Famous Chlorine

Have been fighting my yearly issues of what they say is chlorine block and as usual another group of new employees at the pool store.So thus the reason searced for some experts. Pool is inground 16x32 -vinyl -DE filter -pump runs 24x7. 22,000 gals
Water was cloudy and had to add zero . Went to pool store to test and they said no Free Chlorine.Added normal spring start up kit prior to going .They said phos was 900 and to add phos out and triple shock this was after allready adding 6 bags. So did phos out and water is now clear so started triplke shocks.After 18 bags here are my readings.CYA 56,Total Chor 9,Free Chlorine still 0,ph 7 , total alkalinity 197,adjusted 180 and hardness 140. Use the side chlorinator with 3 inch tabs--------------Help

Oh my, my friend. You have been "pool-stored" which is what we call it when unsuspecting pool owners go to the pool store and are sold stuff they don't need.

What you do need, is a good testkit that uses drops, not teststrips. You can probably buy something like a 5-way kit at Walmart that will suffice until you can get a good kit like a Taylor K-2006.

While you are at Walmart, pick up several jugs of plain, unscented bleach and some 20 Mule Team Borax which you can find in the laundry aisle. Test your water yourself and then repost with current readings. (The readings you got from the pool store don't make any sense, which is often the case.)

Also, tell us ingredients of what you all you have put in your pool. Not just "shock" but actual ingredient names.

Read through all the stickies at the top of the forums. You will learn the basics about pool care there. Then, when you come back here to repost your numbers, you'll be better able to ask questions.

We'll help you get this fixed. Welcome to the forum!

Have been gone from Western Pa for over 10 days thus the reason no reply .Im now ready for help and to become part of the BBB user group. Pool is inground 21500 gals-DE-Vinyl lined.Is crystal clear but still cannot get a good chlorine reading. I have purchased a HTH Chemical Test kit so here we go. Yesterday after being gone 10 days took readings with kit
Chlorine 1.0 PH 6.8 Total Alkalinty 170 Total Hardness 220 CYA 40 My readings
Free Chlorine 0 Total Chlorine 0 PH 6.5 Total Alkalinty 186 Total Hardness 205 CYA 110 Phosphate 2000 - Pool Store 1
Free Chlorine .3ppm Total Chlorine 1.3 ppm Combine 1.0 PH 7.1 Hardness 190 Alkalinty 182 CYA 60 -Pool store 2
So you can see all on the same pool water with no treatment between some difference
I added (1) bottle of Phosphate remover but as comared to when adding a bottle initially 4 weeks ago the filter never really loaded up .I question the 2000 reading
Today added 1.5 gals of Muriatic Acid and nothing else.Water still clear and up to 80 in temp ,Side Chlorinator is on and loaded with 3 inch tabs.Took another reading with my kit just now
Chlorine 1.0 PH 6.8 Alkalinty did drop from the acid 120 Hardness 240 CYA 52

Everything is clear but still issue of the chlorine reading.

What additional info do you need to assist ? The pool store 2 try to get me to switch to Pristine Blue .I prefer after reading to try the BBB. Wait for your reply

Your ph is dangerously low if there is a chance that it may be as low as 6.5. Getting the ph up is your #1 priority right now! You cannot wait for aeration to bring it up. You need to add some 20 Mule Team Borax ASAP and get this ph up quickly. (Some test kits only register to 6.8 so sometimes a reading of 6.8 is actually much lower. Especially since you got another place that read it as 6.5.) Any ph below 7.0 is acidic and can damage your pool. Get some Borax in there!

waskydiver is correct in the following: 1)you probably do need to shock your pool--the continued low chlorine may just be due to something organic that's using it up too quickly, and shocking will take care of that. Raise your Cl to 20 for at least a day, then let it drift back down, but to no less than 5 ppm. 2) Forget all the chems the pool store is trying to sell you, including phosphate remover and Pristine Blue. Pristine Blue is a whole other nightmare that you can read about in the Bacquacil forum, and phosphate remover is just the latest and greatest idea designed to separate you from your money. 3)you do need to stop using the pucks in the chlorinator because your CYA is high enough. Keep in mind that the higher your CYA gets, the higher your baseline chlorine level has to be, and you already have to maintain it at least 5 ppm. There are some exceptions to the recommendation to keep your CYA low, but 50 is high enough that you're if you're already having problems keeping your Cl registering, you're REALLY gonna have problems keeping your Cl high enough for high CYA levels.

