Opened pool and problems...

[chumpy36]

I tested 15 minutes after application of the bleach and The chlorine reading was well off the scale of my test kit that ends at 5ppm.

At 10pm tonight, it had gone down to about 6ppm (a guess - maybe 7) based on the color.

Should I pour more bleach in? I have 10 more gallons. I've used 10

Thanks

Jason

[PoolDoc]

Just wait till tomorrow.

Ben

[chumpy36]

And should I smack it with all ten gallons I have left?

thanks

[Watermom]

Do you have new numbers?

[chumpy36]

Do you have new numbers?

I tested Chlorine this morning with my normal kit and came up with about 5ppm FAC. Combined is way off the scale. I wasn't sure what to do this morning and I didn't want the chlorine to go too low so I hit it with the rest of the 10 gals I had this morning.

Will test again in the morning when I get back to the house.

Thanks

[PoolDoc]

Just get into the "add bleach in the PM, test in the AM" routine, till your FC is nearly equal your TC (ie, your combined chlorine is less than 1 ppm, when your free chlorine is greater than 5 ppm).

Don't try to hurry things up with a 'super' dose of chlorine.

Don't start adding other stuff, unless the pH gets way off. You can probably test pH accurately in the evening BEFORE you add more chlorine -- but when the chlorine is more than 5 ppm, your pH test is not necessarily accurate.

Just take your time, and stay on course.

Good luck,

Ben

[chumpy36]

Just get into the "add bleach in the PM, test in the AM" routine, till your FC is nearly equal your TC (ie, your combined chlorine is less than 1 ppm, when your free chlorine is greater than 5 ppm).

Don't try to hurry things up with a 'super' dose of chlorine.

Don't start adding other stuff, unless the pH gets way off. You can probably test pH accurately in the evening BEFORE you add more chlorine -- but when the chlorine is more than 5 ppm, your pH test is not necessarily accurate.

Just take your time, and stay on course.

Good luck,

Ben

So practically speaking with my test kit (Taylor deluxe something or other) I need to test and get the FAC reading (This is a pinkish color) then add the 5 drops of the third chemical (the first test involves two chemicals) and look for only a change UP of only 1ppm as long as I'm above 5ppm?

Looks like I'm gonna be making alot of trips to walsmart. I've gone through 20 gals of bleach so far and there's only been a slight improvement but I'll keep at it.

Thanks for the help...

[Watermom]

It may take a ton of bleach, but it WILL work. Every year, we have people who open to this situation and they feel like they are never going to quit having such a high chlorine demand, but the cycle eventually ends, and it will for you, too. Hang in there and keep us posted!

[CarlD]

As Watermom puts it, you need to stick to the program. Chlorine WILL kill the algae. You just need enough of it.

Carl

[chumpy36]

Ok, I'm getting some conflicting info from the test kits I have (still waiting on the K-2006)...

First one is a Taylor deluxe that does Free and combined chlorine (3 chemical test). It gives me a very elevated free chlorine reading first (off the chart that ends at 5) but when I add the third chemical to give combined chlorine I don't see much (any) change. I would think this means good news and that the difference between free chlorine and total is not much.

However, when I do another test I have (yellow drops one chemical) the chlorine comes up to a level of about 5ppm (I'm guessing this is just free chlorine). And when I use a test strip I get a total chlorine level of zero. The strip does not react at all.

So not really sure what to do at this point. I guess I'll have more info when the K-2006 gets here.

Thanks

JAson