Clear, but no chlorine???

[CarlD]

Grosses me out, too!

My dad (RIP) used to have two signs on his pool:

"We don't swim in your toilet. Please don't pee in our pool!"

and

"This is our OOL. Notice there is no 'P' in it!"

[FormerBromineUser]

Always with the folksy asides, Carl, love it!

While awaiting your morning numbers, I have a silly question. You have mentioned vacuuming but I don't think you've ever mentioned brushing the sides. May I assume you are doing that? I am just trying to think of anything and everything!

[CarlD]

Always with the folksy asides, Carl, love it!

Uh-oh! Am I in trouble again?

[mary jo]

So CarlD- think they still make those signs? (altho my very understated husband would freak if I put a sign up).

What trumps pee in the pool? Finding a dead critter, maybe. This morning I found a dead vole (I'm guessing) in the skimmer, gave a shriek, all the kids came running out and took pictures for instagram. "cool mom!"

Well, yesterday's FC numbers stayed constant all day w/ FC=30. CC went up and down (3 to 2 to 2.5 yo 3).

Yesterday evening @8:15 FC=30 CC=3 first time ever the cup of test water smelled like heavy chlorine….it was overcast all day.
This morning tested @ 7:00 FC=30 (one test read 31- not sure how that is possible), and CC=2

oh-FBU: yes I brush the sides, feel them often for slickness. also have the kids and hubby do this while they are in the pool, but I haven't vacuumed since I started the shocking process. Is this something I should do now?

[BigDave]

Only need to vacuum if there's stuff to clean up. You should, however, brush floor and walls. How much bleach did you use yesterday?

[mary jo]

I didn't add any bleach yesterday. The FC was 33 at 7am and went down to 30 in the afternoon and and stayed @ 30 all night.

[BigDave]

It's good to hear that the chlorine demand has subsided. Now to get a few sunny days to clear the CC.

[mary jo]

OK- so, as long as the pool is holding chlorine, the sunlight will lower the CC level? Sunlight lowers CC?

We are on the cusp of a severe thunderstorm with high winds, hail etc. No sun today unfortunately.

I should continue testing, right? If FC is at 30 now, at what number should I add more bleach?

[BigDave]

Chlorine and sunlight sould work together to clear CC. But remember, we still don't know what caused the chlorine demand and the CC in the first place, so we're following a general rule and not working to remove a known contaminant.
Yep, keep testing in the evening and morning - doesn't sound like there's any reason to test more often than that. Since each jug adds about 5ppm FC to your pool, add another jug when the FC gets to 28-30ppm.

[Watermom]

What trumps pee in the pool? Finding a dead critter, maybe.

How about finding a dead body in your pool! That's what trumps both pee and dead critters. A few years ago, one of the former moderators found that her neighbor had committed suicide in her pool.

Makes a little pee seem insignificant, doesn't it?