swim after bleach?

[poolhelp101]

just learning with bleach....chlorine a little low this morning between 1.5 and 2.0 , temperature to reach 90 today...need to add chlorine? should I? and how soon can you swim after adding chlorine?

[aylad]

You can add it today, or you can wait until this evening, it's up to you. Once you've put the bleach in the pool and you know it's disbursed, it's fine to go ahead and swim. If you raise it higher than about 5 ppm or so, I'd wear faded suits.

If it were my pool, I'd go ahead and swim today, and just shock it later tonight when you're done.

Janet

[poolhelp101]

thanks! I haven't figured out yet how much and when to add the bleach to maintain the pool. I added one gallon on Friday night and I was at 5...my cya stays about 60. any suggestions on when to keep adding for maintenance? my pool is 20,000 gallons, vinyl liner. Thanks..this forum is great help!

[aylad]

At CYA of 60, your chlorine needs to stay at a minimum of 5 at all times. Your best bet is to test your water daily, and add whatever amount you need to get back to 5-10 ppm. If you'll search the forum for mwsmith's posts, there is a link to a calculator in his sig that will help you figure out how much to add, based on your gallonage. It's generally best to add it at dusk or later, so it doesn't get consumed by the sun, and it has all night to work in your pool. AFter a few weeks of daily testing and additions, you'll get a good feel for your pool and how often you're going to need to add chlorine.

Janet

[poolhelp101]

i added 2 gallons bleach last night....brought chlorine to 6.0...as the night went, it seemed to be getting a little cloudy. added 4 oz. of clarifier last night. this evening, pool is a little more cloudy, but can see the drain... ta is 180, cya 60, ph 7.8... does the bleach increase the ph and could the ph being 7.8 be the cause of the cloudiness? what do you advise me to do to help get rid of the cloudiness? thanks

[aylad]

Bleach will sometimes increase pH a little, but that's not causing your cloudiness. I have a feeling there's something more in the water that needs sanitizing. With a CYA of 60, shock your pool up to 20 ppm, and see if that clears it up.

Janet