No Chlorine-Nitrates in water?

Chlorinating, maintaining the right chlorine levels,
chlorine problems. Dichlor, trichlor, cal hypo, bleach,
granules, chlorine pucks and chlorine sticks.
jomcandrew
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No Chlorine-Nitrates in water?

Postby jomcandrew » Thu 21 Jun, 2012 22:59

:crazy: Hi, I have a 18 round above ground pool. I use ChlorBrite. It was crystal clear until the other day. The pool is actually at my Moms house and she doesn't always test it but she will but the ChlorBrite in every few days. She said it was starting to get cloudy on Monday. I tested it and it showed no chlorine so I but the double amount in so that it would sort of shock it and get it clean. I went back and checked it on Tuesday and it again showed no chlorine again. I so I added another double dose and tested it about 1/2 hour later. The chlorine was right on spot as was the PH tested right where it should be. Wed I checked and it was back no 0. I again put double the amount when I got there and we swam and before we left we put in double the amount again. In the a.m. my Mom called and said it was worse than the day before. So I tested it and the chlorine was again at 0 and the PH was fine. I took a sample to Leslie pool and told them what was going on. As I did this a man next to me was complaining that he had his water tested the night before and got $300.00 worth of chemicals in and it is worse now. So as my sample is getting tested he tests for Nitrates. He tells me that is what my problem is and that sucks all the chlorine out of the pool. So the girl tests the man's water and tells him the same thing. They say the only way to get rid of the nitrates is to empty the pool. He flipped out and said he has 30,000 gallons and is not about to do that. I asked and my guy said it's the only way, to empty the entire pool. If we don't I will have to play with it to find how much chlorine I need to add to get it to maintain the chlorine but that it was going to be much more than normal. When we left the man who was next to me was leaving and said that since a certain girl left they don't know what they are doing at the store and really they did not. Can anyone give me some sort hope here that I don't have to emtpy my pool? Thank you!


Guest

No Chlorine-Nitrates in water?

Postby Guest » Fri 22 Jun, 2012 18:44

Do I have this in the right forum? Seems no one knows any advice to give me. I wondered if I should have posted it in a different forum title?
chem geek
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No Chlorine-Nitrates in water?

Postby chem geek » Sat 23 Jun, 2012 00:59

Stop using ChlorBrite. That's Dichlor and for every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) you are adding, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 9 ppm. The higher CYA level in the pool makes the chlorine less effective. You should be adding chlorinating liquid or bleach to the pool, but if the CYA level is very high (especially over 100), you'll need to do at least a partial drain/refill to lower the CYA level.

You really should have your own good test kit so you can take charge of the pool, either using the Taylor K-2006 or the TFTestkits TF-100. Read Defeating Algae.
Guest

No Chlorine-Nitrates in water?

Postby Guest » Sat 23 Jun, 2012 23:01

Well, we left the filter run over night and all day and the water is clean and clear. Not totally clear, but looks 100% better than it did. I checked the chlorine and it registered none again. So I put more in and have left it running for a long time. I think that maybe running it so long did the trick because my Mom did not like to run it took long but I told her she had to if we were going to get it clean. Now, in the past we used liquid chlorine but was not happy with the hassle of using it. Chlor Brite was recommended by a friend who uses it and had no problem. What do you suggest? I will look into getting a better tester, but I am wondering if using Chlorox Bleach is an option. I know you mentioned it but I can't remember what you said and I can't go back to see it. I know I saw a forum about using it but you seem to know what you are talking about so I am wondering what you would suggest that won't be too expensive and easy to use. Thank you very much for answering, I was getting worried because no one was answering.
chem geek
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No Chlorine-Nitrates in water?

Postby chem geek » Sun 24 Jun, 2012 00:18

When you add Dichlor to the pool (or Trichlor in tabs/pucks), you are adding both chlorine and Cyanuric Acid (CYA) at the same time. The problem is that while the chlorine gets used/consumed, the CYA sticks around so builds up and the CYA lowers the active chlorine level that prevents/kills algae. So while adding lots of Dichlor may have raised the chlorine level higher for now, it also raised CYA and over time that will be more and more problematic. I suggest you read the Pool School to learn more about how to manage your pool including the FC level appropriate for the pool's CYA level.

