Increase FC residual to offset poor circulation

[ralph]

Okay- getting to specifics do you have any recommendation as to the amount of polyquat 60 vs additional chlorine? It has been an exasperating summer, used many gallons of bleach but perhaps my technique is flawed. Do you have any recommendations for me?
desperate Ralph

[chem geek]

Following the dosing recommendations on the bottle of Polyquat usually works well. If you have visible algae growth, start with 16 ounces per 10,000 gallons and then use 3 ounces per 10,000 gallons weekly. Unless your pool is very large or you lose a lot of water from backwashing and splash-out, you may find that using 50 ppm Borates is more economical as it is mostly a one-time cost. For example, for 10,000 gallons, the maintenance dosage of 3 ounces Polyquat costs around $1.80 per week. 50 ppm Borates in 10,000 gallons would need 7-3/4 76-ounce boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax @ $2.50 each plus 282 fluid ounces (2.2 gallons) of full-strength Muriatic Acid (31.45% Hydrochloric Acid) @ $5/gallon so about $30 one-time cost. Or you could get 24 pounds of Boric Acid @ $27.75 per 15 pounds so about $44. Again, this assumes 10,000 gallons so scale up or down accordingly.

[waste]

I just add the start up dose and then supplement with the weekly dose.

With the pools I care for, I have to check combined chlorine every day - if I see it start to rise, I add a gallon of 12.5% and then add the suggested bi-weekly dose of poly a few hours later (having brushed the low circulation areas).

The other solution I had, before using the poly was to brush the low circ areas daily, while maintaining < 4 ppm fc limit max that law requires for commercial pools.