No Free Or Total Chlorine In The Pool!
by Lisa
This is my summer owning a pool. We have an inground with a liner. I am at the pool store 2x a week and am told different things every time I go. They told me to shock it with 3 bags of cholorbrite so I did. Checked it this morning and still no cholorine. Brought water to be tested, now they say pH level is 7.1 so they're telling me to add soda ash and then shock it again. My husband went the other day and they said it was the phosphates so he spent $30 on that. This is driving me nuts and my kids are getting upset that they can't swim. Will I ever get the hang of this? Thank you Lisa Thanks for you questions Lisa Most of the time when you pool can't keep a chlorine level it has to do with the lack of cyanuric acid (CYA). This is the stabilizer for the swimming pool chlorine and should be kept between 30ppm - 50ppm, or 7.5% of your chlorine level. Example: Your level is 2.5ppm. Take 2.5 divided by 7.5% and you get 33. Keep your cyanuric acid level between 30-33ppm. Swimming Pool Chlorine Adjust Your Swimming Pool Chlorine Right now you're using an un-stabilized form of pool chlorine. You need to get some Dichlor powder which is a stabilized form of chlorine, then use the Trichlor tablets to keep the cyanuric acid level in check. Switch over to regular granule or liquid chlorine once the cyanuric acid level has been reached. Don't keep using Dichlor as the CYA can get out of hand very quickly. Chlorine Tablets Using the Dichlor may decrease the pool pH level, but not to worry. Go here to learn how to adjust that with baking soda. It's very easy. Swimming Pool pH Levels Purchase a Taylor Reagent FAS-DPD K-2006 pool water test kit. It's the one most pool professionals use and the best on the market. A little getting used to but it's worth it. Water Testing Kit I would discourage you from using a phosphate remover. Phosphates are food for algae and pool algae needs phosphates to reproduce and grow. If you keep your chlorine level between 1.5ppm - 3.5ppm, then there's no algae. If there's no pool algae then why should you worry about phosphate levels? The Y pool has a phosphate level of about 900, but I keep the chlorine level between 3.5ppm - 4.5ppm so algae has no chance of surviving. I've taken care of pools that have had phosphate levels of 2000 - 3000 but when the pool chlorine level is correct, it kills the algae. I feel it's just another expensive chemical that you don't need. Remember to keep it simple. So, to sum it up quickly: *Dichlor powder to get some CYA in the pool. Switch to regular chlorine once the CYA level is reached, then Trichlor pool tabs to keep it there. *Sodium Bicarb. to raise the pH level *Keep the chlorine level between 1.5ppm - 3.5ppm to kill the bacteria and algae *Get a FAS-DPD K-2006 pool water test kit *No need for phosphate remover when the pool chlorine level is correct *Every 10ppm of pool chlorine that is added by using Trichlor tabs you will also increase your cyanuric acid level by 6ppm Bring this in to the guy you talk to at the pool store and see what he says. It might be interesting. Best of luck with your pool and have a great Summer Robert |
