Cyanuric Acid

[Watermom]

Borax is usually sold in 4 lb. 12 oz. boxes.

How can you use strips to test that high? Simple. You CAN'T. Can you look and see if your Walmart has a 5-way test kit that uses drops? It will suffice until your test kit arrives. Or, let a pool store test for you but just don't let them talk you into buying a bunch of stuff.

One gallon of 12% in a 15K pool will only take the cl up to about 8. I'd go ahead and add more chlorine. You may not have anything trying to grow in there but since your cl level dropped so low and your cya level is so high, I think you better shock it on up to 25 just to make sure you don't get an algae bloom starting. Go ahead and add more this evening. Then, test early in the morning and if you haven't lost more than 1 ppm overnight, you can let it drift down to 8-15.

If you can find that kit tonight, repost and we'll give you info about a dilution method to try. (Or you can search for "shot glass method" and find it yourself.)

[Sue225]

my kids and grandkids will be here this weekend. Forecast is for 90 degrees.
they will want to swim. I have the chlorine at about 10-12. Could I keep it there until Sunday and shock at that time? Is it safe for kids to swim in water with that high of a chlorine reading? It scares me to allow little kids to swim in that amount of chlorine but
i suppose public pools keep their reading high also. Any thoughts? You guys r the best!
American Sales had liquid chlorine 4 gal for 9.97. Cheaper than Walmart bleach considering American Sales shock is 12%. Aldi has 6% bleach 1.07 for 3 qts. Yes, I went to Walmart before I read your post and did not buy the 5 way test. I will get one tomorrow!!

[Watermom]

You can wait until Sunday to shock the pool but ..... if there does happen to be an algae bloom in the works due to your chlorine level dipping so low, your water won't be sanitized. Why don't you do this. Test early in the morning before the sun really gets on the pool. If you have lost more than 1ppm of chlorine overnight from where you are now, you will know that there is something going on with your water and you need to shock. You don't want kids swimming in water that is unsafe. If, there is not more than 1ppm loss overnight, then add enough bleach in the morning to take the chlorine back up to around 12 and let the kids swim. Take a look at the chart at the following link.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/faq.php...aq_bg_chlorine

Swimming in a pool with cya of 110 and cl of 15 is no more "dangerous" than swimming in a pool with a cya of 40 and cl of 6.

[Sue225]

got the kit from walmart and ready to shock the pool. Howdo i tell what the chlorine is now. The kit shows 6-8 but the strip show about 3?? Foes the 5 way kit show fc or cc?
PH is Ok, about 7.5 alk is 110-120. I plan to dump 3 1/2 gal of 12%. hows that sound?

[Watermom]

Sounds like a good amount. Add it tonight after the sun is off the pool. Then, test it again early tomorrow morning before the sun really gets on the pool and see how much cl you are losing overnight. If you are losing more than 1ppm, do it again. Try and test/redose at least twice (and more than that is even better) per day until you don't lose more than 1ppm overnight.

Trust the kit over the strips. I think the 5-way kit tests TC. I haven't used one in a long time. Check the instructions.

[Sue225]

If I want to see if chlorine is 25 do i do 1 part pool water and 5 parts distilled water since the test only goes to 5?

[chem geek]

If you mix 1 part pool water with 9 parts distilled or filtered water (water that has no chlorine in it) then you would multiply your reading by 10.

With 1 part pool water and 5 parts distilled or filtered water, you would multiply your reading by 6 (1 part + 5 parts = 6 total parts so 1 out of 6 is your pool water).

[Sue225]

Well i went to ps this am to check chlorine level it was 15 after 3 gal 12%. I added 2 more gal to get to 25! Problem is that it is impossible to measure accurately chlorine level w/o proper test kit and mine has not arrived yet. Strangest thing CYA has been around 100 now the clerk tells me it is 32 in 2 days!! The 5 way test is still telling me cya level is around 100. So, i am just ignoring the clerk, as a matter of fact, i am not going to that store again! Pool is still beautiful, lets see if it holds chlorine! on 6/8 cya was 30 i added the mustard algae junk at that time and within the week it was over the top. 110 with a 1/2 pool refill. Frustrated beyond words. brownish pools of fluffy stuff are still on the bottom of pool. We are vacuuming to grass daily, seems a little better. They seem to settle in foorprints and other indentures in liner. I can't remember my name some days let alone the shade of yellow/orange the shot glass method shows. We guys are the best and i look forward to a lasting relationship with you As soon as this pool reaches the point where is holds chlorine i am switching to 6% bleach.

[Sue225]

5 hours and holding chlorine-brown algae is not forming on the bottom of pool anymore, hope i am not getting excited too early!

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I have noticed after my husband pointed this out that there is something black in several of the folds of the liner. Is this algae? Will bleach kill it if it is algae? It will not brush out. He said it was there last summer! Just another little something. So you think do you think we should add more bleach tonight? When I do Shot glass method 1 part pool 5 parts distilled water the yellow is a little darker than 5ppm. Thank for your help!!

[Watermom]

it could be algae in the liner folds and high levels of bleach should kill it. But, if it was there last summer, it could be stains?

If you take one part pool water and 5 parts distilled water, and then test with that, you'll need to multiply whatever result you get by 6. So, that should mean that your cl level should be somewhere around 30. If it still seems to be holding at that level, then I wouldn't add any more bleach tonight. Then, try and get out there early in the morning and test (using the dilution method if necessary) and see how much chlorine loss you have overnight. If it is less than 1ppm, then you should be on the home stretch!

You should probably post a complete set of current numbers in the morning. I hope your kit comes soon!