Can't get the free chlorine!

Hi,
New to this site but it sounds like I might get some great advice here. I have an ingound 20 by 40 pool that we opened in May and have not been swimming in yet! Since opening I had a chlorine demand and high ammonia levels. I was told to drain and filll four times by 9 inches, added phosphate remover, added over 50 pounds of shock and still couldn't swim but got rid of ammonia. Water was crystal clear but was told I had chlorine lock (no free chlorine reading)and high TDS 2400? Just finished draining down to 12 inches and trucking in water to fill back up. $$$ I have test strips, OTO and La motte digital test kit.

My PH is 7.8 and my Alkalinity is 185 CYA is 35. Sand filter and temp is 84.I have no metals in the water and now my TDS is 1600 but ammonia is back up over 3. Let me just say since end of May I have been to the local pool store almost daily getting my water checked including my source water. I still have insane chlorine demand and have been told by another company to add lithium chlorite so because that is better at this point. I could use some great advice because I keep adding chemicals and draining them out so something is still wrong. thanks for the help!

CYA can biodegrade to ammonia. It doesn't happen every year, but this year, it happened to a LOT of people, all over the country. But, your clean-up process . . . well, I'm sorry about that. As CarlD used to say, you've been "pool-stored"!

You've got 2 options:
+ you can use the http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?16973- to find out how much more chlorine you need to add, OR
+ you can just keep adding chlorine till it's gone.

Unless you have the option of draining, knowing much more chlorine it will take to finish doesn't change anything. But you may just want to know.

Either way, you need the K2006 to manage the process. (Sorry, I know the LaMotte's not cheap . . . but 'guess-strips' are still 'guess-strips' no matter how you read them!)

Your pH is fine; you shouldn't worry about TA now; CYA is high enough -- don't add more by using dichlor or trichlor. The TDS is just a dealer's "I want to scare you into buying more chemicals" test -- ignore it 100% of the time. (Phosphate testing is also usually just a tactic to sell chemicals.) Bleach is best for ammonia, since it doesn't 'add' anything but salt, but you can use calcium hypochlorite if that's available to you inexpensively (less than $4/lb). Otherwise, just use plain 6% household bleach -- avoid the premium Clorox bleach + goo mixes! I've put links for kits below. The Walmart kit is a subset of the K-2006, and makes a good stopgap.

HTH 6-Way Test Kit @ Walmart
Taylor K2006A (3/4 oz bottles) @ Amazon
Taylor K2006C (2 oz bottles) @ Amazon

If you'll complete the pool chart, we can figure doses for you.

Pool Chart Entry Form
Pool Chart Results

The basic clean up process is very simple: add as much chlorine in the evening as is safe; test in the AM. Once your FC level is 4x or more your CC level, you are getting closer. At that point, you want to dose a careful amount in the PM and see if levels hold overnight. You need accurate testing for all this, ergo the K2006.

By the way, if you have any debris left, run your filter 24/7 and try to get rid of it. It looks like sometimes left over dead algae can consume chlorine.

Best wishes!

Hello, and welcome to the forum!!

Conratulations for finding this site--I think we can get you up and running so you at least can get some swim time in your pool this summer!! Do not add any more phosphate remover or any other chemical to the water except plain, unscented, generic bleach (or liquid chlorine, which is the same as bleach but is supposed to be twice the strength, but some states like mine don't carry the liquid chlorine). Especially do not add the lithium chlorite--it's just another form of chlorine but is extremely expensive, and won't do anything for you that plain bleach won't do.

Do you know the source of your ammonia? Typically we see it at start up as a result of a pool closed with high CYA levels at the end of the past season. When the CYA is biodegraded by bacteria over the wintertime, sometimes it breaks down into ammonia, which does create a HUGE chlorine demand to overcome, but must be done in order to then maintain a chlorine level, as you well know. It seems a little strange to me that you did overcome the ammonia, but now suddently have it back. That shouldn't happen unless you've added something to the pool that contains ammonia (cheap algaecides, maybe?). How did you come to the conclusion that your ammonia was gone? Can the test kits that you are using measure combined chlorine?

In order to overcome it, you'll need to take the chlorine level up to 15 ppm and hold it there, as consistently as possible, until the ammonia is gone. This will take a few days, but the more consistently you can hold that shock level, the faster the process will go. You'll know when that happens because you'll be able to go from sundown one night to sunup the next morning, and not lose more than 1 ppm of chlorine, and your CC will be less than 1 ppm. You'll also start to see a pattern of increasing chlorine levels and decreasing CC levels before you get to that point. In order to do that, though, you're going to need a testing method that is accurate and that will test for combined chlorine. We very, very strongly recommend the K-2006 (see the test kit link in my sig), because it will accurately measure very high levels of chlorine and all levels of combined chlorine.

Edit: OK, Ben's post button is working faster than mine today, but the advice is the same!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aylad

Edit: OK, Ben's post button is working faster than mine today, but the advice is the same!!

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It would be nice if vBulletin had an "I'm working on this flag" we could use!

Great advice being given here.
I got some discount bleach at BJ's wholesale club. And its Clorox.
2 -1.5 gallon jugs for 5.90.

Make sure it's not the "splashless", or "new improved", or scented, or "outdoors" versions of Clorox--those all have additives that will make the problems worse instead of better.

Janet

Yes
Plain old bleach.
Gorji

HI-

I will get the K2006 annd keep adding bleach until I get over the hump for free chlorine! I have kept the filter running and there is no debris on the bottom because it is new pool water. (two truck loads) I will continue to vacuum as well. Thank you for your help.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I believe I brought the ammonia level down by filling and draining and by adding 50 lbs of chlorine to the pool. However, then the TDS were so high 2400 they told me to drain and start over. As a result there was not chlorine indicated but ammonia was back up to around 4 when it was at less than one when I had added the chlorine and drained and filled with the hose 4 times. Basically I am starting over when I believe I was so close to begin with before. I am so thankful for the advice and I will continue adding bleach until I see free chlorine. The algaecide was bioguard Inhibit (backup) so not the cheap stuff and added once a week.

This seems to be what everyone suggests! Thank you so much and wish me luck.

You can pretty much ignore the TDS readings, too--pool stores scare people into buying stuff in lots of ways, and that's one of them. Looks like the algaecide may be your ammonia source--doesn't it seem odd that they wanted you to add an algaecide to an already chlorinated pool, which degrades your chlorine, and makes you have to add lots more chlorine to counteract the algaecide? Pool store profits.......

Anyway, the best algaecide you can use is chlorine. Skip the other stuff and just be diligent about testing your water. '