Disappearing CYA

[vinnygnj]

It seems that the chlorine is being maintained. I put bleach in this morning and went out for the day. I came home and after a day of some sun (I think) and rain it was well over 5 (based on the color) using a Taylor K-2005 kit.

I left it to see if in the morning it is above 5 or not. If it is I will dilute the amount to get a more accurate reading if not in goes more bleach.

My PH took a dive yesterday after adding the stabilizer and at this point it's at 7.4, so hopefully I'll be in the clear and things will start working the way they used to!

I do have a question though about the amonia - chlorine and amonia are supposed to combine for CC - I never got CC in my pool. I would imagine that after a night of killing and combining with amonia that the CC would be through the roof in the morning - I don't think my pool had a lot of amonia in it.

Thanks!

Vinny

BTW, I am a he, not a she ... how many Italians named Vinny do you know are shes? LOL!!!!

[vinnygnj]

I think the problem is solved!

After testing the water this morning, the chlorine was at around 5, I added some more bleach and in the NJ hazy sunlight the chlorine level was still above 5.

I only added 4 lbs of stabilizer and by my calculations (13, 000 gallons) it should only be at about 30 to 35 (unfortunately the store ran out of testing reagent) if it's all disolved. I would imagine at the rate I was losing chlorine before adding the stabilizer that the chlorine is going towards killing the algea now, if any is alive. I did add some more bleach to give the existing chlorine a boost. Hopefully my pool will go back to normal.

Thanks for the help!

Vinny

[aylad]

Glad it's starting to clear up for you. If you add your chlorine at night, then retest in the morning before the sun has a chance to hit the pool, you'll have a more accurate idea of whether your chlorine is holding or not. Keep brushing daily, and keep your filter running to get all the dead algae out.

Oh, and sorry about the gender mixup--somehow, in reading your username, it stuck in my mind as "Virginia". Sorry!!

Janet

[vinnygnj]

Thanks for all the help!

This morning I tested the water and it appeared to be above 5 PPM. I didn't have time to dilute the sample but I was happy to see it high.

I came home today and took a sample and again it was reading 5 PPM. I was able to dilute the sample to 1/2 and it was between 2 and 3 PPM. I think the algea is dead as the sun was shining all day.

I have been brushing and couldn't understand why the algea kept coming back. After taking a few weeks of readings in the beginning of the season and having the same readings I do things automatically and was putting chlorine in at night assuming that it was lasting until the next day. I guess it's never too late to learn something!

Thanks again!

Vinny

PS: I really wasn't upset about the she thing.

[mbar]

You need to get your chlorine up to shock level, and hold it there for a couple of days or you will be fighting algae for the rest of the summer. You can tell the algae is gone if you hold Free Chlorine overnight. There should not be any combined chlorine. I would suggest you invest in a good test kit - one that can test over 5ppms of chlorine. It will be the one of the best investments you can make.

[vinnygnj]

I would think that after adding the chlorine yesterday afternoon with the sun off the pool and having it in the sun all day today (7 AM to 3 PM) with low stabilizer (35 max) and getting a reading of 5 - the algea is pretty much gone (maybe not). If I remember correctly 10 PPM stabilizer is supposed to protect 1 PPM chlorine so 35 PPM would protect 3.5 PPM chlorine and the chlorine was over that.

I've been adding bleach since Saturday at high levels a few times a day and it hasn't dropped below 5. I don't have any visible signs of algea unlike other days. If algea is present wouldn't my chlorine would have been used up by now (see 1st paragraph) or at least showing low. My pool is not smelling like chlorine and when I tested for CC on Sat after putting chlorine in at night it didn't register any.

I am going to test the pool in the AM and see what the reading is and if it does drop below 5 I will add more chlorine, heck I'll just add more chlorine anyway.

Not much difference in a Taylor K-2005 and a Taylor K-2006, I can measure high levels of chlorine by halving the pool's water and multiplying the reading by 2 or if higher 1/3 and x3.

Please let me know if what I said makes sense.

Thanks!

[mbar]

I am going by Ben's "best guess chart". While the cya would protect 3.5 ppms of chlorine, it is not enough to kill all of the algae. The shock level for a cya of 35 would be 15ppms. My understanding of this chart is taking it up to 5 would not be enough to kill all the algae. It would keep it under control for a while, but not kill it all at one time will cause you trouble any time your chlorine is low. I know that when I start to have problems holding onto chlorine, I don't always have cc, or the smell of chlorine right away. I have found it easier to deal with it at the first sign by taking my chlorine up to shock and leaving it there until the chlorine holds overnight. In my opinion you are right on the border of controling the algae bloom. You have enough chlorine in the water to keep killing algae, just not enough to kill all of it.When I was battling my swamp in the beginning of the season, I didn't smell anything in my pool, but the chlorine was still being used up overnignt. It did use less and less as time went by, but it did take a while. I am only giving you my suggestions based on what I have experienced. It is up to you to do what you think is best.

[waterbear]

Not much difference in a Taylor K-2005 and a Taylor K-2006, I can measure high levels of chlorine by halving the pool's water and multiplying the reading by 2 or if higher 1/3 and x3.

Please let me know if what I said makes sense.

Thanks!

Actually, there is a HUGE difference in DPD and FAS-DPD testing. First, it has been found that about 4 out of 5 men have difficulty in differentiating the red colors on a DPD test (women do not have this problem) and second, dilution decreases your precision on the test so the FAS-DPD test is much more precise (down to .2 ppm!) compated to doing dilutions with the DPD test. The K-2005 does include dilution marks on the tester for 1:1 dilitions (multiply results by 2) and 1:4 dilutions (multiply results by 5) but these are only really going to give you more of a ballpark figure while the K-2006 will give you results that are precise to either .2 or .5 ppm depending on the size of your testing sample. (I have both kits, among others).

Also, FAS-DPD testing directly measures CC instead of measuring TC and then having to subtract the FC from the reading.