Chlorine Levels with SWG Question

[haneyrm]

Quick question. My test kit is indicating that my chlorine level is off the chart so to speak. My kit only goes to 3.0 and I am higher than that. My concern is that my SWG is only set to 15% chlorination. I originally had it set to 60% before I realized that there was no stabilizer in the pool. Now after adding stabilizer and operating the system at 15% for two months, I have seen very little to no change in the chlorine levels. I add water weekly to maintain the pool level. Am I missing something that would make my chlorine levels so high with such a low setting. You cannot smell or taste chlorine in or around the pool.

Mike

[salinda]

What is your cya level? I think if it is high and you continue to add chlorine to the pool via an swg or otherwise, you will get a buildup that would cause a higher percentage. Of course with high cya, you need a higher free chlorine level for proper sanitization.

[PatL34]

Mike,

Welcome to the forum. From what you say your chlorine could be quite high, and if you have a liner pool, it might start to get bleached.

Without a good water analysis, we can only suggest that you are chlorinating at a rate higher than necessary. The fact you don't smell any chlorine tells me that. I would maintain your 15% setting until you post that water analysis and then we can give you better advice.

Hope this helps.

Pat

[haneyrm]

Thanks for the info. I had my water tested today and here are the results.

Total Chlorine 4.0 ppm
Free Chlorine 4.0 ppm
Combined Chlorine 0.0 ppm
pH 7.4
Total Alkalinity 55 ppm
Calcium Hardness 275
Stabilizer 65 ppm
Salt 3300 ppm

The pool is a 15,000 gallon gunite pool with PebbleTec finish. I guess the chlorine is not all that high after all. My drop test kit only goes to 3.0 ppm and the color of the sample looks much darker. The only suggestion the pool store had was to add 9.4 lbs of something to increase the alkalinity.

Mike

[BillyBumbler]

With my limited experience, the only thing that looks like it needs adjusting, to me, is the Total Alkalinity. You should aim for 90-120ppm. Everything else looks spot on. Normally I would think that 65ppm CYA is a tad high but that's apparently what SWG's call for, I'm not sure why. Mine calls for 60-80ppm. Perhaps the low percentage setting has something to do with the modest size of the pool? Or maybe you run your pump for many hours?

[waterbear]

I have a 6600 gal fiberglass pool and my SWG is set to 5% to maintain a FC around 3 or 4 ppm. I run the pump 8 hours and my cya is around 65 ppm. Since the cells are rated in hours of use I look on this as a plus!

[haneyrm]

Thanks for the replies. I run my pump 8 hours per day. I am guessing that is why I can run the generator at such a low setting.

Thanks,
Mike