just got good test kit. HELP PLEASE

[shub_31]

before bed I had a FC of 20ppm. I added 2.84 gl of 6% so basically should have raised it to 30ppm
i woke up this mourning to a FC of 20ppm. question is, am i fighting algae still and why doesnt my fc drop like that at lower levels of chlorine. my cya 1s 100

[Watermom]

Hi shub_31. I merged the thread you started this morning with this one. Instead of starting multiple threads about the same problem, it is better to just reply to this one and keep everything together. it gets confusing to help in multiple places at the same time.

Have you done all the things Ben suggested in his post above?

If you lost 10ppm of chlorine overnight, then you are fighting algae and need to continue to shock your pool up to 25 or so. Test as many times per day as you can and each time, add enough bleach to get back to 25ppm. There is no such thing as testing and adding bleach too often when you are fighting something in the water. Continue doing this until you can go from sundown one evening til within 2 hours of sunup the next morning without losing more than 1ppm of cl and also have no greater than 0.5ppm of CC.

[shub_31]

I just added 3 gallons of 6% bleach about 12pm raising FC to 30ppm and no CC. 3 hours later it is down to 22ppm.What is going on. pool is clear and has been clear but still not sparklie. Its sunny out but do i really have some alge problem going on. Does my k2006 test FC that high.

[PoolDoc]

Shub,

When you lose chlorine like that -- especially overnight -- it means you have something in your pool that shouldn't be there. In your case, it's almost certainly algae. Once you start battling algae with chlorine, until it's gone, your pool is in one of 3 possible states:

#1 - Losing
In this state, your pool's chlorine levels will diminish rapidly -- even if you add small doses more -- and the algae will get worse.

#2 - Stalemate.
In this state, you may be able to maintain chlorine IF you keep adding large doses of chlorine, and the algae doesn't get worse . . . but it doesn't really get better, either. This state tends to be an temporary one, on the way to State #1 for a simple reason: the algae never gives up or takes a break, but people do!

#3 - Winning.
In this state, you have high chlorine -- which may STILL be consumed overnight, but you are adding sufficient dose to MAINTAIN high chlorine, and the algae is rapidly dying.

What you have to understand is that, if the algae is NOT dying NOW, you are in state #2 or even #1!

To put it another way, if you are not winning, you are losing!

What you also have to understand is that "winning" does NOT equal "won". You have not "WON", till all the algae is dead, all the algae dust and spores has been filtered or vacuumed away, and all metabolic residue from the algae has been oxidized. You will have achieved this when all the algae is gone, the pool is clear and clean, and chlorine levels 'hold' overnight. Till then, you are either "winning" or "losing", but if you take a break, you lose!

Tonight, add 8 gallons of plain 6% household bleach. Brush the pool in the AM. If the chlorine level tomorrow is below 30 ppm, add enough to take it back above 30 ppm, and brush again in the AM. Continue till every trace of algae is gone, and you have removed all algae dust and debris.

Then test your pool in the PM, and again in the AM, to see if it's stable overnight. If it's not, dose to 35+ ppm again.

[shub_31]

Thanks so much for that awesome answer. Makes perfect sense. Im brushing but see no residue or dust. Ill keep doing it til my level holds. I just got my kit thursday and due to the frequent testing I am running out of fas dp . Its taking me 60 drops to get to my level. What can I do to get me through til I receive more. Thanks

[PoolDoc]

If you've got a children's medicine syringe, you can drop the sample size to 5ml, and then each drop will be 1 ppm, instead of 0.5 ppm.

[shub_31]

Im not following. Fill the syringe(sp?) to 5 then drops. Do i add 2 scoops of powder. Why cant I fill the test tube halfway to 10ml.

============

Sorry. IM stressing. Fill the syringe to 5m. squirt in test vial. I do need to know how many scoops of powder. Thank for your time.

[PoolDoc]

Filling 1/2 way to 10 ml is OK. You'll just be more accurate with a syringe. You need enough powder to get pink - that's all. It's just a dye indicator; if you have pink, you have enough.

[shub_31]

Thanks again. Just went to bed with FC 29 Woke up to 24ppm. Wow im going through alot of bleach. before i started this i used about 60 gallons just trying to keep my pool clear not relizing that i wasnt solving any problems. last year i did the same thing. Many moirnings of waking up to a cloudy pool. I posted another problem with no replies. I know i shouldnt worry about this yet but my concrete deck is pitting like crazy. Many kids dumping water on deck. No calcium at all. Should i eventually add some for my concretes sake and not my vinyl liners sake.thanks