New Chlorine pool (to me) - something I don't get....

Hey all -

First off, CarlD and Watermom - thanks for all the help this past weekend! My pool looks even better today than it did over the weekend, and I can see all too well the bottom meaning I have more vacuuming to do. ;)

My question...

I get the idea about alkalinity (used baking soda for that) and my pH, which is at 7.6 which I understand is just ducky.

Free Cl tonite read 0, so I added around a half a gallon of 12.5% Cl, which should bring me right to 3ppm. I have little to no stabilizer (CYA right?) in the pool so that's the high end of free Cl I should run according to the best guess CYA chart that's on the sticky post.

What I don't get, is this...

I need to maintain (at this CYA level) between 1-3ppm Cl. If I were to decide only to add bleach to the pool - and i's sunny, wouldn't this mean that I'd never really have 1-3ppm Cl in there, except right after I add it at night?

I guess my question is how does one maintain a free Cl level, without Sabilizer in there (as of yet), or is it just a matter of adding Cl nightly to bring levels back up to 1-3ppm until the next application?

I don't want to risk a bloom of aquatic waterlife, and want to make sure I'm sanitized as best as possible.

I think I'm right in that you can't possilby maintain a Cl level without stabilizer, and until the levels of stabilizer are up, you are relagated to adding Cl nightly to bring the level back up. No?

thanks again for the help!

jay

You are right ---- without stabilizer, any chlorine that you add is quickly going to be lost especially on a hot sunny day. Until you get some in there, you may even need to test and add chlorine morning and evening. You may even want to take it up to about 5 because it is gonna quickly go down. After you do get some stabilizer in there, you'll be able to just test and dose it in the evenings. Since this is a new chlorine pool and you need cya, you may choose to use trichlor tabs for your chlorination for awhile as it will add chlorine and cya at the same time. If you do, keep an eye on your cya level and when it gets to be 40 or 50, stop using it and switch to just using bleach. Or, if you prefer, you can go ahead and start out with just using bleach and adding your cya separately. That is what I always do, but many people like the convenience of trichlor. As long as you stop using it when your cya is in range, you'll be fine. Many people (who don't know any better) get themselves in trouble and end up with a green pool because they continue to use trichlor and their cya level goes through the roof and they don't raise their chlorination levels to compensate and voila!!! Bigtime algae bloom that they can't figure out why they have.

BTW --- you're welcome. Carl and I are really glad to help. Glad your coversion went so well and so quick.