Holy Chlorine, Batman!!

[PoolDoc]

Here's what I got

FC - 44
TC - (what's the point?)
pH - 6.8 - 6.9
Alk - 80
CYA - 120 plus
...

Amazingly, 10 days later of adding nothing and his FC is down to 22 and his liner DID NOT fade one bit. I'm assuming the buffering of the CYA protected him....I can think of no other reason he has any color at all in his liner.

Actually, such posts have quite a bit of value, at least to me. They provide me with external confirmation of some of the points I've made here. For example, I assume he'd been swimming in the pool with no observed ill effects? That's what I'd expect, but it's totally contrary to what's found in all the literature.

Ben
"PoolDoc"

[duraleigh]

Hi, Ben,

No swimming yet. We're in Raleigh, NC, and while my pool is temporarily drained, I suspect most pool temps to be in the 60's.

He's a mercenary sort of guy......maybe we could all chip in and get him to take a dip.....see if he turns into an albino!! KIDDING! KIDDING! KIDDING!

Yesterday (10 days after the 44 FC) was when I got the 7.2 pH and 22ppm Cl.

Actually, one good result. After seeing Ben's kit, I'm pretty sure he is a convert and will be ordering the PS234 in the very near future

[CarlD]

How could his pH go up? Is his pool open? Is the filter running? Then let's not forget our T/A lowering procedure....

"...then when the pH is below 7.2, aerate your water to raise pH..."

So his water is aerating and raising the pH.

Of course, this assumes that the 7.2 is vaguely accurate given Ben's caveats.

[tonyl]

FYI....I just changed my 9 year old liner DIY...18X36 sport pool, 20k gallons, filling back up right now.

When the pool was installed in late fall, they added EIGHT gallons of 12% pool bleach. No pump to circulate, they left everything winterized. Told me to add EIGHT gallons again in the spring. After the spring, I learned not to do that again but also didn't notice any sudden fading. But over time....it certainly did, almost all the color was gone from the bottom despite being very conservative relative to shocking and chlorine levels.

But that's not all. After draining the pool I had my box cutter ready to section it for removal. Came in handy for the sides as they were still pliable, but the bottom? My index finger cut right through it turning it to glass like shards. More like thin plastic than vinyl. Popped and snapped any where I touched it. Had we not changed it this year somebody's foot would have gone right through it along the coves where it pulled back.

Just an FYI...sometimes the evidence of over chlorination shows up later...Tony

[halds]

This may be worth nothing also, but what this gent experienced does not surprise me....


If one relies soley upon what pool stores are telling clients, and if one does not know first hand the basic chemistry involved (thank goodness I found this site and forum!), one could easily end up in this siuation not knowing what the problem is.

I recently went to a 'pool school' sponsored by a reputable pool compnany here in town. The seminar was given by a salesman for one of the leading pool chemical companies.

I was astonished at what the guy was telling the group as 'facts'. He was advocating the sole use of their sanitizer sticks to maintain chlorine levels in the pool. I asked what would happen to stabilizer levels if one followed that practice. I was told outright that 'scientific tests performed by their company have confirmed that stabilizer levels have no effect on the ability of chlorine to sanitize, and that the levels can increase to very high levels (several hundred ppm) with no consequence on the efficiency of chlorine". He reassured the group that one could use their sticks for many years before pool water would have to be replaced to reduce stabilizer. Top that with the fact that he never warned about having to increase chlorine levels to 'achieve' efficiency as stiabilizer builds up, and that the usual test strips and kits can give false readings of chlorine at levels above 10-15 ppm due to bleaching.......Im sure a large number of those naive pool owners are going to exericene this same problem...