However, I'm with Watermom when she says you need to get your pH up ASAP--I"d start with about 4 cups of Borax, dissolved as much as you can in water and then poured down the skimmer. Wait a couple of hours, retest for pH, and then repeat the Borax until you're getting a pH of 7.2-7.6.

Janet

I concur. You can fix problems with the water later--but too low pH will do PHYSICAL damage to your liner.

Levels of FC for maintenance and shocking for various levels of stabilizer are listed here, in our Best Guess table.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=365

Carl

WaskyDiver,

I'm not sure I can agree with your advice. I certainly would NOT want to put tap water in my pool that's pH 6.5--and I wouldn't want to drink it! I believe acid rain has a higher pH than that. A pH of 6.8 or less can damage your liner.

Generally, I would agree with advice against too much chemicals, but when it comes to Borax and Muriatic Acid, again, I must disagree. Borax raises pH, that's true, but it also adds borates to the water, and Chem_Geek has found that higher borate levels may inhibit algae growth and are fundamentally harmless. And since Muriatic Acid is Hydrochloric Acid, it adds nothing negative to your pool water as long as it doesn't lower pH too much.

There is generally no reason to worry about a T/A of 120 unless you are having real problems maintaining a constant pH.

However, your advice about striving for progress, not perfection is well in line with what we generally advise: use LESS of any chemical than you think you need because adding more is easier than getting rid of something.

ok all my helpers update from where I am now.
By aerating assume you mean running pump 100% with cover off ? Have been doing
Have shutoff the chlorinator so no tabs in the system
Yesterday morning added (1) 4lb 12 oz box Borax and (4) 1.42 6% Bleach
Checked at 4:00 and the ph was still very low which is what you all had concern. Added another 4lb 12 oz ------------ 2 hours later still low PH . Added another 4 lb 12oz last night
Check this morning as pump has been running all night using my kit

Chlorine .5
PH 6.8
Alkalinity 170
Hardness 210

Using test strips I had the PH actually might just be approaching 6.8

Does all this make sense ? Assumes as you all had concern my PH was extremely low and after adding almost 15 lbs of Borax still is low . Assume getting PH is still the priority .Out of Borax so will wait for feedback then make a run.Have 3 Bleach but will also hold waiting advise.Water is still crystal clear and with warm PA weather my pool is 82 .Never this early this nice in Western pa

Waiting for next steps

Get yourself a cheap OTO kit from KMart, WalMart or any pool store and re-test your pH. Don't trust the strips for that!
The OTO kits are pretty accurate when chlorine levels are low (like yours) and get more Borax! They cost $5-$9--no more. If your WalMart has the HtH 5-way drop test kit, even better. It's the best cheap kit out there. Of course a proper FAS-DPD test kit which ranges from $50-$80 is better, but you have to order those.

At this point in time you need to make sure of your pH--and if it's low you'll need one to two boxes of Borax to get it up. If, however, you are reading the strips wrong (and it's VERY easy to do, I assure you) the OTO will give you a much more accurate read.

You need more bleach in your pool as well.

I did use a brand new HTH 6 way test kit with the reading of 6.8 this morning .I just used the strip to see what they showed . So will go get more Borax and hit it again .What do you think on Bleach - will add the (3) 1.42 I have so 4.2 gals

Bleach and liquid chlorine are the same thing in different concentrations.

The Rule of Thumb:
1 Gallon of bleach/LC will add EXACTLY its concentration to 10,000 gallons of water.

So if you add 1 gallon of 6% bleach to 10,000 gallons of water, it will add 6ppm to your FC.

If you double the water, you get half the effect.

Double the concentration (to 12%) and you get twice the effect. (12% adds 12ppm to 10,000 gallons).

Figure accordingly to get to your target FC level.

It's scary to imagine how low your pH must have been!!! That is why I said don't wait for aeration to bring pH up. Get Borax in there ASAP. And, to reiterate what I said above for anybody else who may be reading this thread ----- most test kits will not register any pH reading lower than 6.8. So, if your test shows 6.8, it might actually be much lower than that and really low pH is a CRITICAL ISSUE!

Hope the next addition of Borax takes you over the magic number of 7.0. Please keep us posted how you are progressing.

Went to pool place this morning to have them read a water sample:
TDS 1100 CYA 110 Tot Chlorine 0 Free Chlorine 0 PH 6.5 Total Alk 166 Tot Hardness 209
My readings were:
CYA 60 Total Chlorine .5 PH 6.5 Alk 210 Hardness 180
I added (2) of the Borax boxes and yes another 4 (1.42 gal) of the bleach 6%

Just checked after running pump for 4 hours
PH is above 6.8 but not a 7.2 as that is the range on my HTH kit.So 6.9-7.0 Gained but will need to add some in morning after another run to walmart
Total Chlorine at best 1.0--------------- Why am I not seeing the increase in Total Chlorine?
My kit only reads Total Chlorine-any advise?

