Clear, but no chlorine???

[mary jo]

FINALLY….numbers even a pessimist can appreciate:

Yesterday morning @ 6:30am: FC=30 CC=2.0
Yesterday evening @ 9:00pm: FC=28 CC=1.0 !!!!!!!

Needless to say I tested several (OK 4) times to make sure. yea!

This morning tested @ 7:00am: FC=27 CC=1.0

So could that bitter taste in the water have been an "extinction burst"- the microbe's last hurrah before kicking it??? (I know, probably not, but I like the imagery).
OH- Add more bleach today or wait and see??? It's a sunny Sunday here.

[CarlD]

Nope. Things are looking very, very good for you. Just wait. I wouldn't keep testing all day. Just wait till the sun is setting and test then. If CC is .5 or less, you are done! Then you have to let your FC keep coming down to your maintenance level.

[BigDave]

Looking good. I agree with CarlD, don't add bleach and see if the CC is 0.5ppm or less this evening. If it's not, bring it back up to 30ppm. CC measures a lot of different chemicals most of which smell, taste, and feel bad. The time it's taken to make progress in your pool suggests that you've had some of the more complex combined chlorines that are harder to break down.

[mary jo]

Well, yesterday evening FC=25, CC=1 (lost 2ppm all day, had 3 people in the pool).
Added 1 jug of bleach @ 8:00, tested @ 10:00 pm FC=30 CC=1

This morning tested @ 7:00am FC=28 CC=1

It's a cloudy, rainy Labor Day here.

[BigDave]

Sounds like progress to me. 3 people in the pool with no increase in CC. Shame about the weather - maybe it will get better this afternoon.

[mary jo]

It turned out the weather did get a bit sunny as the day went on. Hubby went in the pool again (at night): water felt squeaky clean (opposite of silky soft?),smell of CL but no bitter taste…still getting a slight black ring around the skimmer.

Yesterday: morning FC=28 went down to FC=26 by evening. CC=1 again.
I added a jug of bleach and re-tested at 11:00pm FC=31 CC=1

This morning: tested @ 7:00am FC=29.5 CC=1.0

any day now…….

[CarlD]

I'll bet you smelled chlorine when your husband went in the pool and when he came out. That's because any impurities on the skin get metabolized and...smell like "chlorine".

Happens to me all the time. My FC will be solidly where it needs to be, there will be NO "chlorine" smell, I'll just stick my arm in and Bam! "Chlorine Smell"!

[PoolDoc]

I think it's time to let it drop.

I haven't tested enough to be certain, but I suspect that, when FC levels are very high, spurious CC levels may appear. If your FC is stable overnight -- and 2 ppm is fairly stable.

There may be some lingering chlorine demand. However, the best way to deal with it is probably simply to run FC levels equal to 10% - 15% of your CYA for awhile.

Black ring around the skimmer can be from body oils and lotions OR it can be from plasticizers being released from the liner. If it's plasticizers, there is NOTHING you can do about that, except keep the pH reasonable (between 7 and 8).