Chlorine and calcium low

[nthach]

I would suggest picking up the HTH 6-way test kit at Wally-World. It's made by Taylor, and while it's not a K-2006 or one of Ben's/TFP's kits, it's better than the strips - only thing it doesn't do is FAS-DPD chlorine.

[waterbear]

You have a bromide pool right now. It can take a while for the chlorine to hold after a sodium bromide treatment. Keep shocking the pool with liquid chlorine or bleach and you will find your chlorine will eventually hold. It can take 3 or 4 times before it does, however.
Invest in a good test kit and stop relying on the pool store. You will never have your pool under control if you do. Get a Taylor K-2006 (not the K-2005). It is worth every penny (around $80 US) and will pay for itself over and over again. I know that NO ONE on here will disagree with me!

[nthach]

Why are you adding bromine to your pool - not only does Cl and Br interact with each other, Br breaks down to worthless bromides quite quickly.

You'll need to use bleach or liquid chlorine in huge doses to get the Cl levels up and you'll need to maintain them for a few days or weeks until the Br is down to 0.

[aylad]

The Taylor kit that we recommend (that Waterbear mentioned in his post) can be found online for $55.00 at http://www.spspools-spas.com, or for $46 and change at http://www.amatoind.com . Believe me, a good test kit and your own testing will not only be more accurate, but save you HUNDREDS at the pool store.

Janet

[waterbear]

Why are you adding bromine to your pool - not only does Cl and Br interact with each other, Br breaks down to worthless bromides quite quickly.

Sodium bromide is an effective way to kill algae (usually mustard algae) caused when CYA levels get too high. By converting the pool to bromine temporarily it takes the CYA out of the equation. However, once the pool converts back to chlorine the high CYA levels tend to create problems once again so unless there is also a water change to lower the CYA the use use of sodium bromide based products are only a band aid and not a cure!

[CarlD]

If memory serves, if you use a bromine to clear algae from a chlorine pool, you need to add lots of chlorine to get rid of the bromine.

So you either add lots of chlorine to get rid of the algae, or lots of chlorine to get rid of the bromine that got rid of the algae....

[mrszaff]

Thanks everyone, I added the bromine to get rid of the ugly algae last week, which wasn't reacting to the polyquot 6o or the gallons of liquid shock and bleach I was pouring in. It did clear up the pool so we could swim so I can't complain. BUT, you are right I am still dumping bleach in every day. I found it at Walgreens today for only $1.99 for the store brand large jug. I am also noticing that the supply of bleach is very low every where I go here in my long island town, not a coincidence I am sure. I haven't been able to go to Leslies yet after a long day at work for a test kit or water analysis. I will look at the online sights you recommend. We are getting a thunderstorm now so I will wait till tomorrow and keep you posted. THANKS for all the input, it is much appreciated, and I still have a good looking pool, which makes me happy!!!

[Watermom]

Just an FYI -- Polyquat 60 is a much better preventative than it is for treating an existing algae bloom.

[mrszaff]

I received my test kit in the mail today. Here are the readings I get,
Free CHlorine 0
CC .2
PH 7.3
Alk 70
CYA is showing > 100 is that possible?

I will shock again tomorrow and try watermom's advice

[Watermom]

Yes, it is possible to have a cya > 100. The cya test is the hardest test to read. Try it again and see what you get. If you have been using trichlor tabs for a long time, it may very well be over 100. If that is the case, if it were my pool, I'd do a partial drain and refill. (probably about half the water which would take your cya down to 50 and would be much more manageable.)

Alk and pH are ok.

Also, do shock the pool. How does the water look?