Water could not be any clearer . So now what ?

Thanks

You need a good test kit. We recommend the Taylor K-2006. This place seems to have a good price for it. http://www.amatoind.com/taylor-k2006-test-p-555.html

But, in the meantime, while you are at Walmart, see if they have a 5 or 6-way kit for about $15? Test and post.

By the way, cya of 100 is really high and is going to cause you to have to run higher than normal cl levels. The only way to lower it is to do a partial drain. If you drain half, that would put it at about 55 which would be much more manageable.

My readings were with a hth 6 test kit.are you saying to now drain as the only option

I just now kind of reskimmed this thread and see that you said earlier that you had the 6-way kit. Sorry about that. We read and respond to SO many threads that sometimes we forget some of the particulars about a specific poster's problem. Plus, you only gave a TC reading. I thought the 6-way kit also allowed you to either find FC or CC. Can't remember. It has been a long time since I used a 6-way kit.

I'm not saying you have to drain. You can run a pool with a high cya level. You just have to run your cl higher than normal. Take a look at this chart:

Stabilizer . . . . . . Min. FC . . . . Max FC . . . 'Shock' FC
=> 0 ppm . . . . . . . 1 ppm . . . . . 3 ppm . . . . 10 ppm
=> 10 - 20 ppm . . . . 2 ppm . . . . . 5 ppm . . . . 12 ppm
=> 30 - 50 ppm . . . . 3 ppm . . . . . 6 ppm . . . . 15 ppm
=> 60 - 90 ppm . . . . 5 ppm . . . . . 10 ppm . . .. 20 ppm
=> 100 - 200 ppm . . . 8 ppm . . . . . 15 ppm . . .. 25 ppm

Since your cya is 110, then that means that shock level for your pool is 25ppm of chlorine and normal maintenance levels of chlorine must stay between 8-15. It can still be done, though if you don't want to drain. But, it is going to continue to cause you to use a lot of chlorine.

Have you used lots of triclor tablets in the past? They have cya in them and that is how a lot of people unknowingly get such high cya levels.

So -- two options. Either do a partial drain and refill or leave it as it is but use a LOT of bleach and shock that pool up to 25. I'm sorry you are having such a hard time, but ultimately, you will get it taken care of and be able to enjoy your pool.

(BTW -- In a pool your size, each gallon of 6% bleach should raise your cl level by just under 3 ppm.)

EDIT --- Just noticed that you tested and got a cya reading of 60 vs. pool store reading of 110. Don't know why I didn't see that before. Retest and see what you get and/or maybe let a different pool store test it and see what they get. Do this before you decide to drain. If it is indeed 60, that would be a much more manageable level. Note that the shock level would change for that cya level. Check the chart.

Ok added 3 additional boxes of Borax to raise the PH .They love me at Walmart

Finally today have success on PH as am at 7.2 --------------YES

Went back to same pool store today to test and they provided the readings on left with mine on right using the Walmart kit
CYA 70 (why did they get 110 yesterday?) I am out of chemical for this but I have been 50-60 . Assume this will impact what you tell me to do ?

Total Chlorine 0 Me 1 My kit only does Total .Will order Taylor in morning
Free Chlorine 0
PH 7.1 7.2 Me
Total Alkalinity 191 210 me
Total Hardness 229 210 me

They also said phosphates at 2500 and wanted to sell me phos out

My water is sparkling and 82F -never this way on Memorial Day in Pa

I added no bleach today - so GROUP what now as still cannot get a chlorine reading?
Another nice day on tap Memorial Day .
I tried to get a second pool store reading which is 11 miles away but closed .Nobody open now until Tuesday

Looking for advise

Read the following thread. I'm wondering if you are having the same type problem as that guy. Sometimes pools have huge chlorine demands upon opening. That is what this guy's problem has turned out to be. I'm wondering if your pool is having the same thing going on.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=9547

We'll get this figured out one way or another.

Now that your ph is above 7.0, I want you to start aerating to make the pH rise. (Aim the return jet upward to create as much bubbling and splashing as you can get.) The reason I want you to do this is because your alk is high. Not critical but when your ph gets up to about 7.6-7.8, we're gonna work on your alk. But, that is not a priority for now.

