Water circulating before testing?

[onemsmom]

Ok, I'm working my hardest to keep the ppm up! It drops quickly! Seems like I'm adding 1.5 to 2 gals of bleach every hour or so. Pool is still green, but is much less cloudy.

the pH is 8+ (way more purpleish than the 8 color)
took 5 drops to clear it.

should I be doing something to lower the pH?

TA is 180

Need anything else? I assumed you didn't want the Ca.

Thanks,

Jenn

[aylad]

Don't worry about the pH bewing a little high, it will usually test falsely high when your chlorine is above 10 ppm or so. However, what do you mean when you say it "took 5 drops to clear it"? Most pH blocks just take the water sample, add 5 drops of the phenol red, then shake and read.....there should be no other drops to make it clear.

The chlorine is being consumed quickly, but that's normal for a pool with algae in it. As you make progress in killing it off , your chlorine demand will drop, but for now just keep hammering it, keep the filter running, and we'll help you get it cleared up!

Janet

[onemsmom]

Thanks, I feel better now.

It's the "acid demand" test to be done after you add the 5 drops of R-0004 & get the pH color. It says to add R-0005 dropwise & count - compare with color standards until desired pH is matched. See treatment tables to continue.

It took 5 drops until it was in the 7.5 range. I can't find a "treatment table" anywhere, so I wouldn't know what to do. I'm glad I don't have to worry about it until we are through dealing with the chlorine.

Ya know, the pool store had me add a whole bag of "stabilizer" about 2 weeks ago. Is that why my CYA is so high & causing me all of these problems?!

[Poconos]

Since I just modded your post in I'll jump in without having read the whole thread. The acid demand table should be in a little book that came with the kit. Don't have it in front of me but that is what I remember. Some book about water chemistry I believe. Been filed away for years. With 5 drops of ADR to get you to 7.5 says you're pretty high. I know that purpleish color. That table should tell you how much acid to add based on number of drops and pool size in gallons. If someone has that little book please chime in. And yes, that stabilizer jacked up your CYA. If there is suspicion the chlorine level is messing up the pH reading you can try adding a drop of thiosulfate from the alkalinity test before adding the phenol red. That should knock out the chlorine and it will shift the pH reading a little but not much.
Al

[onemsmom]

Well, I'm seeing blue this morning!!! (Though I still can's see the bottom) Woo-hoo. It still fell to 16.5ppm over night, but it's blue. I'll keep the #'s up today. Maybe this will be the last day/night of this, I'm sure making a lot of trips to Wal-Mart for bleach.

I'll report in tonight or tomorrow with updates.

Thanks sooooo much for your help. I see a "blue" light at the end of the tunnel.

[Watermom]

Glad to hear there is progress! Consistency is the key. Keep up the good work and keep us posted about how it is going. Hopefully you're about to turn the corner on this.

Re: buying lots of bleach at Walmart. I often get funny looks when I am loading the buggy up with as many jugs of bleach as it can hold at one time. I just tell people my house is REALLY dirty!

[onemsmom]

Still a beautiful shade of blue - but quite cloudy. Why is it cloudy?

Have been checking all day & has still been dropping to about 16ish ppm after a few hours. I'll check again before I go to bed. Hopefully tonight is the night I see less than a 1ppm drop, though that sure seems impossible.

Keep your fingers crossed for me,

Jenn