Downside to using Bleach...

This is the first year I'll be doing the 3Bs and I gotta admit that this time of the year the convenience does get you... My 26,000 gal IG since Thursday has devoured 25 x 0.75Gal 6% and 9 x 1 Gal 5.25% jugs of bleach... And I still have to go back to the store and get some more. The problem is that my CYA is ~0. I added ~8lbs to get to 40ppm but it'll be awhile before it dissolves. 3 trips to K-mart and an overflowing recycle bin that's got the neighbors wondering.

The water is clear, I can see the pool bottom but the walls are covered with a light coating of green algae and on the floor are leaves/other organic matter. While I am waiting for my PS234 I've been using (shame, shame...) guess strips:

CH=0, TC=10, FC=0, PH=7, AK=120, CYA=0

Thus far I'm only seeing the TC go up (0-10PPM isince Thu) with the FC still hovering at 0PPM. Which I assume indicates that the bleach I am adding is being "consumed" and my goal eventually is to get the TC = FC, correct?

Tonight after sunset I added the 9 1gal jugs of 5.25% (bumps it to 18.2PPM according to Bleachcalc). At some point the FC is got to start climbing! I hope before my back gives out.

I think you're on the right track but you'll need to brush those walls so the chlorine can get down to it.

You are right - the goal is to have the FC = TC. Also, keep an eye on the ph. You don't want it below 7.0 or the water becomes acidic and can damage your pool. Keep pouring the bleach!

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Originally Posted by tonyl

I think you're on the right track but you'll need to brush those walls so the chlorine can get down to it.

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Yes... but I still have the loop-loc cover on and it'll be a while before it comes off (after the norway maple spinners, pollen... are all gone, usually late May in my neck of the woods). I just got the pump/filter going to prevent the algae from completely taking over. It's running 24x7 but once the FC begins to hold I'll knock it down to the usual ~8HRs (7PM-3AM and add a 1/2 jug bleach every day at 8PM).

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Originally Posted by leejp

Yes... but I still have the loop-loc cover on and it'll be a while before it comes off (after the norway maple spinners, pollen... are all gone, usually late May in my neck of the woods). I just got the pump/filter going to prevent the algae from completely taking over. It's running 24x7 but once the FC begins to hold I'll knock it down to the usual ~8HRs (7PM-3AM and add a 1/2 jug bleach every day at 8PM).

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Leejp, ditch the cover, start the filter system and let your skimmers do their job. While you're at it, brush as per above. Without the system running and vacing and brushing the pool, you are probably wasting as much $ on chems as running the pool would cost you. Pollen will pass right through your safety cover, and the 'spinners' will gather in your skimmer basket, just empty the basket (s) morning and night. (The big stuff is easier to get out than the little 'green' stuff)
Just a little well intentioned advice, accept or reject as you see fit :)

In any event, good luck with your pool!

Hi, Lee,

Something's mixed up. Given the above numbers, you have a CC of 10......I don't think so....I've never seen CC aproaching that number.

You would help yourself a lot if you picked up a cheap drops based kit on one of those trips to Kmart. The strips are pretty worthless for what you're trying to do.

Secondly, if your pool is full of sunken organics (leaves, sticks, bugs), you are wasting a lot of chlorine trying to sterilize them. I would pull that cover off and vacuum them out ASAP if you continue to use Cl. :)

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Originally Posted by leejp

This is the first year I'll be doing the 3Bs and I gotta admit that this time of the year the convenience does get you... My 26,000 gal IG since Thursday has devoured 25 x 0.75Gal 6% and 9 x 1 Gal 5.25% jugs of bleach... And I still have to go back to the store and get some more. The problem is that my CYA is ~0. I added ~8lbs to get to 40ppm but it'll be awhile before it dissolves.

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You are going to burn through an incredible ammount of bleach because your CYA has been metabolized by the "wee beasties" in your water. I had a similar experience...it's amazing how much you'll have to put in there to take care of the problem.

