Stabilizer ?

[hannadock]

I must have made a typo it is 56000 if calculator is correct. 20X40 with 8.5 deep end.

I use a Aqua Chem test kit and another by Bio-Labs.

My CYA is around 70
My FC is 5.0
My TC is 11 or 16 unsure how you calculate this
My PH is near 7.6
My TA is 140

I added 2 bottles bleach late last night. I just added soda this morning and Polyquat 60 tonight. Should I use Floc to settle this stuff down?

[polyvue]

I must have made a typo it is 56000 if calculator is correct. 20X40 with 8.5 deep end.

If your pool is "typical" -- 3.5 feet shallow end, 8.5' deep end... the average depth is close to 6 feet.

20 x 40 (rectangle) x 6 (avg. depth) x 7.48 (gallons in cubic sq ft) = 35, 900 gallons

It appears Total Alkalinity (TA) went from too low to too high. You may be trying to do too many things at once. Do you have a test result for Calcium Hardness (CH)?

With a CYA of 70 ppm, you must maintain AT LEAST 20 PPM Free Chlorine (FC) to continue shocking...

See http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=365

[hannadock]

Do I need calcium for vinyl?

[Watermom]

No. Don't worry about the calcium for a vinyl pool.

[polyvue]

Do I need calcium for vinyl?

No. If you know there's no calcium in the water, you could just indicate CH=0.

Had just thought you'd forgotten to post it.

Although it feels like you've been adding chlorine all your life... if the Free Chlorine (FC) drops by more than 1 PPM or so overnight, it's not over. The Total Chlorine (TC) -- whichever number is correct -- means that there is quite a lot of Combined Chlorine (CC).... an indication that your efforts are working, but quite slowly.

It will take about 8 gallons -- (or 12 96 oz. jugs) of 6% bleach to bring 36K gallons of water from 5 to 20 PPM FC. And you'll likely need more tomrrow morning to bring it back up to 20 PPM.

[hannadock]

My FC has not been below 3 since I started and I test everyday. I am not losing chlorine I just can't get my water totally clear.

[Watermom]

A few questions.

Are you still testing twice a day? When you add bleach, how high are you taking the chlorine? You need to be adding enough bleach to get to 20 each time you add it. You say that your chlorine level has never been below 5 since you started trying to clear this. Cl of 5 in a pool with a cya of 70 will never clear algae. You must SUSTAIN that high reading. If you can test and add more bleach three times a day that would be even better.

Since you are having some difficulty with the chlorine testing, do you have a reputable pool store that you can take a water sample to for testing? Let them run a complete set of numbers for you. Just don't let them talk you into buying a bunch of stuff while you are there.

[hannadock]

Finally my water is clear this morning and my chlorine is around 15. I added the Polyquat 60 last night. 2 more questions and I think I will be done with this thread. How high should I try to get my CYA and should I always have a chlorine level of 20. Thanks for all the advice.

[AnnaK]

My TC is 11 or 16 unsure how you calculate this

Total Chlorine = Free Chlorine + Combined Chlorine

An FAS-DPD type test kit can measure FC at concentrations far above 5 ppm which is the value at which most other tests quit. A TC of 11 (or 16) means your CC is 7 (or 11) which is an indicator that the chlorine you're adding is working on something in your water. I am not familiar with the test kits you use, don't know their range, and am somewhat concerned that your numbers may not be accurate.

In my opinion, there's little sense at throwing a flocculant at the water until the FC holds steady but without being able to test for the high concentration of FC needed for the amount of CYA we're all just sort of working in the dark, guessing at why your water remains cloudy.

This thread started with TA "around 30". How did it get to 140?
You added 3.75 pounds of stabilizer which would have increased CYA by ~ 12 ppm. How did it get to 70 ?

I'm having a problem with the testing and the numbers.