Chlorine level is low

[sherriemoseley]

I just want to say thanks to all of you for the help so far. My pool is really looking good (just a little cloudy) and I've finally convinced my husband that you all might just know what you're talking about! So far we havent added anything to it but bleach and he's impressed. We aren't swimmung in yet because I'm still waiting for my test kit. But I know it will be soon. Thanks again so much.

[Watermom]

I've finally convinced my husband that you all might just know what you're talking about! So far we havent added anything to it but bleach and he's impressed.

Yep! This place is full of people who can attest that Pool Forum is the best place to learn to care for your pool! Thanks for the kind words and you're welcome! We are always glad to help!

[sherriemoseley]

Ok I finally got my k2006 kit. Here are my results: pH 7.2
FC 6
CC .5
CYA 35
TA 40? I added 4 drops R0009 and it turned pink, I read it would turn bright red, added 8 more drops and
it really never changed. Is it supposed to be bright red?

Hey can anybody tell me if I'm supposed to keep adding drops to the TA test until it turns bright red? Mine turned a dark pink at 4 drops so I added 8 more drops but the color stayed the same.

[JuJuBee]

Hi Sherrie
I'm new here this year too. They are really busy with so many of us at the same time. I know the answer to your question so I wanted to help out in case it takes a while for them to circle back to you.

Your drop count for your alkalinity stopped at 4. That's the number you use. The sample is green at first. Dark pink is a color change, period. The fact that it didn't get "redder" with 8 more drops attests to that. I don't believe we're to discern between shades within a color which is why the drop test kit is so much better. Dark pink is in the Red family....green is not. Alkalinity is the easy one of the 5 tests!

I'm having the same problem with Calcium Hardness. My indicator turns the sample purple rather than red. Absolutely half-way between red and blue. The titrant is to be added until the "red" turns to blue. Purple is part of both families. So I continue until there is a definite change in the initial color I get. (basically more of a blue-purple rather than a red-purple.) That makes CH (for me) the hardest test. Luckily, it has a wide range of acceptable levels and with a liner, you have an even higher range.

Another thing you should know....don't be surprised when you have a sparkly, shiny, beautifully clean pool, and your chlorine still disappears rapidly! That's where I'm at now. There's still "goo" in my pool even though you can't see it. We've added over 130 ppm of FC to our pool in the last two weeks and it still can't maintain FC over 1.5 ppm. We added 2 gallons of 12.5% chlorine again last night and this morning we only had a TC of about 9 or 10 and an FC of 1.5 - 2.0. Just wanted to prepare you should that happen to you.

I'm 3/4 (I think) of the way done with the process you are starting. I had to get my alkalinity down from 250+ in addition to getting rid of the ammonia. Follow the forum's advice to the letter; everything works exactly as they lay it out. Good Luck!!

[sherriemoseley]

Thanks JuJu. I thought I must have been doing it right but I wanted to be sure before I follow the recommendations on the pool calculator.

[sherriemoseley]

Now my readings look good to me but my water is still a little cloudy. I'm not sure if I should be keeping numbers within normal ranges or if I'm still supposed to be keeping FC at 10. Yesterday evening readings: FC 3 CC .5 pH 7.2 so I added 6 cups of bleach to get it to 6 FC and added 4 lbs. baking soda to increase TA to 80. This evening readings: pH 7.4 FC 3.5 CC 0 TA 80. My water is still not crystal clear. My CYA was 35 on Wednesday so I havent checked it again since I havent done anything to change that.How can I get my water to sparkle now?

[Watermom]

I think I'd keep the chlorine high for another day since you did have a CC reading of 0.5 yesterday. With a CYA of 35, that would be a chlorine level of 12-15. Also, are you running your pump 24/7 right now? You have a big pump for your size of pool. We see that a lot -- oversized pumps with undersized filters -- especially on AG pools. That can make it take longer to clear up a pool. (We may have made that comment before, but I didn't want to take the time to re-read a 27 post count thread to see!)

If, after a couple more days of good readings and your water still not totally clear (and running the pump 24/7), maybe try the DE in the sand filter trick. Adding DE to a Sand Filter