Michael

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Originally Posted by waste

Leejp, ditch the cover, start the filter system and let your skimmers do their job. While you're at it, brush as per above. Without the system running and vacing and brushing the pool, you are probably wasting as much $ on chems as running the pool would cost you. Pollen will pass right through your safety cover, and the 'spinners' will gather in your skimmer basket, just empty the basket (s) morning and night. (The big stuff is easier to get out than the little 'green' stuff)
Just a little well intentioned advice, accept or reject as you see fit :)

In any event, good luck with your pool!

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I may take the cover off just to brush and collect the stuff on the bottom (it's not a lot) but it's going back on. Emptying the skimmer 2x/day is not a problem. But it's more like 10x/day with enough spinners each time to cut off flow. Those of you in the Northeast with Norway Maples know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

The crazy thing is...it's all from the Neighbors. I have but 1 Norway Maple on my property on the other side of the house from the pool. I cut all the rest of my Norway Maples down. They are horrible, horrible trees, drops junk year round, roots close to the surface so nothing grows underneath it... the problem is that it's so invasive it's beginning to take over the forests around here.

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Originally Posted by duraleigh

Hi, Lee,

Something's mixed up. Given the above numbers, you have a CC of 10......I don't think so....I've never seen CC aproaching that number.

You would help yourself a lot if you picked up a cheap drops based kit on one of those trips to Kmart. The strips are pretty worthless for what you're trying to do.

Secondly, if your pool is full of sunken organics (leaves, sticks, bugs), you are wasting a lot of chlorine trying to sterilize them. I would pull that cover off and vacuum them out ASAP if you continue to use Cl. :)

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Again... I'm using test strips (oh the shame... Ben will be shipping his kit this week... Hooray) and it's not a whole lot of stuff on the bottom (just what the wind manages to blow under the loop-loc cover. I may take the cover off temporarily to brush the walls.

It might also help,too, if you can test and add the bleach more than once a day. If you add it only once a day, then it gets consumed in a short amount of time, then the algae has the rest of the day to grow in a chlorine free pool until you add again. In that case, you're fighting a losing battle, AND wasting a lot of money! In addition to the brushing and running the filter, I would check the Cl and add whatever is necessary to bring it back up to shock levels--but do this 2-3 x daily.

Janet

There isn't a chance that you are bleaching out your test stripes due to much chlorine in the pool? I have never used test strips before, and don't know how they work, but I have a friend that did that once and just kept adding chlorine because she couldn't get a reading. It's probably not the case if your cya is actually 0 and you have algae but thought I better bring it up.

I don't understand why you are working on your pool with the cover on - are you swimming in it at all now? I live in northeast pa and don't do anything until I take the cover off. It usually only takes a day or two for the water to clear up. It's just that I am wondering if it's worth worrying about it now, unless you are using it.

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Originally Posted by mbar

I don't understand why you are working on your pool with the cover on - are you swimming in it at all now? I live in northeast pa and don't do anything until I take the cover off. It usually only takes a day or two for the water to clear up. It's just that I am wondering if it's worth worrying about it now, unless you are using it.

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With the water temperature in the mid 50s I won't be swimming in the pool for some time yet...

Last year I pulled the cover off when I opened the pool in mid april and had to clean the skimmer 10x/day and backwash 2x before the water warmed up enough to swim in the pool. So this year... I am following the procedure the previous owner of the house left me (start the pump/filter by early May at the latest with the cover on). He put the pool in and operated it ~20 years with little fuss so I figured I'd do the same (I didn't read the binder he left me till too late last year).

The only change I'm making is that I'm going with the 3Bs vs pool store chemicals. I have a lot to learn about water chemistry but I think I'm consuming so much bleach because something ate my CYA. It's been gorgeous sunny since I opened the pool with highs in the mid 60s low 70s. I've been adding bleach in the late evening and early AM to avoid losing too much to the sun until my CYA dissolves.