I just found your site this morning. I have been trying to get my 4000 gallon pool up and running for the year. I never realized there was more than one chlorine. I was using the test strips and the pool was showing no chlorine but i just started using the regents drops and it shows chlorine over the top so how do i lower my total chlorine but raise the free Chlorine?
I just checked and these are the numbers:
total chlorine probably 6 or 7
(the tube only goes to 5 and it is a darker yellow
free chlorine less than 1
(it hardly registers on the dip stick, in fact only half of the pad turns a little purple and then fads back to nothing
PH is 7.5
total hardness is 400
CYA is 30-50
total alkalinity is 180
The pool store told me to add two pounds of shock, i added one and that sent the total chlorine up but not the free chlorine.
Is it safe to swim?
Should i still use a float with chorine tablets (Small pool and no skimmer)
Thanks for any help
Marji