Using Bleach in the Pool

[Schooled by Pool]

Update: The previous evening I brushed and shocked. The next morning I had no change in FC & CC readings. Last night, for the sake of being throrough and aggressive, I brushed and shocked again, bringing the FC level up to 32. The FC dropped to 28 this morning, and CC was at 1. I suppose this means I still have algae to contend with? I will shock again tonight.

On another note, I spoke to the builders of my pool and they sent me a copy of the original blueprints. It is 16 X 40, 24,811 gallons (I was close in my estimate). Pool is older than I thought....35 years.

Hayward 220ST filter, 1 HP pump.

[aylad]

The pH went up because your chlorine level is so high--chlorine levels above about 15 ppm on the Taylor kit will give falsely high pH levels, so don't adjust your pH any until the chlorine comes back down and you get a reliable reading. I suspect that's the same reason that your TA changed colors the way it did.

If you are still losing 4 ppm of chlorine overnight, then you are indeed still fighting something in the water. Maintain your shock level until you don't get an overnight drop, and then you should be ready to close the pool.

[Schooled by Pool]

Thanks Aylad. That is very helpful. I cranked up the chlorine even higher last night. I had a small drop overnight from 36 to 35.5 this morning. CC is .5. Ph went up again, so your info is very helpful. Thanks.

[aylad]

Happy to help. If you're no longer losing more than 1 ppm of chlorine overnight, then you should be about ready to close

[Schooled by Pool]

Update: After the algae was conquered, the pool took a long time to clear (even with vacuuming to waste). Putting some DE in the skimmer last weekend really helped (a tip I found on this site). I am happy to report that almost 2 months to the day after I bought the house and inherited this pool, I can finally see the drain. The pool store is closing my pool on Monday. I am looking forward to eventually doing that myself, along with doing the opening. But, I want to see it done first (I learn better that way). Thanks for your help.

[aylad]

Do yourself a favor and videotape (or at least audiotape and write down steps) the closing. It's amazing what details you can forget in a year's time, and forgetting steps can be disastrous