Mixed Chemicals = Cloudy Swim Spa / Pool

[milhouse19]

Thanks for all the info.

I'm curious why no one seems to favor Bromine. My installer encouraged me to switch to it (with no financial incentive for him). Is it just price or is it more work than Chlorine?

[PoolDoc]

I'm sure he believes it's true that you should. It's been a 'truism' in the pool/spa business for year, although without much foundation, that chlorine was for pools and bromine was for spas. It's one of those things I wrote about years ago, things that 'everyone' in the pool biz knows to be true, but aren't.

*If* you actually use only bromine . . . which means using sodium bromide and bleach, there might be some benefits. But there's quite a bit of data from Canadian and British studies that hydantoin from bromine tabs builds up and causes real problems.

By the way, I don't think Chem_Geek noticed that you were using Chlor-Brite, which I assume is the Leslie's dichlor, so instead of not having enough stabilizer, you probably had too much.

[milhouse19]

Sounds like Chlorine is the way to go.

So how does adding bleach before I drain the pool help? Wouldn't it just add more Chlorine to the overly-chlorinated pool?

In any event, I am going to drain and refill tomorrow. As a general rule, how much Chlorine would I need to add initially and add each week? Or should I just try to use household bleach?

My wife is probably going to be pregnant soon but needs the pool for therapy, so anyway to lower the amount of chemicals would be welcome. I am not someone who freaks out of things like this, but I also think its always better to minimize chemicals if I can.

Thanks for all your help.

[PoolDoc]

If your stabilizer is as high as we think, it's not over chlorinated -- it's actually under chlorinated! (See Best Guess chart)

Sometimes biofims form in spa piping, and is very hard to remove. Sustained very high chlorine levels will do it. But your stabilizer level may be so high that's not practical. In that case, it would be best to do a high chlorine just after filling, before adding any stabilizer. 10 - 15 ppm with no stabilizer for 24 hours should do it. If you add stabilizer afterwards, those levels won't be too high to swim in.

[milhouse19]

OK, Thanks. I do have the Taylor kit (Taylor Complete (high) DPD Test Kit K-2005). The problem is that the FC is off the chart (Leslie Pools also found the same thing). I've been trying to lower it, but without direct sunlight its not easy. The PH is a bit low (around 7.0). TA is in the 80s.

As for the heating, there are a few things that cause the expense. The run from the heater to the pool is about 45 feet and uses PVC, and the $1,000 quoted is for the month, which includes 30 days of running around 10 hours a day to keep it at 95 degrees. We only have a solar cover since the heavier covers which trap more heat are to heavy for my wife.

I did just check and the clarity has improved, but it sounds like it still make sense to dump the water and start over. I just pulled out my Endless pool documentation and they recommend 1/2 cup clorox per day for indoor pools. I will start there unless anyone has a better suggestion.

Thanks again.

[Watermom]

You have the Taylor K-2005. The one we recommend is the Taylor K-2006. They are not the same thing. You don't need to buy a whole new kit. If you just order the K-1515, that will give you the FAS-DPD component that your kit is lacking that will allow you to test high cl levels. You can find it in the Amazon link in my signature below.