When chlorine level will back to normal after shock

[cokecraze]

Hi:

My pool data is as follows:

FC: 10
pH: 7.2
TK: 80
CYA: 30-50
Water temp: 63 oF

It seems that everything is OK except the Chlorine level did not get back to OK level. I have shocked and kept the FC level above 10 until Sunday a week ago. I covered the pool since it was rainy the whole week. When I tested the water Saturday, the pool data is similar to the data I got today. It has been sunny since then. I am wondering when the chlorine level will be back to OK. Should I turn on the pool heater? Will that increase the speed that the chlorine to vaporize or gone? Should I add something to lower the cholorine level? Please advise.

Thanks

[tenax]

keep checking the chlorine level and "let it ride"..it'll be fine..i don't believe the pool heater will have any impact in a closed system..i.e. if you're thinking will it help evaporation..if you really want it to go down to a normal level now, then make sure it isn't covered...and along with water evaporation, you'll lose chlorine thanks to the sun, etc. my pool was shocked 8 days ago and i'm still at 10 ppm today..waiting..waiting..to start my new SWG..2 more days maybe? the catch 22 is i leave the cover off my pool to help reduce chlorine level, then i'm going to lose heat and run my heater more..it is september if i drain and add water, same deal in that i'll be adding colder water..and i would also lose cya which i don't want to...so, letting it ride

[chem geek]

As tenax says, keeping the cover off is the best way to lower your chlorine. Sunlight (UV) will breakdown the chlorine faster than most anything else so keeping the cover off during the day is more important than keeping it off at night (in case you wanted to retain heat). If your pool is in full sun most of the day, you could lower the FC by about half of its amount each day. Of course, this time of year there is less sunlight.

Richard

[Watermom]

I hope you aren't waiting til the cl drops to go swimming. It is perfectly fine to swim with FC of 10 and cya of 30-50 as long as you have no algae. You might want to wear old swimsuits since it might fade your good ones a bit, but other than that it is not a problem.

[chem geek]

I not only agree with watermom, but would like you to let us know if you notice ANY fading from swimsuits at all. An FC of 10 with a CYA of 30-50 should technically be equivalent (in disinfecting chlorine) to an FC of 0.2-0.4 with no CYA so I doubt that your swimsuit will fade at all. Of course, I could be wrong so it's better to play it safe as watermom suggests.

My wife's swimsuits have the rubber wear out before they fade, but they only seem to do this during the winter when she uses an indoor pool (at a local community center) where they almost certainly do not use CYA (and probably have FC > 2). Neither she nor I have ever had a problem during the summer with our own pool even with an FC of 5 and CYA of 15 which should be similar to your FC of 10 with CYA of 30.

Richard

[tenax]

we've been using ours since the chlorine was at 15 with a cya of 60-80 with no effect on swimsuits

[cokecraze]

Thanks for all the tips. Unfortunately, it is going to rain tomorrow and Wednesday's morning. I may have keep my cover closed again to keep the rain water from going into the pool. I may try to swim in my new pool the first time Wednesday's night after work.

Thanks god there is a forum like this. I may need all of your help soon.

[Watermom]

We'll be here when you need us! Just wondering, what does it hurt for the rain water to go in your pool? If I had a new pool and I had never swam in it before (at least I think that is what you were saying above?) - then I'd go swimming even in the rain! We sometimes do that around here and my kids think it is great fun!

[tenax]

i agree..it may throw your ph/alkinity off a bit, but...won't hurt..your call only after heavy rain have i had even that be an issue with my pool.

[Simmons99]

I've had several heavy rains - no cover ever. Swam in the rain - swam after the rain. Didn't really change the chemistry much except decrease the chlorine level.