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Thread: No chlorine

  1. #1
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    Default No chlorine

    Since June 1 I have had a terrible time getting chlorine in my pool. After several trips to the pool store they said my stabilizer was too low. I added stabilizer and eventually the chlorine came back to where it is supposed to be. In the mean time I got algae in the pool because of no chlorine for so long I am assuming so they told me to add an algecide. For the past week I am back to no chlorine. The pool store is now telling me I have chlorine lock. My pool is 14,500 gallons with a sand filter and a chlorinator using 3" tabs. Here are my numbers:

    Alkalinity: 110
    PH: 7.4
    Calcium: 400
    Stabilizer: 135
    Free Chlorine: 0
    Total Chlorine: 0

    I was told by the pool store to drain a 1/3rd or more water out of the pool and refill.

    Do you have any other suggestions?

  2. #2
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    Default Re: No chlorine

    More info:

    The water is cloudy.

    I have added about 12 lbs of shock so far this week.

    At the pool store's recommendation this morning I added 3 lbs non-chlorine shock and 2 lbs chlorine shock. After 2hrs of adding the shock I have a chlorine reading of 3ish, 4 hrs after adding the shock I have a reading of 1 for chlorine according to a test strip. I just ordered the recommended test kit from Amazon.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: No chlorine

    Don't add a bunch more stuff to your water. What kind of non-chlorine and chlorine shock did you add meaning ingredients.

    Good for you for ordering the kit! In the meantime, go to Walmart and pick up a cheap OTO/Phenol Red kit and several jugs of plain, unscented household bleach, generic is fine.

    Welcome to the Pool Forum!

  4. #4
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    Default Re: No chlorine

    Water Mom

    The non chlorine shock had these ingredients:
    Dupont Monopersulfate Compound …………………….. 85%
    INERT INGREDIENTS: ……………………………………………….15%
    TOTAL……………………………………………………………………….100%
    The Chlorine shock has these:
    Calcium Hypochlorite ......................68%
    Other Ingredients ..........................32%

    I purchased the jugs of bleach and the OTO kit.

    According to the OTO kit my PH is 7.2 and Chlorine is 0 or .5.

    What should I do with the jugs etc?

    Thanks for helping me.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: No chlorine

    The reason you're having trouble keeping the pool algae free is because your stabilizer level is so high. If you'll take a look at the "best guess chlorine chart" link in Watermom's sig, you'll see that with a stabilizer level of over 100, you need to keep your chlorine levels between 8 and 15 ppm AT ALL TIMES to keep the pool clear. That's one of the pitfalls of using trichlor tabs--people don't realize that as the stabilizer levels rise, so must your minimum chlorine levels. So....stop using any form of stabilized chlorine, including the tabs, and use bleach to shock the pool. With a stabilizer level that high, you're going to need to take your chlorine up to 25 ppm and hold it there, by testing and adding more as many times a day as possible until the pool clears and you're no longer losing more than 1 ppm of chlorine when testing at night after sundown and again in the morning before the sun is on the pool. In a pool your size, each quart of 6% bleach will raise your Chlorine by 1 ppm, so you can use that as a guide to figure how much to add. When you get to the point that you're no longer losing chlorine overnight by testing as I explained above, then you can let the chlorine levels drift back down, but only to the 8-15 range...if you let it go below 8 ppm, you're inviting the algae back.

    Keep the pump running 24/7, cleaning the filter as indicated by the pressure rise, and brush the pool daily.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: No chlorine

    Thanks for your help. Already today the water is clear and blue with plenty of chlorine.

  7. #7
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