Clear, but no chlorine???

[Watermom]

If you can't find an OTO kit at Walmart or Target, you can get one at your pool store but just do not let them talk you into buying anything else. They will try!

[mary jo]

Thank you Watermom!!! I think the problem is: the new post section does not show up at this time ( although it did earlier today).
Anyway- I did find some OTO from a neighbor who had 2- and tested for chlorine and got zero again. Just to see that the OTO was indeed fresh and working I added a drop,of bleach to some water and tested it and it came out dark orange. So I think we an say that my pool has zero chlorine in it, however LOTS of CYA.

[FormerBromineUser]

Hey, Maryjo.

I am not going to make any chemical recommendations because I am new to the BBB method myself and there are MANY experts here who can help you. (I know what I would do with your test results but...... hint: it starts with b l e a and doesn't include t r i c h l )

I live in Saint Charles, IL so I know what's available in our area. If you HAVE to purchase any chemicals from a pool store, I recommend you go to In-The-Swim. Their corporate offices are in West Chicago and they have an outlet store right there. (They also carry Taylor reagents in case you need them right away). I would not suggest returning to The Great Escape. If you are in doubt, remember that they recommended Alkalinity Plus when your TA is fine.

Get some FC in that pool, and good luck!

[mary jo]

Thanks FormerBromineUser! I've now read enough posts that I think I should invest in a lot of bleach! I would go ahead and add some tonight just to see what would happen but I'm not sure about how long I'd have to wait until I could close the automatic cover.- which I do every night. I hope this issue gets resolved by next Tuesday- my daughter has planned one last pool party for the season. Fingers crossed!

[FormerBromineUser]

Yup! No tabs, and lots (and lots) of bleach to bring your FC to >10% of that high CYA.

I have an auto-cover too, and if I have to add more than a quart of 12.5%, I usually wait 1 hour before I close the cover. The bleach just needs to circulate and dilute. So if you're still awake tonight, GO FOR IT!

I am not 100% positive on the following because your CYA is so high, but the auto-cover MAY be your pal in this situation. The auto-cover normally needs to be open only a minimum of 1-2 hours a day to get UV benefits. Keeping it closed more during the day will help you retain some of your chlorine. (Hope the experts chime in here if high CYA is a special situation....)

When you have time on your hands, I also suggest you read about the Nature 2 system and the "minerals" it adds to your water. Just a thought.

[BigDave]

Thanks for demonstrating that you don't have really high chlorine.

Here's what I think is going on in your pool:
Use of trichlor for primary sanitization has built a very high CYA level (you already know this).
You have kept chlorine level low compared to CYA as recommend by the "mineral system" vendor.
The metal ions (copper and silver, I bet) have helped keep the water clear as the active chlorine level (ratio of chlorine to CYA - not measured chlorine level) fell.
The chlorine / CYA ratio has gotten to the point where there's not enough active chlorine to keep the pool clean despite the presence of metal ions.
Algae (not yet visible) is starting to grow creating the chlorine demand you are experiencing.
The powdered chlorine products you've applied haven't reached a chlorine level effective to kill off the nascent algae.

The simple recommendation is to shock the pool to 30ppm FC but there's a catch. The metal that I believe is in solution in your pool may stain the pool when chlorine is raised. You can test this with a clean, white, 5 gallon bucket. Fill it with about 4 gallons of pool water and add a tablespoon of bleach. Give it a stir and wait a day or so to see if it stains. If it does stain and you want to avoid stains in the pool, post the bucket result here and we'll work out a plan.

If there's no stain or you don't care about staining the pool, you'll need about 10 jubs of 8.25% bleach to get to the 30ppm FC shock level and then you'll need to keep it there until you lose less than 1 ppm FC overnight, you have 0 or nearly 0 CC and the pool is clear. Run the pump 24x7 while shocking. Leave the pool cover open if you can - some of the byproducts produced while shoking the pool may damage the cover.

Phosphate remover is expected to cloud the pool - clean the filter. I'm a little concerned about a hardness reading of 750. Are you sure this test was done correctly?

[mary jo]

Hi Big Dave- THANK YOU for an explanation that makes sense. The only caveat is that ( and I'm being honest here) I forgot about the mineral sanitizer until I looked through my pool papers, so I have not ever changed the cartridge in 2 1/2 seasons of use. So I wonder if it's still doing anything.

Staining wouldn't be good, but I wondered if I could do a stain test while adding the bleach at intervals. I'm assuming you don't add 6 jugs at once?
Oh- last night at around 10:00 I went ahead and did add 1 jug of bleach, very very slowly to see what would happen. 2 hours later I tested the water, then closed the cover.

Last nights results (around midnight): FC=3.5. CC=1.0
This morning I opens the pool around 10:00 and tested again: FC=1.0. CC=.5

I will start my test bucket, and wait for more info on how much bleach to add.
Thank you !!!