Water circulating before testing?

[Watermom]

I would keep the chlorine at shock levels until the pool is clear AND you can go from sundown to sunup without losing more than 1ppm of chlorine. After you can do this, then you can let the chlorine level drift down and then with a cya of 90, you'll need to keep the cl between 5-10 ALL the time. (Necessary chlorine levels are based on your cya reading. Take a look at the "Best Guess" table at this link:

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

You should not use any more tabs or any more types of stabilized chlorine products unless your cya level is less than about 30. Then, you can do so for a short while but will need to monitor the cya level. We usually suggest 40-50ppm for cya. Those tabs add a lot of cya quickly. They are fine to use if your cya is low, but if it is 90 as yours is, you should not use them.

You can swim when the water is clear and when you aren't losing more than 1ppm of chlorine overnight.

You should be testing cl at least 2 or 3 times a day and even more often will just speed this process up. Each time, take the cl back up to shock level. Test your pH once a day. Don't retest your cya for awhile. It doesn't change very fast unless you drain and refill a lot of water. While you are clearing this, you might post once a day or once every couple of days to let us know how it is going. If you are consistent with keeping cl at shock level, it should clear pretty quickly. Good luck.

[onemsmom]

Ok, I'm working my hardest to keep the ppm up! It drops quickly! Seems like I'm adding 1.5 to 2 gals of bleach every hour or so. Pool is still green, but is much less cloudy.

the pH is 8+ (way more purpleish than the 8 color)
took 5 drops to clear it.

should I be doing something to lower the pH?

TA is 180

Need anything else? I assumed you didn't want the Ca.

Thanks,

Jenn

[aylad]

Don't worry about the pH bewing a little high, it will usually test falsely high when your chlorine is above 10 ppm or so. However, what do you mean when you say it "took 5 drops to clear it"? Most pH blocks just take the water sample, add 5 drops of the phenol red, then shake and read.....there should be no other drops to make it clear.

The chlorine is being consumed quickly, but that's normal for a pool with algae in it. As you make progress in killing it off , your chlorine demand will drop, but for now just keep hammering it, keep the filter running, and we'll help you get it cleared up!

Janet

[onemsmom]

Thanks, I feel better now.

It's the "acid demand" test to be done after you add the 5 drops of R-0004 & get the pH color. It says to add R-0005 dropwise & count - compare with color standards until desired pH is matched. See treatment tables to continue.

It took 5 drops until it was in the 7.5 range. I can't find a "treatment table" anywhere, so I wouldn't know what to do. I'm glad I don't have to worry about it until we are through dealing with the chlorine.

Ya know, the pool store had me add a whole bag of "stabilizer" about 2 weeks ago. Is that why my CYA is so high & causing me all of these problems?!

[Poconos]

Since I just modded your post in I'll jump in without having read the whole thread. The acid demand table should be in a little book that came with the kit. Don't have it in front of me but that is what I remember. Some book about water chemistry I believe. Been filed away for years. With 5 drops of ADR to get you to 7.5 says you're pretty high. I know that purpleish color. That table should tell you how much acid to add based on number of drops and pool size in gallons. If someone has that little book please chime in. And yes, that stabilizer jacked up your CYA. If there is suspicion the chlorine level is messing up the pH reading you can try adding a drop of thiosulfate from the alkalinity test before adding the phenol red. That should knock out the chlorine and it will shift the pH reading a little but not much.
Al

[onemsmom]

Well, I'm seeing blue this morning!!! (Though I still can's see the bottom) Woo-hoo. It still fell to 16.5ppm over night, but it's blue. I'll keep the #'s up today. Maybe this will be the last day/night of this, I'm sure making a lot of trips to Wal-Mart for bleach.

I'll report in tonight or tomorrow with updates.

Thanks sooooo much for your help. I see a "blue" light at the end of the tunnel.

[Watermom]

Glad to hear there is progress! Consistency is the key. Keep up the good work and keep us posted about how it is going. Hopefully you're about to turn the corner on this.

Re: buying lots of bleach at Walmart. I often get funny looks when I am loading the buggy up with as many jugs of bleach as it can hold at one time. I just tell people my house is REALLY dirty!