Low chlorine reading

CA 30
Hardness 250
ph 7.8
FC 0
TA 210

So after sundown at around 8 PM, I added 7 gallons of regular bleach. I tested after about 15 minutes and ph was WAY high but I figured it was a false read due to the bleach I just added. The FC was off the charts, my test strips went dark purple and my OTO was VERY yellow. I figured I was good for the night.

So now it's 11:40 PM and I figured I would re-test. FC is now VERY low, .6, and ph was back to 7.8. That tells me something is using up my chlorine at a CRAZY level. It went from somewhere over 10 ppm to almost nothing in a few hours. Now I think I am gonna have to go over the top with the bleach to kill whatever (amonia, bacteria or algae) is living in my pool.

Any thoughts here?

Yep.

Lower the pH
Add chlorine each evening
Check chlorine each AM
Do not use mega-doses of chlorine

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sabres07

Any thoughts here?

---

Not so much. What you're experiencing is pretty much standard for folks with ammonia from CYA in their pool.

Don't let yourself get impatient and

Quote:

---

go over the top with the bleach

---

-- you'll end up with real problems. Instead, simply hang in there with repeated moderate chlorine doses. If you like, you can close up the interval on the doses, doing one at 7pm and another at 11pm. But test with OTO before you dose. If you don't test, you'll suddenly end up with extremely high chlorine levels, and with no CYA in the pool you're liable to end up with a bleached liner.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PoolDoc

If you don't test, you'll suddenly end up with extremely high chlorine levels, and with no CYA in the pool you're liable to end up with a bleached liner.

---

OK, I will stay the course. I do have a 30 for CYA. Does that change your opinion on what I should do?

Thanks for all of your help so far.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sabres07

I do have a 30 for CYA. Does that change your opinion on what I should do?

---

No.

So I tested my water this morning and my ph went from 7.8 down to 7.2 overnight. I did not add any acid or anything else to the water. What would cause the ph to drop like that????

Did your chlorine also drop? When chlorine is used up, the end product is acidic.

Yes, I dumped in 7 gallons of bleach at 8 PM and tested the water shortly after. I finally had a high chlorine reading. At 11 PM I retested and the chlorine was at 0 and ph was at 7.8 or so. This morning I tested the water, and chlorine was still 0 but ph had dropped to 7.2.

My plan is to put 7 more gallons in tonight at 7 PM, and then re-test at 11 PM to see if it held or not. If it dropped again, I will reapply 7 more gallons of bleach. I am trying to break this ammonia or bacterial trap I am in. I was just wondering about this ph drop I had and how I should handle it in the middle of this trap I am in.

At 7:30 PM I added 6 gallons of bleach, chlorine readings were very high. I have retested every half hour since then and the chlorine seems to be holding. The ph however is dropping. It is at 6.8 now at 9:45 PM. Should I address this or should I just stay the course and keep the pool in shock mode?

If you have some borax, I'd go ahead and add a box. It's not a crisis, but you don't want to leave the pH below 7.0 indefinitely.

So after testing the pool at 11:30 PM last night, I was showing a reading above 5 ppm (as high as my test allows) but it was not as yellow as when 6 gallons of bleach was added at 7:30 PM. I added another 6 gallons of bleach. At 6 AM this morning, I tested and re-added 6 more gallons of bleach. Ph seems to be spiking when chlorine is added, as expected, and settles in at 7.2 hours later. Water is still cloudy, though.

I think I have turned the corner in my battle with whatever is causing my chlorine demand. Now I need a test kit that reads higher than 5 ppm chlorine. Does the 6 way HTH kit from Walmart read that high? I can get one today, otherwise I will order one from Amazon.