Question about shock and chlorine

[Watermom]

You are right that you need a good test kit. The only one we truly recommend is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C. You can get it through the test kit page in my signature below. It is only available online however, so you'll need something to use while you wait on your good kit. Get a cheap OTO (yellow drops) / phenol test kit, or if available at YOUR Walmart (check availability), get the HTH 6-way DROPS test kit, which is compatible with the Taylor K2006. Test the pool as soon and you can, and post the results. If you get the 6-way kit, ALSO test the water you FILL the pool with, especially if it's a well, and post THOSE results as well. (The HTH is the best available kit you're likely to find locally, but it's not the K-2006. It can only provide rough measurements chlorine levels above 5 ppm, and it measures "TOTAL" hardness, rather than "CALCIUM" hardness, which is not ideal.)

It's much easier to answer your questions, when we know something about your pool. We often 'waste' the first few posts back and forth collecting information. So, please complete our new Pool Chart form -- it takes about 30 seconds, but will save much more than that.

Pool Chart Entry Form
Pool Chart Results

Can you look on the label of the dichlor package and see what other ingredients are listed? Some pool chemical companies are starting to add a bunch of unwanted stuff.

One very important reading that we need is your CYA level. If you don't find the HTH 6-Way kit, see if you can find a reputable pool store who can test your CYA level for you. (By the way, that is one of the tests that comes in the K-2006 kit.) You only want them to do the test for you if they do the "disappearing black dot" test. Don't let them talk you into buying a bunch of stuff while you are there. And, they will try!

Hope this helps some.

[donovan.lambright]

Just to be clear, I've been checking the chlorine with the OTO kit. It looks like the local WalMart has the HTH kit and I'll pick one up this afternoon after work. The Taylor kit looks nice and I'll see about getting one ordered. I'll check the CYA level and post results tonight.

I tried to fill out the Pool Chart Entry Form but got hung up on my PF User ID. It's required and I can't seem to find it. I don't have access to My Profile yet, presumably because I'm still a Trial Member.

About the shock. The package doesn't list any other ingredients other than the dichlor. It just says 58.2% dichlor and 41.8% Other Ingredients. :-)

[aylad]

Your PF user ID is your screen name...

[donovan.lambright]

Your PF user ID is your screen name...

Well, so it is. Somehow, I got it into my head that it was asking for a number. I have now filled the form out.

I also picked up the hth 6-way test kit and have run all the tests:
Chlorine 2
Bromine 4
pH 7.8
Alkalinity 260 ppm
Hardness 310 ppm
CYA 30+ ppm (I have to add the plus because the black dot in the test vial had not disappeared yet when I reached 30 and couldn't add any more liquid)

[aylad]

Your numbers don't look too bad...you don't have a bromine pool, so you can ignore that one. And your CYA is less than 30, if you ran out of room in the tube before the dot disappeared, so you're ok with chlorine at 1-3 ppm. Your hardness is a bit high but shouldn't cause you any problems unless you chlorinate with cal-hypo, and then you're asking for milky water problems, so I would avoid using that form of chlorine. Your alk is high too, but if that's the same as your fill water, then there's not much to be gained from trying to lower it.

It would be interesting for you to test the water at night for chlorine, and then test it again in the morning before the sun hits the pool, to see if you're losing chlorine overnight. If so, then it's possible that the CC resulting from the chlorine fight going on in the pool might have caused the rash that you saw.

Janet

[Watermom]

First of all, you don't have a bromine pool so just ignore that side of the tester. Also, if the black dot was still visible, then you have less than 30ppm of CYA, not more.

Your alk, pH and calcium hardness are all high. Run the calcium and alk test on your fill water and post the results.

Read the using muriatic acid safely page linked in my signature below and also the following about lowering alk. Lowering Alkalinity Step-by-Step

Then, work on lowering your pH to 7.2ish and the alk to 80-100 or so.

[aylad]

Hey, I just said that!! (or most of it, anyway )

My post button is just working faster than Watermom's tonight

Janet

[Watermom]

Hey, I just said that!! (or most of it, anyway )

My post button is just working faster than Watermom's tonight

Janet

Or --- else I am turning into a parrot!! Gee -- I sure hope not! Nah, your post button is just faster tonight.

[PoolDoc]

membership upgraded / post moved out of Getting Started. -ben

[Watermom]

Go ahead and work on lowering the pH and alk as suggested in the previous posts. Using dichlor or trichlor are both good choices for you right now as it will do two things you need to do: add CYA and lower pH. Once your CYA gets to 50 or so, you'll want to stop using either and switch to bleach. (Don't test CYA too often so you won't run out of testing reagent.) I also would suggest NOT using cal-hypo at any point since your calcium hardness reading is so high.

Go ahead and post your overnight test results and we'll have a look.

(By the way, your new post was combined into your old thread so we can keep all your info in one place.)