Bleach Vs. Chlorine

[scoutmom]

I have an intex 18 by 48 inch pool..it is now green. I have been shocking it every night for almost a week with no change..after reading up some..i decided to switch from granular chlorine to bleach..it helped some..and i ordered a bigger sand filter that will be delivered this week..but i want to know how much bleach should i be adding on a regular basis to keep the levels where they are supposed to be..the bleach i bought was walmart brand 121 oz. also the pool is used often by my kids and all their friends..so most days there can be up to 6 kids in the pool..so i assume i should keep the level closer to 3ppm..and shock once or twice a week. is this correct?

[Watermom]

Hi and welcome to the Pool Forum!

We'll need some additional info to be able to help.

1. What size pump (hp) and what size sand filter did you buy (how many lbs. of sand does it hold)?
2. Exactly what all have you added to the pool, meaning ingredients and not just product names like 'shock.'
3. How long has the pool been filled and in operation?
4. What is the source of your fill water --- a well or city water?
5. Do you have a drops-based test kit? If so, what kind? Post current numbers.

If you don't have a good drops-based test kit:
The test kit that we think is by far the best is the Taylor K2006 or 2006C (better buy). Not available locally but you can get it through this link that takes you to Amazon: http://pool9.net/tk/

But, in the meantime, go to Walmart and see if they have the HTH 6-Way drops-based kit (no test strips!) and get that. If they don't, get an OTO/Phenol Red kit (yellow and red drops) instead. Use it to test and then post your numbers. Also while you are at WallyWorld, get several jugs of their generic 8.25% bleach, a couple of boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle) and a gallon of distilled water.

Repost with requested info and then someone here can try and help you.

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[scoutmom]

ok..so the filter is a pro series 4500GPH 1.0HP sand filter with 110 pd sand capacity. i dont have it yet..comes in on wednesday..currently stil using crappy paper filter that it came with. The pool has been filled and running for almost 2 months now. We use city water. I have a simple red/yellow liquid test kit that i use for chlorine and PH..but i had strips that i used every now and then to keep up with CYA..and alkalinity..as of right now because i have been shocking it simply by adding double the granular chlorine..and now by adding a bottle and a half of walmart bleach the chlorine level is so high its not yellow its orange..the PH is at 7.8... the CYA is 40... Alkalinity is at 180..by using the bleach it is slowly clearing up..it still has a faint green tinge..but looks more like turning cloudy grey

[Watermom]

If you tested the pH while the chlorine was in the orange range, it is invalid. An OTO kit like you have only gives valid pH results if the chlorine is no higher than 5ppm. Dilute a sample with half pool water and half distilled water and then run the pH test with that.

This chart can help you decipher those off the scale colors on the OTO test:> http://pool9.net/oto-chart/
But, do order a K2006 kit like I mentioned in the post above. You can't really get buy with only an OTO/Phenol Red kit like you have. It has its place for quick daily checks but can't be your only kit if you want to be able to maintain your chemistry properly. Test strips are horrible. The CYA test strip test is especially bad! So, who knows what your CYA level actually is. Order the kit.

What are the ingredients of the granular chlorine that you are using?

Until you can get the good kit and we know what your CYA reading is, I would just stick with bleach for your source of chlorine. If you are currently in the orange range, do not add any more chlorine. If you get too high, you risk bleaching out your liner. Just try and keep it in the dark yellow range for now until you get the good kit. (Do you sense that I want you to have that good kit?)

Run your pump 24/7 right now while you are working to clear the pool and clean the filter as needed. With your chlorine that high, I wouldn't think it would take long to clear this up. Killing the algae is the easy part. Clearing out dead algae in these little pools is a little more challenging but adding the sand filter will certainly help it clear faster!

Once you do get it clear, you'll want to always keep your chlorine in the proper range which is based on your CYA level. More about the CYA and chlorine relationship can be read here:> http://pool9.net/cl-cya/

However ------ I'm afraid the sand filter you bought is way too small for your pump. Your pool is approximately 7100 gallons. The 1hp pump is more than you need and pairing it with a small sand filter is not a good combo. What happens is that a too powerful pump will simply force debris through the sand bed without actually filtering anything out. This also sometimes breaks down the dead algae into even smaller pieces that are then even more difficult to filter. Plus, the force also can blow the sand out of your filter leaving you with a filter with inadequate sand levels to do the job.

I am not the pump/filter matchup expert here. I'm going to ask PoolDoc to offer his opinion on your pump/filter combo. Maybe you can return the small filter and choose a larger one since you haven't actually used it yet?

Hope this helps.

(Until you registration is completed, you won't be able to see the rest of the forum while you are logged in. So, copy that link and then paste it into a browser window after you log out.)

[scoutmom]

it seems to be one unit..i ordered it from walmart

[Watermom]

Ok. Well, let's see what Ben says. I contacted him and asked him to pop into this thread when he gets a minute and offer his opinion. So, hopefully he'll be able to soon and if his advice is what I think it is going to be, you'll be able to send it back and get something that will work better for you. Sit tight for now.