Low Chlorine Problems

[Watermom]

Ben,
Although I know nothing about them -- maybe you do --- this member has a Lamotte Color Q 7 digital test kit.

nscclukas,
The pH of 6.8 is too low. You should use some 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle at Walmart) to bump it up to between 7.2-7.8.

[PoolDoc]

Noted and corrected. Thanks WM.

(The Color Q *is* substantially better than strip readers, but still is a colorimetric method, and thus much less accurate than the 3 or 4 decimal point results imply.)

[nscclukas]

I got my old test kit out to double check the #'s & they are right.
This evening:
Fcl:1.5
Tcl:2.92
PH:7.1
I added 3 gallons of the 15%LC this morning & it's all but gone apparently. I'm. going to add 4 gallons of the LC & a box of borax, scrub & keep after it I guess. I was just wondering if I needed to do anything more or different? Thanks

[Watermom]

We really need a CYA reading to be able to advise you. Does your kit test for CYA ?

[nscclukas]

Tell me if this sounds right? I added the 4 gallons of 15% LC, scrubbed & vacuumed, thought I'd check the Cl before calling it a night, say 2 hours later.
Fcl:4 Tcl:5.6 Can the algae be eating up that much Cl? Or do I have old weak bleach & that's why I can't get ahead?

[Watermom]

Can the algae be eating up that much Cl?

In a word, yes. Keep hammering it with bleach. We really aren't going to be advise you too well without a CYA reading. That is a critical value to know when you are trying to clean up an algae bloom.

[nscclukas]

Yes weak Cl? Or, Yes the algae can consume that much Cl?

My first couple posts I explained my CYA is high 125+ my tester only goes that high. I could dilute &multiply multiply if necessary, but I'm pretty sure it's below 200.

The local pool company said my CYA was168 about 6 weeks ago, but he said he couldn't give me accurate readings because I was keeping the Cl level too high at 8. He insisted that I shouldn't have the Cl over 3, said it wasn't safe for swimming & I a waste of $. I tried to explain to him that as CYA levels rise, the need for higher Cl levels, but he disagreed, said he's be doing pools for 30 years & knows better. I said, well of course, you make most your $ selling shock, algaecide, & other unnecessary stuff, not off of helping customers maintain a good clean healthy pools.

So, needless to say, he wasn't very happy with me.

[PoolDoc]

I added 3 gallons of the 15%LC this morning & it's all but gone apparently. I'm. going to add 4 gallons of the LC & a box of borax,

Just found out this morning that many SCP distribution locations buy boxed jugs of "liquid chlorine" by the truckload in the SPRING, and let them sit all summer. At this point in time, most of those jugs are probably 1/2 strength or less! In Nebraska, it's not likely you're getting fresh bleach from a pool store that gets weekly deliveries. What's more likely is that what you are buying is some small fraction of its original strength.

[nscclukas]

That makes sense, it's hard to calculate how much Cl to add when you don't know the strength. I found a great website today, all you will probably want to know about Cl & then some:
[ DELETED BY ADMIN -- SEE EXPLANATION BELOW ]

They explain that Liquid Cl "LC" from the manufacturer is 15%, but in two weeks it's strength is 12.5%, & in 30 days down to 9% strength. So if it was from the spring it's probably no stronger than the recently stocked Walmart 6% bleach. The good news from dumping all this liquid Cl in my pool is it has effectively lowered my CYA. It is now reading 78 I'm guessing because of the high Cl demand from the algae, the CYA is bonding with all the liquid Cl I have been adding, which is being consumed by the algae? Still not cleared up, but making slow progress.

Another interesting point made in the article:
[ Mis-information deleted ]

[PoolDoc]

Sorry, Nscc;

The point about the deterioration of high strength bleach, when stored at high temps, is generally valid even if the numbers aren't as simple as they make it. It's a point I often make myself.

But, the rest of the article is a mis-mash of half-truths and out-right errors, some of which are deliberate, at least on the part of the original writers.

If you want to repost in the "China Shop" and debate the details there, you may. But I don't allow that sort of bogus information in the general sections.

I wrote a longer post, but then realized that you probably posted this innocently, and had no idea how bogus the material on that page was.

Good luck with your pool!