Famous Chlorine

[chem geek]

You should most definitely order the Taylor K-2006 kit you can get at a good online price here. You'll want to test your CYA level as well as the other levels. Any pool store test, especially for CYA, is essentially useless -- they are almost always wrong. In the meantime, why don't you do the bucket test I described to get an estimate of how much chlorine it's going to take to clear your pool.

If your CYA level is through the roof, then you'll need to do at least some partial drain/refill. If it's not, then it may just take a lot of chlorine which the bucket test will tell you.

As for whether you want to continue to add chlorine in the morning, that's up to you. Basically, you only have two choices -- add a lot of chlorine or dilute the water. Any other oxidizer other than chlorinating liquid or bleach is going to cost you more. Dilution will cost you the water and sewer costs though even a partial dilution could be helpful -- it depends on chlorine vs. water/sewer costs. A bucket test will at least give you an idea of how much chlorine you'll need.

[gfritz1]

Chem Geek how do I do the bucket test with no method to read FC as all I have is a 6 way kit that does TC and the aqua strips ????

[chem geek]

It only does TC? So it's an OTO test where you compare shades of yellow? Or is it a DPD test where you compare shades of pink? If it's the latter, then that should be fine since it should measure Free Chlorine (FC) and Total Chlorine (TC) where Combined Chlorine (CC) = TC - FC. The key is FC.

If your kit doesn't measure FC, then if you can't wait for your good test kit, see if you can get the cheapest chlorine test kit that is DPD and says it measures both Free and Total Chlorine -- especially Free Chlorine.

[gfritz1]

ok yesterday added what was in the 20ppm range of bleach 4 times plus aearate the pool 24x7
Today as requested dug up history which which was way to attach a Excel sheet but here goes and hopefully some answers that will help you guys and gals solve the issue.
Date CYA PH FC TC Alk
7/09 7 6 6
8/8/09 151 7.1 1.3 1.3
8/22/09 125 7.1 0 0
8/23/09 125 7.3 0 0

So it appears my CYA was very high in 09 and I closed with 0 CC 0 FC .I would have closed around Labor Day .Not sure why it drop from 151- 125 but looked like had some issues that went to pool store two days in a row
Now for 2010
Date CYA PH FC TC Alk Hardness
5/14 55 7.1 0 4.2 203
5/16 56 7 0 9 197 Water was somewhat cloudy and thus went to pool place two days in row. Would have done normal start up with shock and algacide ,metal out plus phos out.Using 3 inch tabs tri chlor is side chlorinator. Did the recommended triple shock every three hours for one day or 6 bags of shock each time .Then left town as emergency in SC
5/25 110 6.5 0 0 186 Here is when added the murtaic acid
5/29 110 6.5 0 0 166 Started the Borax and Bleach between 5/25-5/29
5/30 70 6.7 0 0 191 Continued the bleach and borax
5/31 70 7.0 0 .5 210 Aerate,4 applications of 20 ppm bleach
6/1 78 7.0 0 0 210

Test kit OTO so can only measure TC .Ordered the K-2006 last night . Cannot do bucket test because no FC test kits

Reading threads it appears I had a issue with high CYA and TC-FC CC last fall at closing but when opening the CYA was at 55 .Thus as thread stated this means the CYA was converted??

So any thoughts on what to do other then wait for test kit? I will add Borax today for the PH

At the pool store 4 out or 5 people complaining about no chlorine readings.They are pushing Caribbean Blue product . wow

await a reply
Gary

[CarlD]

You can simply aerate your water to raise your pH from 7.0. Just point the return at the surface.

[gfritz1]

Received my Taylor Kit tonight and so went to the pool immediately to gather the data .
PH 7.2 FC 0 CC 26 (Does this make sense???) CYA 75-80 Alkalinity 250

Have not done anything since two days ago when posted the history and expected more comments ,just waited for the Taylor Kit

Yesterday my stomach was sick when removing the solar cover . Had been running the eye ball return pointing up to aerate and raise PH .My liner was badly wrinkled and I mean badly .It is about 10 years old .So my theory and it varies:

1. Had had issues in the past when using the eye ball on my return is that it restricted flow and somehow pushed water between my liner and the hard bottom. Thus I assume that what I now see if a accumulation of water between the liner and the hard bottom ?

2.Bleach damaged the liner

3.maybe both?

I go back and forth as did open up my liner and installed a vacuum cleaner to back side and started seeing if can remove the water. Some success but still a long way to go. To say the least the eye ball is off . Today was tied up all day with very sick 86 year old mother so know time.

If it is water will it eventually soak through the hard bottom? Any options or suggestions other then punt?

I have also contacted through one of your attachments the pool supply in Stamford Ct and sent a sample to have them do a chlorine demand test .Should have the results Friday on both my pool water and the city water incase it makes sense to partial drain


So looking for advise on the liner and also comments on my reading? Will do the other bleach test in 2 gals in morning


HELP -READY TO GIVE IN

[Watermom]

I am so sorry that after you posted the history, nobody got back with you. If that happens again and you haven't received any replies after 24 hours, please bump your thread back up so it gets noticed.

Right now, we have SO many new posters on here and thus SO many threads and various problems that it is easy for a thread to accidentally be overlooked. So, again, we are sorry.

Glad you got your kit. That is good news. However, why don't you try the chlorine test again. It is unlikely that your CC is 26.

After you get new chlorine numbers, please repost. The new kit is going to make this process a lot easier. You have to slam this pool with bleach. Hard and often. As often as you can, test the water, and each time add enough bleach to get back to a cl level of 20 ppm. There is no such thing as testing or dosing it with bleach too often. Really. The more often you can do it the faster this is gonna go. If it were my pool and I had been struggling with it for as long as you have I think I'd be testing it before work, come home at lunch and test if I could, as soon as I got home from work, a couple hours later and then again before bedtime. If you have somebody who can do it mid-morning and mid-afternoon for you, even better. Don't give that chlorine level a chance to drop. Sustained high cl readings are all that is going to work for your pool. And, run the pump 24/7 right now. Watch your filter pressure.

PH of 7.2 is ok. Actually, while fighting algae, chlorine seems to work best when the pH is a little on the low side --- but just don't let it drop below 7.0.

I can't really advise you on the liner problem. Hopefully someone else will see this and chime in. Or you may want to start a new thread in the pool repair forum just to address that. I think you may get more views from some of our builder/installer type of members in that forum than you might here.

Bleach will not fade a liner anymore than any other type of chlorine will. Liquid chlorine sold at the pool store is typically 10 or 12% sodium hypochlorite while bleach is only 6%. Everyone assumes bleach will fade liners because they associate bleach with fading or bleaching clothes. It is no more likely to do so than any other form of chlorine.

Hope this helps some. I know you are frustrated, but don't give up. We will stick with you til you get this solved.

EDIT -- Just now re-read your post and noticed your sentence about your ill mother. Sometimes pools are not priorities. This may be one of those times. If you have to wait to focus on the pool at a later time, we'll still be here to help you.