Keep adding bleach. What is the most bleach you have added at one time so far?

Glad you didn't buy the phos out.

Most Bleach was 5.6 gals of the 6 % which should have raised the ppm by 17ppm -what do you suggest ?

I now understand the aeration and will add the nozzle and point upwards .Presently no eye ball nozzle on the return

OK. Unfortunately, this pool situation is not responding like normal pools do to the advice you have been given so far. I suspected that this high chlorine demand is due to stabilizer biodegradation to ammonia and/or urea like we are helping another member deal with in a different thread. (That is why I asked you to read the thread link I posted above.)

I consulted with Ben as to what advice to offer next. A few questions we need to know to help us solve this mystery:

1. Have you used any type of chlorine remover such as peroxide or thiosulfate in this pool?

2. You don't have massive amounts of floating algae, do you?

3. Have you ever used any products such as Yellow Out or Yellow Treat, etc. in this pool?

Can you timeline the pool from opening for us. What water was like when, and what the readings were. What you added when, etc. A timeline so we can see the progression more easily without having to keep scrolling back and forth through the entire thread. In addition, having it be more concise will make it easier to pinpoint the problem.

Also, can you tell us what your cya level was upon closing last fall and what it was upon opening this spring before you did anything to the water? Answer these questions and hopefully we can get this solved.

ok will try to answer
No never added a chlorine remover
No floating algae
Never added any yellow out or yellow treat
Did not take any readings last fall when closed thus unsure of cya reading
Do not have copy of initial readings but when pool place opens in morning will see if we can get copy-ok
Today added 6x1.42 gals of 6% and was able to get a chlorine reading with the strips as a quick check about 30 minutes after.
3 hours later none
Added another roughly equivalent to 20 ppm - checked and was able to see on strip
3 hours later none on strip but on chemical tester appears free chlorine was betrween 2-3.
Will hit it again once done mowing the lawn

Have added areator or will plan on treating every 3 hours until bed and then give you complete set of readings in morning-OK

Last shock it did load up the filter so something came out of the water

Good. Use the tester instead of strips. Keep slamming it with bleach often and watch filter pressure. Backwash as needed. Did you read that other thread I linked above? Sorry you're having such a hard time. This isn't usual. Most of the time it clears up pretty quickly. Make yourself a note to check all levels upon closing this fall in case you need them next spring. That is good advice for everyone.

Definitely add more 20 Mule Team Borax to get the pH up to at least 7.0 though preferably to 7.2 to 7.5.

Are you starting to get FC readings yet? 0.5 isn't considered a solid reading. If you add chlorine and still aren't getting FC, then I suspect you may have had bacteria convert CYA into ammonia over the winter. Given the low pH, I suspect you were using Trichlor pucks and probably had a CYA level when you closed the pool last year.

If you want to estimate how much chlorine it will take to clear the possible ammonia, you can do a bucket test using 2 gallons of pool water and add chlorine where 1/4 teaspoon of 6% bleach is 10 ppm (1 teaspoon is 40 ppm) until you measure FC that doesn't drop significantly over an hour. You could also get an inexpensive ammonia test kit from a fish/pet/aquarium store though the bucket test is more definitive since there can be more for chlorine to consume than just ammonia.

My test kit only measures TC so am I out of luck until get the Taylor 2006???????

I checked my 3 inch chlorine and what was being used was BioGuard Silk Tabs which are tri-chlor as you suspected

Walmart was out of bleach in the 1.42 size tonight so did just add

(1) box Borax to try to raise the PH a little more towards a solid 7.3-------OK ?

(6) 3 quart bottles of 6% bleach.Did you notice all the bleach is now only 3 quarts when you think your getting a 1gal? It was 6%.Hopefully in morning will have more.

Any advise for the attack in the morning ??? I iwll look for response from Ben or Watermom or Chem Geek or Carl or anyone as this thing has me consumed . I had the same problems the last two years and only way to get out of it was a partial drain . It is very expensive as they hit you on the water which is not bad but then the sewer like they are treating the water .

Am about to order Taylor

Waiting for advise

You should most definitely order the Taylor K-2006 kit you can get at a good online price here. You'll want to test your CYA level as well as the other levels. Any pool store test, especially for CYA, is essentially useless -- they are almost always wrong. In the meantime, why don't you do the bucket test I described to get an estimate of how much chlorine it's going to take to clear your pool.

If your CYA level is through the roof, then you'll need to do at least some partial drain/refill. If it's not, then it may just take a lot of chlorine which the bucket test will tell you.

