SKIN RASH! HELP!

[chem geek]

katiasmom,

From your earlier post it sounded like the CYA level might be 80 (you said "pH is 80 & 7.4 whatever that means" so I assume that the 80 was probably the CYA level). If you do indeed have a Cyanuric Acid level of 80, you should do a partial drain/refill which is the only way to reduce it -- through dilution. You can then shock with the lower levels I mentioned since 40% of a lower CYA number is a lower Free Chlorine (FC) shock level.

I don't think a complete drain/refill is necessary. Bacteria can be readily killed by chlorine -- it's just this particular bacteria that is heartier, but it's not as hard to get rid of as some algae (yellow/mustard, for example).

Richard

[katiasmom]

I kept asking what my CYA level was and he (pool guy) kept saying that is a ???acid level and he never gave me a number. He did keep saying the "80" when I asked pH. Didn't sound right to me either....

I am willing to drain and refill if this will guarantee no more itch. If he's got my chemicals so out of whack, maybe a fresh start is the best way to go.

If I take a sample of water to our local pool store, will they be able to readily give me the values for all the different things you're looking for. Should I take samples from 2 different depths?

[chem geek]

Actually, the best thing for you to do is to buy a good test kit, the Taylor K-2006 kit from Taylor here or from Leslie's here or a similar and even better kit from tfttestkits(dot)com here. These test kits test accurately for chlorine using a FAS-DPD test where you count drops -- it's VERY accurate. They also test pH, Total Alkalinity (TA), Calcium Hardness (CH) and Cyanuric Acid (CYA).

You can try two pool stores, but many do not test reliably. It's as much the tester as their test systems. Testing isn't hard, but if they use special equipment and aren't trained well on it, then the results are often wrong.

[Buggsw]

It's hard to imagine that someone who you are paying to take care of a pool cannot give you a straight answer. Goodness! It isn't that difficult and a pro should know right off, what you are asking for.

Draining and acid washing might not be a bad idea, especially if it hasn't been done in a while. Don't know. Chem geek is correct, that you certainly can fight most things with the right chemistry.

[katiasmom]

WE'RE HAVING NO LUCK AT ALL!!! Today we drained, acid washed EVERYTHING including filters, and refilled pool with 3 truck loads of city water. Added absolutely nothing. My daughter got in this evening and had one of the worse rashes yet. This is absolutely unbelievable! I did a test strip which showed very low chlorine (city water has some),, low everything, semi-high hardness.....It's amazing that this is the only pool that does this to her...Where to go from here?

[chem geek]

I don't think you shocked the pool with chlorine, did you? Just draining the water and refilling isn't necessarily going to kill all the bacteria. Now that you have fresh water in the pool, get the water chemistry into balance -- a pH near 7.5, TA around 80, CH around 300, CYA around 30. Then shock with chlorine at 12 ppm FC (or whatever is 40% of your CYA level you get to) and keep it at the level for at least 24 hours. Then after you let the chlorine drop a bit (below 10 ppm), see how your daughter does with the rash.

If you need to add some CYA, you can use Dichlor to do that since it dissolves quickly and for every 1 ppm FC you add you also get 0.9 ppm CYA. Just don't overdo it -- keep track of how much you add. One pound of Dichlor (dihydrate) in 10,000 gallons raises the FC by 6.6 ppm and the CYA by 6.0 ppm so you can scale to your pool size accordingly. After you've reached your desired CYA level, switch to bleach or chlorinating liquid or if your Calcium Hardness is low you can use Cal-Hypo (for every 1 ppm FC from Cal-Hypo you get 0.7 ppm CH).

And when you shock, don't forget to put everything into the pool that you would later put in the pool such as pools, brushes, etc. Also don't forget to clean the swimsuits with hot soapy water.

[katiasmom]

No chlorine added. Drained. Acid washed. Refilled. No chemicals. I am printing out what you said and taping it for the pool guy to see when he comes by tomorrow morning. I'll keep you posted! Thanks

[Daniel]

Generic Plavix may make it easier for you to bleed, even from a minor injury. See your physician or seek emergency medical attention if you have bleeding which will not stop.

You can also have bleeding on the inside of your body, such as in your stomach or intestines. See your physician at once if you have black or bloody stools, or if you cough up blood or vomit which looks like coffee grounds

[Backglass]

Generic Plavix may make it easier for you to bleed, even from a minor injury. See your physician or seek emergency medical attention if you have bleeding which will not stop.

