Need help with chlorine levels

[bri12]

Thanks for the reply Carl.

Sorry, I should have clarified with my initial post. My CYA was insanely high, around 120 or so due to previously overuse of tri-chlor tablets and Di-chlor powder. That is why I drained the pool after reading alot in these forums.

Anyway, the pool is clearing up and getting more blue. Should I proceed to try and elevate the FC? Or should I try to maintain at my latest test result of 3.5?

Thanks again.

[CarlD]

If your CYA is 60, you should be able to get your FC to 20 at least temporarily. If not, you are fighting something, I believe.

[Watermom]

A question ----- I'm still not clear on something. Like Carl, I am wondering how your cya can be 60 if you drained and refilled. My question ---- did you totally drain or just do a partial drain?

Also, if you are fighting something in the water, which you must be since the chlorine is disappearing, then you need to test a minimum of twice a day and more than that is even better and will clear things up faster. Each time, add enough bleach to raise back up to shock level. The key to killing algae is to sustain the high cl level and not let it yo-yo up and down. Otherwise, it will take forever to get it cleared up. If you can test 3, 4, 5 times a day and each time shock it back up, all the better.

Welcome to the forum!

[bri12]

Watermom,

Yes, I did a partial refill, about half. My original CYA test was over 110. Like I said earlier, after reading alot in here, after finding your forum, I realized that I needed to lower the CYA by draining and refilling.

I used quite alot of bleach after refilling with the idea of getting it to shock level of around 20 to 25. Water was a stale green cloudy combination. I kept adding bleach, but couldn't seem to get FC up high enough, which is when I posted. Testing with a Taylor 2006 kit.

But now the water is blue and not cloudy. Actually, it's looking pretty good. So I'm assuming I don't need to get to shock level now? I'm testing twice a day, and FC is around 3.5. Also, I'm seeing recurring small sudzy patches on top of the water. Is this normal? Just making sure of how I should proceed.

Anyway, love your forum, and appreciate any input. I'm a believer for sure.

Oh, and I'm in South Florida...we don't close for winter...

[aylad]

Test your water for chlorine tonight after the sun is off the pool and again in the morning before the sun is on it--if you've lost less than 1 ppm chlorine, then you can let your Cl stay down in the 5-10 range, but don't let it go less than 5 ppm or you're going to have algae problems again. If you're still losing 1 ppm or more chlorine overnight, then you're not through fighting what's in your water and you need to bump it back up to 20 ppm.

I would use strictly bleach over the winter, and allow your CYA to come down further through frequent backwashes and rainwater refills so that you don't have any algae problems that are CYA-related next year.

Welcome to the forum!

Janet

[bri12]

Will do, Thanks Janet