As for whether you want to continue to add chlorine in the morning, that's up to you. Basically, you only have two choices -- add a lot of chlorine or dilute the water. Any other oxidizer other than chlorinating liquid or bleach is going to cost you more. Dilution will cost you the water and sewer costs though even a partial dilution could be helpful -- it depends on chlorine vs. water/sewer costs. A bucket test will at least give you an idea of how much chlorine you'll need.

Chem Geek how do I do the bucket test with no method to read FC as all I have is a 6 way kit that does TC and the aqua strips ????

It only does TC? So it's an OTO test where you compare shades of yellow? Or is it a DPD test where you compare shades of pink? If it's the latter, then that should be fine since it should measure Free Chlorine (FC) and Total Chlorine (TC) where Combined Chlorine (CC) = TC - FC. The key is FC.

If your kit doesn't measure FC, then if you can't wait for your good test kit, see if you can get the cheapest chlorine test kit that is DPD and says it measures both Free and Total Chlorine -- especially Free Chlorine.

ok yesterday added what was in the 20ppm range of bleach 4 times plus aearate the pool 24x7
Today as requested dug up history which which was way to attach a Excel sheet but here goes and hopefully some answers that will help you guys and gals solve the issue.
Date CYA PH FC TC Alk
7/09 7 6 6
8/8/09 151 7.1 1.3 1.3
8/22/09 125 7.1 0 0
8/23/09 125 7.3 0 0

So it appears my CYA was very high in 09 and I closed with 0 CC 0 FC .I would have closed around Labor Day .Not sure why it drop from 151- 125 but looked like had some issues that went to pool store two days in a row
Now for 2010
Date CYA PH FC TC Alk Hardness
5/14 55 7.1 0 4.2 203
5/16 56 7 0 9 197 Water was somewhat cloudy and thus went to pool place two days in row. Would have done normal start up with shock and algacide ,metal out plus phos out.Using 3 inch tabs tri chlor is side chlorinator. Did the recommended triple shock every three hours for one day or 6 bags of shock each time .Then left town as emergency in SC
5/25 110 6.5 0 0 186 Here is when added the murtaic acid
5/29 110 6.5 0 0 166 Started the Borax and Bleach between 5/25-5/29
5/30 70 6.7 0 0 191 Continued the bleach and borax
5/31 70 7.0 0 .5 210 Aerate,4 applications of 20 ppm bleach
6/1 78 7.0 0 0 210

Test kit OTO so can only measure TC .Ordered the K-2006 last night . Cannot do bucket test because no FC test kits

Reading threads it appears I had a issue with high CYA and TC-FC CC last fall at closing but when opening the CYA was at 55 .Thus as thread stated this means the CYA was converted??

So any thoughts on what to do other then wait for test kit? I will add Borax today for the PH

At the pool store 4 out or 5 people complaining about no chlorine readings.They are pushing Caribbean Blue product . wow

await a reply
Gary

You can simply aerate your water to raise your pH from 7.0. Just point the return at the surface.

Received my Taylor Kit tonight and so went to the pool immediately to gather the data .
PH 7.2 FC 0 CC 26 (Does this make sense???) CYA 75-80 Alkalinity 250

Have not done anything since two days ago when posted the history and expected more comments ,just waited for the Taylor Kit

Yesterday my stomach was sick when removing the solar cover . Had been running the eye ball return pointing up to aerate and raise PH .My liner was badly wrinkled and I mean badly .It is about 10 years old .So my theory and it varies:

1. Had had issues in the past when using the eye ball on my return is that it restricted flow and somehow pushed water between my liner and the hard bottom. Thus I assume that what I now see if a accumulation of water between the liner and the hard bottom ?

2.Bleach damaged the liner

3.maybe both?

I go back and forth as did open up my liner and installed a vacuum cleaner to back side and started seeing if can remove the water. Some success but still a long way to go. To say the least the eye ball is off . Today was tied up all day with very sick 86 year old mother so know time.

If it is water will it eventually soak through the hard bottom? Any options or suggestions other then punt?

I have also contacted through one of your attachments the pool supply in Stamford Ct and sent a sample to have them do a chlorine demand test .Should have the results Friday on both my pool water and the city water incase it makes sense to partial drain


So looking for advise on the liner and also comments on my reading? Will do the other bleach test in 2 gals in morning


HELP -READY TO GIVE IN

I am so sorry that after you posted the history, nobody got back with you. If that happens again and you haven't received any replies after 24 hours, please bump your thread back up so it gets noticed.

