No free chlorine but crystal clear blue water

[tile man]

Vinyl pool - 22k gal => PF=5.5

Im a bit confused about why I cannot get any free chlorine count 0 FC. I drop 1 bag of shock per day. Water color is clear with no organic matter on the bottom. Walls are not slimy. I checked my test chemicals with pool store check came out the same. I do get 100% sun from morning to dusk. Its been hot here on the east coast last week. 90F.

If I drop 2 bags of shock I will get a low TAC count for about 1 day.


FC:0 TAC:0 CH:200 CYA:70 TA:90 PH:7

[PoolDoc]

Do this:

1. Get 5 gallons of 10% pool bleach from Walmart. "Pool Essentials Chlorinating Liquid" It's in stock at the "Camp Hill Supercenter" which I believe may be near you.

2. After 6 PM this evening, test your pool. Then add 2 gallons of the bleach. Make sure the pump is running.

3. Re-test the pool an hour later and AGAIN in the morning before 9 am

4. Report results.

5. Along with the test results, list the chemicals you've been using by EXACT brand name.

Many pool store chemicals, as well as Clorox and Arm & Hammer pool chemicals, add things you do NOT want in the pool. Read this post: Pool-Chemical-Brands-to-Avoid-and-to-Prefer-2018

But there are other possibilities. For example, if your stabilizer was higher last fall than it is now, you may have a bunch of ammonia in the water. Depending on conditions, ammonia + chlorine can combine to form monochloramine, which is BOTH very irritating AND very effective against algae.

Right now, you just don't have enough information to determine what's going on. The test will help, as will the chem list.

BTW, you probably need a better test kit -- strips are particularly inaccurate with stabilizer and that's a factor that matters.

[PoolDoc]

[ Upgraded membership; moved thread to "Pool Water Problems" section <= you may need to log out and back in, before you can see everything. ]