Low chlorine reading

[PoolDoc]

If you have some borax, I'd go ahead and add a box. It's not a crisis, but you don't want to leave the pH below 7.0 indefinitely.

[sabres07]

So after testing the pool at 11:30 PM last night, I was showing a reading above 5 ppm (as high as my test allows) but it was not as yellow as when 6 gallons of bleach was added at 7:30 PM. I added another 6 gallons of bleach. At 6 AM this morning, I tested and re-added 6 more gallons of bleach. Ph seems to be spiking when chlorine is added, as expected, and settles in at 7.2 hours later. Water is still cloudy, though.

I think I have turned the corner in my battle with whatever is causing my chlorine demand. Now I need a test kit that reads higher than 5 ppm chlorine. Does the 6 way HTH kit from Walmart read that high? I can get one today, otherwise I will order one from Amazon.

[Watermom]

The 6-Way kit does not read higher than 5. Only a FAS-DPD test can. That is why we encourage people to buy the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C kit.

[sabres07]

OK, I will get that test kit ASAP. In the meantime, based on amounts of bleach I have used, my chlorine levels should be 15-20 at the least, which is where I want to be for now, right?

[PoolDoc]

Just one emendation: the 6-way does not READ higher than 5 ppm, but it does INDICATE higher levels, by a transition from dark yellow (~10 ppm) to orange (~30 ppm) to brown (> 60 ppm).

This is a VERY important difference from the DPD color match tests, which can bleach out and read 0.0 at FC levels as low as 15 ppm! Before we began pushing OTO *or* DPD-FAS kits, we used to have lots of problems with people adding more and more chlorine to their pool, think they had none, when in fact it was way too high.

[sabres07]

Yes, my test kit does go very yellow, to orange, which is where I am at right now this afternoon. I am keeping it there until tomorrow. It looks like it is holding on its own, and it is pretty sunny today.

I have added a home made aerator because my next problem is to lower TA. When this is making bubbles on my water, I am now getting some foaminess. Is that as a result of all the soda ash I added previously? Water looks very blue but still cloudy.

[Watermom]

Foaming is usually the result of cheap algaecides being added.

[PoolDoc]

Foamy pool water usually is a result of algaecide use.