LouisianaPool

THANKS for all the help here - CYN addition worked - two days and 3! on the chlorine level... All go to go! Thanks again!

Thanks all for your help - this is an update... Today I bought a different test kit and it showed no CYN - so I added a pound of it this evening as well as a 1/2 gallon plain chlorox. Levels look good right now - will let you know tomorrow if this works - by the way - my 3" floater ring is at least half gone - so at least that is working - water ironically is still clear - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get this figured out before the water decides to turn green! Pool is in full sun - it is in the 90's and really hot. Hope this works.

Hi Hatestoskim! I am using a trichlor product and at this point I think Waterbear is right on the money - dumped some liquid bleach in last night (plain without scent) and levels tested perfect this am... Even with a very rainy day - relative here in south Louisiana - sun always manages to shine! - I came home to a zero chlorine reading...I need to get some Cyn and add it judiciously until the chlorine holds. I didn't really expect the tablet to dissolve rapidly - it's a slow release method to keep the chlorine going - shocked because I wanted to build up the chlorine - but clearly it didn't work. I don't think those tabs are meant to provide all the chlorine - but rather to slowly replace what is used up - (course I could be completely wrong here being the newbie that I am...)...So - I will let you know when and if I solve this dilemma.. fortunately I don't have to use the pool this week and can work on the adjustments... I'm beginning to think this is like the angst I went through setting up a fish tank...lots of test strips - a few fish sacrificed to my lack of knowledge...(but we won't be doing that with humans - will get a handle on it before folks are invited to swim...) Will post when I have the chance to do something new - currently the levels are all back to where they were - all ok - EXCEPT chlorine and now cyn (i think it's probably too low...) I have a friend that stated once her pool (same as mine - tad bigger) was working - all she does is shock once a week with a floater and her water is fine - can't wait to get there with mine...! Thanks for your thoughts - weird - we could be thinking about world peace and here we are discussing the merits or lack there of re: pool chemicals... But a challenge is a challenge - just need to work through to the solution! Will let you know about the progress. Thanks

Thanks for the information - I actually added some regular bleach (without scedt/or additives) Overnight the chlorine held - but will test this afternoon after the sun does it's number and see - the test strips indicate there is some Cyn there - but perhaps it's not enough to do the job at this point. Will monitor and continue to try to get the water balanced out. Thank you again for the help - I really appreciate it.

Thanks so much for responding (really!) I am using an hth product - stabilized chlorinator - Trechor- says slow dissolving and total soluble- ditto for the shock stuff except it disolved rapidly - what would cause the levels to drop so dramatically - normal (test strips showed desired levels of chlorine) - then 6 hours later nada.... I went out an hour ago and smelled the water - wasn't a hint of chorine smell... what do you mean by the "correct stabilized chlorine"?

I've turned off the pump for the night - not sure if the pump would have decreased the cl levels or not - I know that sunlight affects chlorine - but today was pretty dramatic - unless it used itself up eating micro-organisms I couldn't see - I just don't see how that could be the case.... water was clear pre and post treatment.

Hi First off - thanks for any assistance/comments/help! We just set up a an above ground Intex pool 15 x 42". After getting all level and straight - it took us 3 - 4 days filling because we set this up on a weeknight and we couldn't/didn't want to leave the pool filling while unattended... I have to confess that we were in the water from day 2 - day 4 because it's been too darn hot here. Ok - now that the pool is filled (a few inches to go - but I think that is a good margin since it could rain that much in a day here depending on the weather and I don't want it to over-fill) Time to turn on the filter and adjust chemicals - I turned on the filter Friday night and have basically let it run since. This morning I placed a 3" tablet of chlorine in a floater AND shocked the pool with one of those "shock" packets you can buy at WalMart - (filter running - water clear (always was) skimmer thing working fine...) I tested water pre and post - all stayed the same except the CL levels. After I put in the 3" tablet/floater - i didn't see any difference in the CL levels - I then added the shock packet (which I diluted in a bucket before adding) - CL levels went up to what looks like normal levels - 3-4 ... Six hours later I tested the water again - Hardness, pH, Alkalinity, Cynuric acid all the same - EXCEPT - NO chlorine???? What happened and what do I need to do - Current levels before and after shocking and a 3" chlorine floater are" hardness (200) ; Chlorine 0; pH 7.3 - 7.5 (somewhere in between the two on the dip stick) Alkalinity 120; Cyanuric 30-50 (could be lower) I don't want to over do the Chlorine - but also want our friends to be able to get into the pool (with me not worrying....) I hate over-chlorinated pools - so am relunctant to do anything without advise... It did rain a tad - but not anywhere near the amount that could have changed the chemical readings - the pool is in full sun until after 3 pm - water looks clear and healthy - but I know chemistry - looks can be ...... Other than making a trip to my local pool store tomorrow - (which I can't do work-wise) Does anyone have a clue why the CL levels dropped so dramatically? Again - water looks fine... Thanks for any help!