No chlorine

[aimee3]

Thanks for the quick reply Janet....

pool stored, huh? great!

Ive spent a few hundred dollars in July alone trying to get the chlorine to stay in the pool.

I will run out and get a test kit and post the numbers tomorrow. The pool store guy never gave me my exact numbers. Just ' a little low, but that can wait until you get back'.

I will also look at the shock and see what kind it is. Thanks so much and I cant wait to get this problem fixed. We have been calling the pool the 'money pit' this year!!!

[aylad]

Don't feel bad--it usually takes getting pool-stored at least once for people to find this site and learn how to take care of their own pool. I'll be looking for your test results...

Janet

[kevincad]

Thanks for the quick reply Janet....

pool stored, huh? great!

Ive spent a few hundred dollars in July alone trying to get the chlorine to stay in the pool.

I will run out and get a test kit and post the numbers tomorrow. The pool store guy never gave me my exact numbers. Just ' a little low, but that can wait until you get back'.

I will also look at the shock and see what kind it is. Thanks so much and I cant wait to get this problem fixed. We have been calling the pool the 'money pit' this year!!!

Don't feel bad, you're now at the right place, learning the right things. I've got the same size pool as yours, in Georgia, where things like mildew and algae seem to thrive. I'm spending around two or three dollars a week on my pool, less when it isn't SO hot.

[jrv331]

Do you leave your solar cover on when the pool is not is use? I have a 24' pool and will lose all chlorine by mid afternoon if I leave my cover off. The sun is a killer on an uncovered pool.

John

[karrde97]

I have sun all day so I don't retain much chlorine. I was 'pool-stored' with the phosphate thing last year too. The only money I spend now is on bleach. I may use more than average because of all day sun. I measure my Cl & pH every night with the PS200 and do a full run of test once a week. Our water is great. I try to keep my Cl to recommended high end.

Just follow the guidelines on this site and it'll work.

[aimee3]

Sorry for the delay.. I went out today and the local pool store had NO drop based kits. They dont even sell them. Sigh... So i got a strip test that checks for Ph, Free Chlorine, Alk and stabilizer. Everything is low.. Ph was between 6.2 and 6.8. Free Chlorine is a big fat 0. Total Alk is 40, and stablizier was close to the 0 color. This is the best I can do with numbers at the moment. I will have to get a drop kit tomorrow at Pool City or somewhere.

Mike- I went to 2 different stores about not keeping chlorine and not ONE of them mentioned adding stabilizer!! Grrrr

John- we mostly keep it off. The one time we put it on for a few days, the water was green when we took it off. Once I get these chemicals right, I will start leaving it on. Its starting to get a bit chilly at night too.

Soo.. since everything in my pool is basically low or non existant, can i just start with bleach, borax and baking soda to start fixing my problem. I stopped at Kmart today and bought some of everything.. B B B Im ready!

[ubalr1]

Sorry for the delay.. I went out today and the local pool store had NO drop based kits. They dont even sell them. Sigh... So i got a strip test that checks for Ph, Free Chlorine, Alk and stabilizer. Everything is low.. Ph was between 6.2 and 6.8. Free Chlorine is a big fat 0. Total Alk is 40, and stablizier was close to the 0 color. This is the best I can do with numbers at the moment. I will have to get a drop kit tomorrow at Pool City or somewhere.

Mike- I went to 2 different stores about not keeping chlorine and not ONE of them mentioned adding stabilizer!! Grrrr

John- we mostly keep it off. The one time we put it on for a few days, the water was green when we took it off. Once I get these chemicals right, I will start leaving it on. Its starting to get a bit chilly at night too.

Soo.. since everything in my pool is basically low or non existant, can i just start with bleach, borax and baking soda to start fixing my problem. I stopped at Kmart today and bought some of everything.. B B B Im ready!

You can order the Taylor K-2006 Test Kit directly from Taylor Technologies here (http://www.taylortechnologies.com/) for $68 and free shipping. You can also order PS234 Test Kit from PoolSolutions here (http://www.poolsolutions.com/cart/shopping.php. Either way, you need your own kit.

[geordie]

In a pinch go to Walmart and get the 5 way drops based kit. It will work until you can get a better one. The strips aren't accurate enough to do much good. I have the same size pool as you do and with 0 chlorine I would start by adding 2-3 bottles of chlorine as soon as the sun is off the pool. What size bottles did you buy?

[Spensar]

If your CYA is at zero, you will need some of that too, which is at the pool store. Best approach to pool stores is know exactly what you want, and just buy that.

(If you do talk to anyone there and they ask what kind of chlorine you use, say it's liquid, or sodium hypochlorinate.)

Sound like you have some really bad stores there, here they give you a printout, with their chemical recommendations of course. Even then, it's better to do your own. Last year I went one day and the CYA reading was 25, the next day they said it was zero and recommended I add 4 pounds of CYA.....

[rastoma]

Sorry for the delay.. I went out today and the local pool store had NO drop based kits. They dont even sell them. stopped at Kmart today and bought some of everything.. B B B Im ready!

I'm a newbie myself here but one thing I learned before making my first post is stop going to the pool store. As it's been mentioned many times, go to Walmart and get the test kit they have there (surely you have a WM nearby Kmart might have one too.

The test kit you can order through this forum is best, but you need something now so go get the one at WM if you can.