Using Bleach

[familyfun]

Hello, I am new to the fourm and have found alot of great information. Thank you everyone.
I have a question about using Liquid shock 12% or Clorox instead of 3" tabs.
Right now I have a inline Hayward clorinator. It doesnt matter what level I have it set on it is eating tabs at a rapid rate. 14 in 4 days. I tested my water this morning and got a FC =0 so I added more tabs. I also have a float with 3 tabs in it My water is crystal clear and the PH is 6.8
I had my water tested a pool store 2 weeks ago
CYA=37 I added 1 1/2 lbs o stabilizer
ph=7.8 (they had me lower it)
I have not been able to make it back to the pool store (because of distance) so I am not sure what those levels are today..

Vinyl liner 15,000 gallons
I live in OH and it has been really HOT this summer. my water temp has been running around 89-91
today it is only 86

So here is my primary question. (OH I use taylor ph and fc test) nothing else in the kit
I am thinking of switching to liquid chlorine instead of tabs . ( I dont think my inline chorinator is working)
I can easily test the water every evening. but not in the morning
Will I need to test and add daily to maintain a level of 1-3 ??
and is it ok to leave the Floating tabs in the pool and use Liquid at the same time ?
approx how much shock would I have to add daily ?
I think switching would be alot more cost efficient but I just dont know and need some advice.

This is the 4th year with the pool and I seem to be getting worse at keeping the chlorine lever correct.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[PoolDoc]

#1 - Order the Taylor K2006 w/ DPD-FAS chlorine testing (Amazon link below)
#2 - It's OK to use both tabs and bleach, but set your chlorine level by the "Best Guess" chart -- link below.
#3 - Hayward inline chlorinators never work well in my experience AND they restrict your circulation tremendously. Floaters work better.

[Watermom]

I have a hard time believing that your CYA is only 37 if you are using that many trichlor pucks. Typically new members who have been using a chlorinator come here with sky-high CYA levels. It will be interesting to see what your CYA level is when you test it yourself with the K-2006 (or 2006C) kit.

Your pH is too low. The fact that most likely your pH tester doesn't differentiate any values lower than 6,8 means that it may likely be lower than that. Any pH below 7.0 is acidic and can damage your pool. Add a half a box of 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle at Walmart) slowly to the skimmer while the pump is running, breaking up any clumps. Wait a couple hours, retest and redose until you get your pH between 7.2-7.8.

If you go to using bleach, you'll be able to test and add bleach in the evenings only. For reference, in a 15K gallon pool, each quart of 6% bleach will add 1ppm of chlorine. That will help you know how much bleach to add each evening when you test. Again, we need an accurate CYA reading to know what levels of chlorine you'll need to run. As Ben said, read the Best Guess chlorine chart in one of our signatures.

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[PoolDoc]

Watermom, please note that readings like CYA=37 usually means digitally read 'guess strips', which in turn usually means bogus dealer testing.

As you know, the best real test are, at most, plus/minus 10ppm . . . and strip based CYA testing tends to be plus/minus 30 - 40 ppm. So, when you see impossible results like 37 -- instead of 30 or 40 -- it means the digital reader is 'making up' the extra digits so the test results look much more accurate than they really are.

Ben

[Watermom]

Yeah, I know. That is why I said he needs to get a kit and test it himself so we will know what his actual CYA really is.