Why not liquid chlorine?

[lisab]

We are new pool owners (fiberglass, 14,000 gal; 16 x 33) and have had cloudy water since the pool was filled up a week ago. Goes from gray to blue to gray and gets cloudier after shocked. We have a cartridge filter with an auto-chlorinator.

Took water sample to local pool store (against my better judgement) and they wanted me to dump in 5 gals of liquid chlorine but pool dealer said never to use liquid clorine and we're just wondering why. Also, we used our well water to fill the pool. Could algae be growing in it already?

At wits end, will be calling pool dealer on Tuesday for more advice. Can't get accurate readings on test strips at the moment but free chlorine is definitely zero. Any advice would be appreciated since we have no clue what we're doing. Thanks.

[Guest]

First thing I would do is bring a sample of your well water into a pool store to be tested. Keep those numbers so you know what type of water you are starting with. Well water can be high in iron and other things.

I would advise getting a good test kit. I like the Taylor K-20006. This includes testing for CYA (stabilizer) and hardness.

Without knowing the current chemistry of your water it's hard to know what to suggest.

I don't know of a reason why you can't add liquid chlorine to a fiberglass pool but I'm not an expert when it comes to them.

What type of auto chlorinator do you have? Do you add chlorine tabs to it or is it a chlorine generator?

Once you are able to test (or have tested) your pool fully better advice can be given.

Good luck.