Quote Originally Posted by jcarroca
I am new at this stuff so please bare with me. I bought a HTH 5 test kit the other day. This is my reults.

CL=>5ppm
ph=7.5 to 7.8
TA=100ppm
Total hardness=0 I believe. When 5 drops were added solution did not change color, suppose to be red to indicate hardness.
CYA=>100ppm liquid was little below the 100 mark on the tube.

Vinyl pool 16X32 IG. Hardness range should be from 200-800pmn and CYA should be 30-50ppm. My chlorine is always high deep yellow color. I shocked pool 1 week prior to memorial day weekend and have been using an automated hayward chlorinator and trichloro 3" pucks set at between 0 and 1. My chlorine does not seem to drop off even though I have the Chlorinator set very low. Where is my problem, or Do I have a problem? Water is brilliantly clear. Any comments/suggestions would be grealy appreciated.
J, let me be the first to tell you to stop filling the CL200 (220) tab chlorinator and switch to bleach only for chlorine. The tabs you are using will drive your cya way up (though even the 'experts' on this forum can't agree on what the best level is we all agree that 100+ is too much), and tend to turn your pool water into an acid bath (the tabs have a very low [2. someting pH] and eat any metals in the system and pool area. You don't need any calcium in a vinyl pool. Take a look at the first post, it's stickied, in the "Chlorine" section of this forum and you'll find Ben's Best Guess chart on chlorine levels vs CYA levels - very helpful. Also give the mother site to this one POOLSOLUTIONS a good read through to find out what Ben, our mentor and administrator, says about various pool issues, including chemistry.
The chlorine doesn't drop because the CYA is 'locking' it up, it's reactivity (to UV, organics and viruses) has been reduced to a snails pace - in short, it can't do it's job at it's current level. Though the water is clear now, this may allow for infections to be passed on or an algae bloom. Though I have a fair knowledge of pool chemistry, I'm not an expert, there are people here that actually understand what's going on - l'll leave it at this until one of them comes along. Welcome to the forum! I'll keep my eye on this and if you don't receive more info, I'll call on a few of the experts to help you. - Waste