Right now, we have SO many new posters on here and thus SO many threads and various problems that it is easy for a thread to accidentally be overlooked. So, again, we are sorry.

Glad you got your kit. That is good news. However, why don't you try the chlorine test again. It is unlikely that your CC is 26.

After you get new chlorine numbers, please repost. The new kit is going to make this process a lot easier. You have to slam this pool with bleach. Hard and often. As often as you can, test the water, and each time add enough bleach to get back to a cl level of 20 ppm. There is no such thing as testing or dosing it with bleach too often. Really. The more often you can do it the faster this is gonna go. If it were my pool and I had been struggling with it for as long as you have I think I'd be testing it before work, come home at lunch and test if I could, as soon as I got home from work, a couple hours later and then again before bedtime. If you have somebody who can do it mid-morning and mid-afternoon for you, even better. Don't give that chlorine level a chance to drop. Sustained high cl readings are all that is going to work for your pool. And, run the pump 24/7 right now. Watch your filter pressure.

PH of 7.2 is ok. Actually, while fighting algae, chlorine seems to work best when the pH is a little on the low side --- but just don't let it drop below 7.0.

I can't really advise you on the liner problem. Hopefully someone else will see this and chime in. Or you may want to start a new thread in the pool repair forum just to address that. I think you may get more views from some of our builder/installer type of members in that forum than you might here.

Bleach will not fade a liner anymore than any other type of chlorine will. Liquid chlorine sold at the pool store is typically 10 or 12% sodium hypochlorite while bleach is only 6%. Everyone assumes bleach will fade liners because they associate bleach with fading or bleaching clothes. It is no more likely to do so than any other form of chlorine.

Hope this helps some. I know you are frustrated, but don't give up. We will stick with you til you get this solved.

EDIT -- Just now re-read your post and noticed your sentence about your ill mother. Sometimes pools are not priorities. This may be one of those times. If you have to wait to focus on the pool at a later time, we'll still be here to help you.

Received my call on Friday from the sample sent in to have a chlorine demand test completed by Par Pools . The numbers matched up pretty good with mine as they had PH of 7.1 FC 0 CC 0 Alkalinity 186 and CYA of 80 . They tested the city water and the good news it is acceptable to use as fill. Their analysis shows a severe chlorine demand and a calculation of 78 lbs of shock would be needed. So like a few messages back the recommendation is to do the partial drain. Started yesterday. Hopefully can start refilling today . Will post .

Will attempt to suck back liner when level is down to see if wrinkles can improve

I would NOT drain more than half your water if your CYA is 80. It will leave you with a CYA of 40 which is FINE for the summer. Check "Ben's Best Guess Table" and you'll see that at CYA 80 you need to shock your pool at 20ppm. At CYA=40 you'll shock at 15ppm.

Don't use their "shock". It will either raise your calcium levels far too high (Cal-Hypo) or lower you pH far too low (Di-Chlor)-you are currently at the best level for fighting algae at 7.2. Stick to bleach or Liquid Chlorine which are both pH neutral.

Don't worry: You'll get there!

Thanks for all the advise as "FINALLY HAVE CHLORINE " . The chlorine demand test done by Par Pool and Spacs was a huge help as it showed the best approach was partial drain . This was accomplished and a second test done showing a need to one time shock with 12-14 lbs which was completed Friday .Gone for the weekend and it was 90 all weekend in full sun.Returned last night and readings
PH 7.3 FC 2.6 CC .4 Alkalinity 210 Hardness 220

Chlorine reading has held and wowe does that Taylor Kit really make it easy .

Question for Watermom and others- should I be concerned about a Alkalinity of 210 and if so what is best approach to drop it ?

Also since adding heater years ago get into a issue with stains on the white steps and around the skimmer.I have learned the trick of Vitamin C . What do you recommend to treat this ? Metal Free or something else???

Thanks again

Yes, alk of 210 needs dropped. We have a "how to" for lowering alk at this link:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=191

Also, read this sticky about stain removal:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=7923

Read these and see if they help. Really glad the excessive chlorine demand is over. Now time to enjoy the pool!

Water has been excellent and thanks for all the advise.I use Back Up weekly but am having difficulty finding as everyone is switching to off brands.Any suggestion for a good algae preventer to replace Back Up

Glad things are going well. The ONLY algaecide we recommend is Polyquat 60%. Check the label. If it says:

poly [oxyethylene (dimethyliminio) ethylene (dimethyliminio) ethylene dichloride]

it's the right stuff!