chlorine disapearing

[Watermom]

I wouldn't rely on the CYA test strip. If you have been using a chlorinator with pucks for any length of time, you would have some CYA in there. The problem is if your test strip is inaccurate and you go ahead and add stabilizer at this point, your level could get too high and the only way to get rid of excess CYA is to do a partial drain and refill. So, if your CYA test kit is more than a few days away, maybe a reliable pool store can test your CYA for you this one time.

Is your water still green?

Adding one gallon of bleach is only going to take your chlorine level up to about 3.3ppm which is not enough to kill algae. If it is still green, go ahead and add 4 gallons at a time. That should take it up to about 13ppm. Try and test several times a day and each time add enough bleach to get back up to 12 or so. (Use the 1 gallon adds 3.3 ppm as a reference to help you determine how much bleach to add each time you test.) Run the pump 24/7 and backwash as needed. Once we know for sure what your CYA level is, we can tweak the suggested bleach amounts.

[vinper]

My water is not green , I only would get some green spots on the wall & rocks each day . we keep it off by brushing

[Watermom]

If you keep your chlorine a bit higher, you won't get green spots. Once you get a good CYA reading post it and we'll make further recommendations.

[vinper]

Well test strips dont work . My CYA tester came .Tested it this morning , it says 100 so now I am over......

[Watermom]

That is what we suspected -- high CYA from using pucks so long. You are right, test strips don't work.

The bad news is that since CYA testers cannot differentiate over 100, your CYA level could actually be much higher than 100.

You basically have two options:
1. Do a partial drain and refill to try and lower that CYA level. (Do not totally drain however.) I think you said that you are in a drought, so this may not be a viable option for you.

OR

2. Live with the high CYA and just run higher than normal chlorine levels to compensate. Take a look at the Best Guess table in my signature below for more info about this.

Let us know which option you want to go with and then somebody will help you. Also, when you repost, please give us a new set of current testing results for everything. (You don't need to run the CYA test again, however. No reason to waste the CYA reagent.)

[vinper]

The best guess chart , am I reading that right FC a 5 ppm or higher ? I think my tester only goes to 4ppm.....

[vinper]

Remember I added 1 lb of conditioner Sunday ,Also if I had CYA why was I having to add so much chlorine to keep it at 1.0... So If I go home today FC is at 1.0 I need to add 1.5 gallon of bleach to get it up around a 7.0