You can also have bleeding on the inside of your body, such as in your stomach or intestines. See your physician at once if you have black or bloody stools, or if you cough up blood or vomit which looks like coffee grounds

Keep head and hands inside of car at all times.

Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear.

For external use only.

Do not run with scissors.

Emits shower of sparks. Light fuse, get away.

[Guest]

^^Huh?!

I hope katiasmom figured this out and atleast fired her poolboy.

[Backglass]

^^Huh?!

I hope katiasmom figured this out and atleast fired her poolboy.

Well as long as spammers were quoting unrelated warnings, I thought I would join in the fun.

I too hope she learned to handle her own pool affairs. It's like most things in life. If you want things done right, learn...and do it yourself.

[nick]

Hello all, I wonder if anyone can shed any light on this problem we're having with a local hotel pool.

The other day myself and a friend went swimming in this indoor hotel pool, the next day we both had itchy skin with a rash and our costumes had specks of white residue on them when they dried, I have washed mine twice and it won't come out, though you can pick the specks off.

I asked the pool maintenance man about it, he says he didn't add any chemicals to the pool that day, although I'm a bit suspicious that he may not be being truthful. He showed me his chart measuring ph, which was at 7.4 everyday for the last month, except the day I complained, which was at 6.8, him saying that he only added chemicals on that day and not on the day we went swimming.

We have swam there for a while, and never had any problems before, although since I have spoken to several friends that say they have had similar problems.

I asked him what he used in the pool and he said he used Bromine and not Chlorine, and in a powder form, not tablets.

I have looked at a few pool sites, and none of them mention powdered Bromine, only tablets?

My guess is that he added this powder just before we went swimming and it hadn't dissolved properly, hence the white crystalline specks on the costumes that won't come out.

I wonder if anyone here can shed some light on this?

Thanks
Nick

[imjewelee]

Hello Everyone, I have read your posts....last year my daughter got the "rash" terrible constant itch and it shows up eveywhere....legs, arms, belly, back,....I do not run to a doctor so waited and tried different things....did not think about the pool chemicals......so we did go to doc and he prescribed our "miracle" cream said our rash was ezcema and she was healed ta da! Well it was actually from the pool season had stopped and no more swimming.....so this year we went on vacation and at the pool we had a slight rash.....no big concern but an aha moment occured....could be from the pool ....... we just opened our pool 3 days ago ........ did not have the EZ Pool in yet .......... we originally had Bacquacil for 7 years (expensive, timely, confusing, lots of stuff to buy, but beautiful water and skin no rashes there) then we got the water mold and was told our pool was "immune" to the Bacquacil so we switched....so my thing is that our children's rashes are caused by SOMETHING in our pool. I do not know what that SOMETHING is but we may have to switch back to Baquacil I am doing more research to see if I can find anything all I DO know is that EZ Pool has copper as it's main ingredient so if anybody else knows please let us know!! THank you! Julee

[imjewelee]

OK I investigated on the net (don't you love the info you can get, WOW)...There is a cream you can use to prevent the rash it is called Derma Swim Pro and looks to be a little pricey (but hey we will try anything at this point) they have a website you can visit! I am going to try our waterproof sunscreen to see if that will work and in my readings I heard if you rinse off quickly after swimming that should help......although my daughter swims for hours so I don't think in our case it will be the rinsing that will work.....I also read that it is the "bromine" they are getting the rash from and not the chlorine hmmm.....just glad to know ours is not ezcema ......... and we may switch back to Baquacil ...........thanks for the posts hope this helps. GOD bless!Julee

[kimkromann]

Hi. I am wondering if you ever resolved the issue of the rashes? I have been a swimmer for years. I went quite a few years without swimming then bought a house with an inground pool (gunite construction) After a few weeks of swimming I began having a rash all over my legs, arms, and hands about a day or two after swimming. The rash was the most itchy thing ever. I scratched until I left scars it was that bad. I changed from Chlorine to baquacil, that didn't do it. I had skin test after test with no conclusion. The diagnosis was exzema. I tried everything and then just stopped swimming. While traveling I went into a hotel pool, no problems. The next summer I went to a public pool several times, no problem. I moved to another city with different water conditions (one of the public pools I had been to is blocks from my new house) so I thought maybe it was the city water. Last week I put up an above ground pool. I went swimming in it the first couple days with no problem, then woke up this morning with that terrible rash again. I am ready to give up, but I love swimming with my kids and tired of sitting in the heat watching them while they swim. Please help!