Chlorine Lock ?

[Watermom]

So, each evening, when you test your chlorine, you'll want to add enough bleach to take the chlorine level up to 25ppm. In case you have forgotten from a post earlier in this thread, in your pool, each of the 121-oz jugs of 8.25% bleach will add about 3.5ppm of chlorine. Use that as a reference to figure out how much bleach to add each evening to get back to 25ppm. You'll want to continue keeping the chlorine level at 25ppm by using bleach until you meet 3 criteria:

1) You lose no more than 1ppm of FC from sundown to within one hour of sunrise the next morning.
2) You have no higher than 0.5ppm of CC
3) Your water is clear

At that point, keep the chlorine at 25ppm for one additional day and then you can let it drift down and keep it between 8-15 ALL the time. I would not advise using any more stabilized forms of chlorine in your pool like trichlor tabs or dichlor powder as they will both make your CYA continue to climb and yours is already really high.

Also, remember that when you test pH, you will get an invalid result if your chlorine is over 10ppm with a Taylor kit. (Over 5ppm with other kits.) So, dilute your sample -- half pool water and half distilled water and run the pH test with that mixture if your chlorine level is over 10ppm.

When you do the chlorine test, use the 10mL sample instead of the 25mL one and it will make your reagents last longer. You'll multiply the number of drops by 0.5 instead of 0.2. Also, if one scoop of the powder turns the water pink when you do the FC test, you don't need to add the second one. That, too, will save on your reagents.

Hope this helps.

[Watermom]

One more thing. Please make a signature. In it, please give the type of pool, volume, type and size of pump and filter, city water or well water and the fact that you have a K2006. That makes it easier for us to help without having to constantly scroll back through this long thread. You can make a signature by clicking on the tab in my signature below. Thanks!

[mjsboone]

Thank you Watermom! With the help of my son, we finally figured out what I have to do... add 5 jugs of bleach to get to 25 ppm and enough to keep it at that level every night until the 3 criteria are met. Might need some help once I get to that point.

[Watermom]

We'll be here!

[mjsboone]

Been testing like crazy morning and night and going through a lot of bleach, but it looks like numbers are moving in right direction. I have not gotten to all points of the 3 criteria that needs to be met to break this "lock", but what I have noticed is that the pool is very clear and I am smelling that chlorine smell for the first time in a very long time. My son is keeping track of the actual numbers but I am worried about keeping up the process as we ran out of solution for testing the FC and CC this morning. I have reordered but I cant stop now. Can I keep the water holding steady until I get the solution? I so want to get to the point of "maintaining" the water with the BBB method!

[Big Splash]

Flying blind is difficult but not impossible short term. You might want to check your local pool store to see if they sell replacement testing supplies. Call around before heading out. Your looking for the Taylor FAS-DPD Titrating Reagent (Chlorine) R-0871. Just don't let them sell you anything else

You said you got an 80 CYA reading correct? Was that with or without diluting the pool water sample with distilled water? What last two FC readings did you last have (before running out of reagent) and how far apart time wise?

For your size pool, adding 1 jug (121 oz) 8.25 % bleach should add 3.5 FC. You can guess how much you'll need by the amount of FC loss you had over the last two readings. Not perfect, but will keep you in the game.

[mjsboone]

Yes. 1st time I testedi gor 100. Tested again and tried to be so careful with that litle black dot...then about 80. Not diluted. We have been adding bleach 2x's per day, morning and night in the amouts that will bring it up to 25ppm. My son took over the testing for me as I became frustrated not knowing if I was doing it correctly. Watermom said to get the FC to 25ppm and get it to hold overnight and then for good measure keep it at that level for another day and then start backing off with the goal of maintaining 8-15ppm. I hope I am understanding this correctly. I will say that my pool looks sparkling and clear but I also understand this will be short-lived if I do not stick with the program. It needs a good vac but these 101 degree days are miserable! Thank you for your continued advice and support!