Can't keep chlorine either

Chlorinating, maintaining the right chlorine levels,
chlorine problems. Dichlor, trichlor, cal hypo, bleach,
granules, chlorine pucks and chlorine sticks.
epithemeus
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed 12 Aug, 2009 15:50
My Pool: above ground 14,000 gallon pool
Location: TX

Can't keep chlorine either

Postby epithemeus » Wed 12 Aug, 2009 16:09

I admit right up front I'm completely new to the pool thing. We got a 14,000 above ground pool this summer. We set it all up and did the recommended stuff to open the pool. Tested the water, got the balances (mostly) right then added 2 lbs of hth "shock" to start off. The tests never showed even a remote spike in the nil chlorine reading. I've been continuing the 2 lb shock stuff plus we have a tablet floater that I literally FILL with hth tablets every two days. A month has gone by and the tests are still showing no free chlorine in the water.

Here's what the test shows (using hth's 6-way strips): Hardness 400, FC 0, ph 7.6, alkalinity 180, CYA <30 (the color doesn't quite match the 0 but it's closer to 0 than the 30-50).

To get the hardness and ph to reasonable levels we had to use a lot of ph down product. Could that be why there's still no fee chlorine? I'm just completely flummoxed. All the obvious stuff that's been addressed like elevated CYA levels aren't the problem here. Do I maybe have defective test strips or something? :) Honestly I was shocked to see no FC because our city chlorinates the tap water to the point that it's just over EPA specs anyway so I kind of figured we'd have a head start on chlorination.


superdoopie
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Posts: 40
Joined: Wed 22 Jul, 2009 15:19
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Can't keep chlorine either

Postby superdoopie » Wed 12 Aug, 2009 18:29

You need CYA in the water. You wrote that it is below 30. Get it up to 30 - 50 and the chlorine should stay in the water. Cyanuric acid protects the chlorine from the UV rays of the sun. Without it you'll just burn that chlorine right out of the water. Pool chemical manufacturers usually call this product stabilizer or booster. You may only need 2 lbs or so but follow the instructions on the bottle.

Alkalinity at 180 is high. Add pH lower or muratic acid to get these down. High TA and pH can lead to ineffective chlorine.
epithemeus
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed 12 Aug, 2009 15:50
My Pool: above ground 14,000 gallon pool
Location: TX

Can't keep chlorine either

Postby epithemeus » Thu 13 Aug, 2009 17:35

Thanks for the tip. I'll try to find some stabilizer this weekend to get the CYA up.

On the alkalinity, we've lowered it tons but that seems to be about as low as we can get it with the muratic acid. Our water around here is naturally really, really hard. We've added 14 lbs of muratic acid so far and the last 4 lbs didn't make any noticeable difference in the test results so we kind of figured that would be about as low as it would get.
superdoopie
Pool Care Proficient
Pool Care Proficient
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed 22 Jul, 2009 15:19
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Can't keep chlorine either

Postby superdoopie » Thu 13 Aug, 2009 20:44

no problem, good luck.

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