Thank you very very much.
One last question how did you come up with 16ppm. Just curious to understand the logic. Once again thank you for your time and expert advice.
It has long been known that there is a relationship between chlorine and the stabilizer (CYA) in pool water. People in the industry put this relationship in a chart years ago. It’s called the Chlorine/CYA Chart.
You can read all of the information about this and see the chart in This InyoPools article.
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Hello JCMC70,
I did exactly like you mentioned. I vacuumed and brushed added chlorine of 32Oz in morning, since chlorine was zero and again tested now in evening it again became zero added another 32Oz… I don’t know how many times I need to repeat it and I am just worried too much chlorine won’t damage the pool… I also added skimmer sock… let me know if this is normal…
that it’s coming back to zero…
If the chlorine is falling to 0, then the chlorine is still killing the organics. It isn’t hurting the pool, it’s killing the organics.
Are you still using the same testing kit?
Is the filter running continuously?
In the morning, take a new chlorine reading and bring the chlorine back to 16 ppm. wait 1 hour, with the pump/filter running and test the chlorine again. If the chlorine reading is back to 0, something is wrong with your test media and you really should get a good test kit.
If it still shows a chlorine reading, wait 2 more hours, test again and adjust the chlorine from that reading (there should still be some chlorine in the water). If there is still some chlorine in the water after the 3 hour period, but not in the evening when you take the reading, what that is telling us is that we need to change the time frame for shocking the pool.
This is what should happen…the chlorine level should be kept as close to the shock level as possible all the time until the water clears. Normally this is done by taking a chlorine reading every three hours and adjusting the shock level. Two factors control this. 1. Your schedule and 2. Your test kit.
If your schedule will allow you to take chlorine readings every 3 hours, half of the issue is solved. But without an accurate test kit it’s possible that you could over chlorinate the water.
For example, say tomorrow morning the chlorine level is 0. You shock the pool back to 16 ppm and wait an hour and test again. Let’s say that the chlorine strip at that test shows 10 ppm(because that’s as high as it will go). So you wait 2 hours and test again and the strip shows 5 ppm(because there isn’t a gradient between 5and 10 ppm). That would indicate that the chlorine level had dropped 11 ppm in 3 hours. I highly doubt that. The chlorine consumption is likely 1 to 2 ppm per hour. If the consumption is as high as 2 ppm for 3 hrs, there is still 9 ppm of chlorine in the water. So if you add the 11 ppm of chlorine back to the water (because the strips said you only have 5 ppm) but there is actually 9 ppm in the water, you actually end up with 20 ppm.
Can you see how that could get out of hand?
The bottom line is, you’re gonna need to adjust the chlorine level more often than once in the morning and once in the afternoon. But without an accurate test kit it’s entirely possible that you will over chlorinate the pool.
J
Like you said I am going to water test centre morning and evening to get accurate reading. Today morning from yesterday night addition, when I test there was chlorine around 3ppm but then it became zero quite fast. I am not relying on test strips only if it Show zero. When test strip shows zero even at test centre is zero. I can rely zero on test strips but gradient I am confirming with test centre to maintain right reading. Will try tomorrow testing every one and 2 hours and let you know. Thanks
And yes filter is running 24hours and with socks tomorrow water should be clearer. At water centre they recommended to use oxidizer but I didn’t buy. Do you think it’s worth trying ?? Already used 3kgs of chlorine super sock going back to zero is bit strange. At 11 am I made it to 16ppm and at 5 or 6 pm in evening it became zero… isn’t it strange ?
And this is vaccum I used today
https://www.poolsuppliescanada.ca/hayward-wanda-the-whale-automatic-above-ground-cleaner.html
is uses pool filter. May be my sand filter isn’t filter dead algae so my pool is still cloudy.
"At water centre they recommended to use oxidizer but I didn’t buy. Do you think it’s worth trying ?? "
Sounds like they’re trying to sell you another kind of chlorine…all sanitizers disinfect pool water by oxidation. So I don’t think it’s worth it.
“At 11 am I made it to 16ppm and at 5 or 6 pm in evening it became zero… isn’t it strange ?”
Not really. If the organics are eating 2 ppm or so of chlorine per hour, that’s 12 ppm. And given the unreliability of strips and pool store testing, I don’t think it’s strange. The only way to know for sure is to get an accurate test kit.
"And this is vaccum I used today
is uses pool filter. May be my sand filter isn’t filter dead algae so my pool is still cloudy."
Ok. That isn’t a robot. It’s a suction side cleaner. And you are partly right. The filter is catching some of the particles, but remember sand filters only filter particles down to about 20 microns. So it takes longer with a sand filter. But that’s where the skimmer sock comes in.
How often are you having to clean the sock?
How often are you having to backwash the filter?
If you keep vacuuming and brushing every day and keep the chlorine level up consistently, the water will clear eventually.
I got sock today I will see how much spoiled tomorrow morning… for back wash pool store person said to do it only if pressure goes above 20 on meter. So far I have back washed 2 or 3 times in 2 months…
I didn’t do much on pool last month…
“for back wash pool store person said to do it only if pressure goes above 20 on meter.”
That depends on what the starting pressure is when the filter has been freshly backwashed.
Can you see the bottom of the pool?
No I can’t see it yet, today I was able to see skimmer which wasn’t visible earlier… may tomorrow it will be better… but it improved a bit…than yesterday
I just went back and looked at the picture of your post you posted earlier. It appears to be partially in the shade.
Are there trees near the pool?
is it possible that there are decaying leaves on the bottom of the pool?
Yes there are 2 big trees… leaves keeps falling all the time , I try to keep it clean but I think there could be leaves twigs and pollen on the floor… I vacuumed today morning also manually now running the suction one. Today morning there was shade on strip… and I could see floor in some places now with vaccum it became cloudy again…
“I try to keep it clean but I think there could be leaves twigs and pollen on the floor.”
That certainly helps explain the rapid chlorine loss. If those leaves are matted to the floor, they need to be dislodged and removed.
You said you vacuumed manually this am. Does that mean you have a manual vacuum head? If you do, attach the vacuum head to the skimmer pole without the hose and go back and forth over the bottom, putting moderate pressure on vacuum head and try to dislodge the stuck leaves. As they float to the top, dip them out with the dip net.
Yes, I have vaccum head. I didn’t understand attaching without hose … there hose connected vaccum head and telescopic pole to direct the vaccum head… can I get into water it will be easier… will send the reading in few mins
Here is current reading … it retained over night
Attach the vacuum head to the pole but don’t attach the vacuum hose to the head or the skimmer. The goal is to dislodge and decaying leaves that are stuck to the bottom of the pool, not to vacuum. And yes, getting in the pool will allow you to put more pressure on the vacuum head as you scrub it back and forth on the bottom to dislodge stuck leaves. As you walk around the pool you might even be able to feel the leaves with your foot.
Chlorine remaining in the pool overnight means we’re making progress.