The Sun, Chlorine & CYA

[ths49286]

Thanks for your reply. I have a 5 drop test kit and 3 hours ago I tested 0 chlorine. I will go out tomorrow and and look for the dichlor. I expected the chlorine to get used by the algae but the loss of CYA stumped me. The water is sill quite cold, 60, but should heat up over the next few days. Also used the kit from WM to test the CYA level, only clouding the test tube water slightly. What are the ingredients of Dichlor, or does it possibly go by another name. With it heating up here I want to get this cleaned up. Thanks again!

[chem geek]

Dichlor goes under any of the following names:

Sodium dichloro-s-triazine trione
Sodium dichloroisocyanurate
Dichloro-s-triazine-2,4,6-trione,sodium salt
1,3-Dichloro-1,3,5-triazinetrione, sodium salt

plus other similar names. There may be a "dihydrate" after the name as that is the more common form (compared to anhydrous).

Dichlor is essentially Cyanuric Acid with two of the three hydrogen replaced with chlorine and the third hydrogen replaced with sodium (as seen in this link). In water, it produces the identical set of compounds as adding Cyanuric Acid and chlorinating liquid or bleach (except the chlorinating liquid or bleach add more salt).

Richard

[ths49286]

Thanks again I'll go look for some tomorrow.

[ths49286]

Before going out for the Dichlor this AM I went out and tested the pool water with the kit I have. Cl was a 7 ( it was 10 last night 2 hours after adding bleach), CYA was at 20. So i am thinking the CYA I previously added is slowly dissolving in the water. I have deceided not to add the Dichlor since I don't want the CYA to get to high. Just tested CL again 6 hours later and it is at 6. Will test CYA again tonight to see if it is increasing. I am apparently able to at least keep the CL from burning from sun , algea appears to be gone as pool is blue but still milky. I think I will add some clarifier to see if I can hasten the algae to get caught in the filter. The PSI has gone up 5 from last night. What about the clarifier?

[chem geek]

I suspect your CYA will stay around 20 as you technically added 17 and presumably started from 0, but it's safe to wait and you are right that it does provide a lot of protection even at 20.

As for the clarifier, it will speed things along by clumping dissolved algae remnants but technically it is unnecessary if you wanted to just use chlorine and be patient since the chlorine will continue to break down the algae. It's up to you. Just don't add too much -- follow the directions on the bottle and you can then vacuum to waste if there's sediment that settles. It usually takes 3-4 days to clear up an algae bloom and sometimes up to a week depending on the size of the bloom.

You might consider cleaning (backwashing) your filter as you've noticed a big rise in pressure.

Richard

[ths49286]

I will backwash again today and have vacumed the bottom a couple times as I know there is stuff on the bottom even tho I can't see it. I think now that the chlorine is'nt burning off within a couple days it should be clear. I opened it sunday afternoon and today is the first day that I have been able to keep chlorine in it 24 hrs. that should make a big difference. I was in a hardware store today and saw 10% chorine for 2.25 a bottle, I am going to go and get some. This afternoon the pool is really blue( yet milky), how high should I take the chlorine level up for tonight and tomorrow? It was 85 and sunny today and is supposed to be the same tomorrow. Thanks richard

[chem geek]

Maintaining 10 ppm FC at 20 ppm CYA should be fine for clearing the algae though Ben's chart says 12 ppm FC in the "shock" column, but you need to maintain that level so go a bit higher as needed (say, to 15 ppm FC in the morning, but not higher than that) and check it during the day (if possible). It sounds like the chlorine usage is declining so that is good.

I assume you are running the filter 24/7. Using a skimmer sock might help as well (will reduce how much backwashing you need to do). You are already vacuuming to waste so that's also good. There's just a lot to remove from your pool -- one way or the other.

Richard