The following are chemical facts that are independent of concentration of product or of pool size:

For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Dichlor, it also increases CYA by 9 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Cal-Hypo, it also increases Calcium Hardness (CH) by at least 7 ppm.
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No Chlorine-Nitrates in water?

Postby czechmate » Sun 24 Jun, 2012 07:22

Than you go to Leslie's get the water tested and the guy tells you that CYA is 90ppm and your FC at 5ppm is too high, it should be around 3ppm! And he has been there last 20 years!
The bottom line is when you are protecting $30,000 investment, learn as much as you can on your own.
It is more important than changing oil on your car properly.
After all, you are not fixing trade your pool anytime soon! :thumbup:
Guest

No Chlorine-Nitrates in water?

Postby Guest » Sun 24 Jun, 2012 23:14

I went to Leslie's in my area and he is the one that told me that I had Nitrates in my pool and will have to completely drain it to get rid of them. The guy that told me this was barely 20 years old. I agree that I need to learn all I can and I would like to learn it on this site since if I search it there is too much confusing info. You may go to a Leslie's with good, well informed workers who know what they are talking about, but evidentally mine don't. :?
pbmoser
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No Chlorine-Nitrates in water?

Postby pbmoser » Mon 02 Jun, 2014 11:08

I have the same problem
I had pools all my life
the guy at leslie pools said i may have nitrates in the water but cannot test for them. He said that nitrates Mask the chlorine.
how do u test for this?
every other test was good and the water looks great.
what should I do?
Please help any one know the real solution to fix this

Thanks
Phil
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No Chlorine-Nitrates in water?

Postby chem geek » Tue 03 Jun, 2014 14:43

Both phosphates and nitrates are essential nutrients for algae, but if your active chlorine level is high enough to kill algae, then the amount of these nutrients is irrelevant. This is because algae growth is also limited by sunlight, temperature, and the physical rate at which reproduction is possible.

The active chlorine level is roughly proportional to the FC/CYA ratio so if you are using Trichlor tabs where for every 10 ppm FC it also increases CYA by 6 ppm, then the Cyanuric Acid (CYA) builds up and your active chlorine level drops if you don't proportionately increase your Free Chlorine (FC) level. An FC that is at least 7.5% of the CYA level will prevent green and black algae growth regardless of nutrient level.

If you need to do a partial drain/refill to lower something in your water, it''s CYA, not nitrates or phosphates. Put the blame where it belongs.
HighOnNitrates

No Chlorine-Nitrates in water?

Postby HighOnNitrates » Tue 29 Jul, 2014 19:57

Very interesting thread. I'm having a similar issue where the nitrates in my 30K gallon pool was measured at 75, cya 45, total chlorine .5, free chlorine is zero. My phosphates are 400 and I use pool perfect with phosFree weekly. For about the last two weeks I am dealing with a constant algae problem. Looks like a combination of green and brown. The local pool experts - not Leslie's - recommended a 2/3 water change which I'm not about to do this late in the season. I typically shock weekly using 2lbs of Leslie's powder pro which is crated at 16,500 gallons per pound. Double shocking results in zero free chlorine by the next morning. I do use 3" pucks which I understands increases cya but at 45 it doesn't seem to be above the manageable range. My game plan is to use a commercial phosphate remover (seaklear) and seaklear algaecide. Perhaps next spring I'll consider a water change. Any advice is certainly appreciated.
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No Chlorine-Nitrates in water?

Postby shamoil » Wed 30 Jul, 2014 00:13

This is an important information. I have got more ideas from your post. Thanks
chem geek
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No Chlorine-Nitrates in water?

Postby chem geek » Wed 30 Jul, 2014 02:16

Your CYA may be far higher than 45 ppm if you are using Trichlor pucks. Also, a DPD test can bleach out from high chlorine levels. You should get your own proper test kit -- either the Taylor K-2006 or the TFTestkits TF-100 so you can know the truth about your levels. Existing algae can be killed with chlorine if you raise and maintain an FC that is 40% of the CYA level, but after the algae gone you have to maintain a minimum FC that is 7.5% of the CYA level. See Defeating Algae.

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