorine reading which means there is something in your water you need to hammer right now.

What is your CYA level? What I would do if I were you is immediately start adding bleach to get your FC level to a MINIMUM of 15ppm.

For every 10,000 gallons 1 gallon of 6% bleach will raise your FC by 6ppm. If you only have the 3 quart bottles, it will add 4.5 ppm. So...if your pool is 20,000 gallons, and you only have the 3-quart jugs of 6% bleach, you will need....6 1/2 jugsj--or about 5 gallons. If your pool is 15,000 gallons, use 3/4 as much (just about 5 jugs of 3-quarts).

Now I'm just guessing the size and CYA level. If your CYA is higher, you'll need to raise FC to the level specified in our Best Guess Table (See it in the Chlorine and Chlorination section).

There are two reasons for the wildly varying readings by the stores.
1) They are using strips and at least one (probably both) of the testers don't know how to read them.

2) In the time it takes to get the sample to the store the water changes--15 minutes is, I believe, the maximum time till testing but someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

[JazzMan2010]

Carl thanks. I was reading over my taylor book and saw about breakpoint chlorination. Your right. At first it seems very hard to me but then after reading and your confirmation it's clearing up. I'm also going on no sleep as i was up all not with my daughter so that's not helping my thinking. I appreciate your help greatly. FYI my CYA is 71. Thanks.

[CarlD]

Yeah, with a CYA of 71 you'll need to get your FC to 20ppm and keep it there to kill what's in your water.

It's so hard when the little ones are so sick. Do you know what she has? If it's a water-borne infection maybe she should be in a hospital or at least seen. I have a 5 year old and it rips us up when he gets hurt or sick.

All of us will do everything we can to help you make sure your water is never dangerous again.

Carl

[JazzMan2010]

Carl Thanks. Whether she got it from the pool i'm not 100 % sure. But, even the chance that it may have been really tears me up inside.