CarlyNJ

It's hard to interpret that because he's discussing public pools. 2 days now of chlorinator turned off and sunny skies during the day (and it rained hard last night) and still pretty much the same readings, except the total chlorine is now a smidge higher, but still in "ok" range. How can that be? I can understand you can't bring the CYA back down but shouldn't the sun be breaking up the chlorine? Maybe my chlorinator is bad?

I wanted to note that I did read that article on the chlorine/cya relationship but it doesn't say how to resolve a continuous high reading. I thought maybe by turning off the chlorinator and letting the sun at it would help break it down, but alas after a full day of sun it did not. Should I give it more time or do I have to get rid of some of the water and will the problem then just keep recurring?

Hi there, having some issue and hope you can help. I have a 15X24 oval above ground pool with a Hayward DE filter and attached chlorinator that we usually put two 3" trichlor tablets in a week, depending on how quickly they dissolve. The pool is in a very sunny spot. About a week and a half ago we had a ton of rain and when we tested our levels were non-existent (although the pool was and is still crystal clear) and we took a sample to the pool place who had us put in alkalinity increaser and ph increaser, then shock it. Levels were good for about a week after that, and we only got in a few times. We have not shocked it since last week (and we don't usually need to shock it, I think that was the first time we had to since we first got the pool 3 years ago) Now the pool is still clear, but when we tested yesterday before getting in, the free chlorine is super high (darkest color on test strip which only reads up to 10ppm) and the Cyanuric Acid was also high, at about 150ppm. The rest read in "pool ok" range. Hardness was 250ppm, Total Chlorine was 3ppm, pH was 7.2ppm, total alkalinity was 120ppm. We didn't get in. We turned off the chlorinator and left it off all day today too, hoping the sun would help break up the free chlorine- and the readings are exactly the same. Any advice how to get these down? Why is the free chlorine so high but the total is in range? We have a 2 year old and don't want to risk swimming if it's not safe. Thanks! Carly