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can't keep chlorine levels above 0


Guest JP

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Our inground pool can't keep chlorine levels. It has been shocked several times and still nothing. All other levels, including cyanuric acid, are fine. Algaecide was also used. No visible signs of pink algae. Water is clear. Any ideas what can be done?

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You sure CYA level is ok? Sounds like you have no cy acid in pool... When and how are you chlorinating? I use ultra unscented bleach (about a gallon or two every few days) to chlorinate since my CYA is around 40. The suns UV rays eat up the chlorine during the day, so test at nite and add bleach at nite time so it has all nite to sanitize pool. What is your pH? If on the high side (7.8), add a little muratic acid with pump ON, as this will help the chlorine work better. You want the pH to be 7.2-7.4 for optimal chlorine use.

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I am curious. Did the originator of this discussion find an answer to the this problem. I'm now having the same problem. CYA is at 80ppm and pH is at 7.4 but I can't get the chlorine level above zero. One suggestion was that the chlorine level is so high that it is bleaching out my reagents. I tried diluting the pool water with 50% replacement (fresh) water and still got a reading of 0. Water is cloudy. Help

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Guest Frustrated

Same problem in Southern PA. ph is 7.4-7.5; CYA is around 70; Free Chlorine & Total are both at 0; calcium hardness is 240; total alkalinity is 125; copper is at 0.3 and phosphates & nitrates are both at 0. Everything appears to be perfect except no chlorine.

I've had these levels for the past week while I've added over 3 pounds of HTH each day (at nighttime) except for one. That's around 18 lbs in a week!!! My size is 18,000 gallons. Water is clear with very small amounts of gray matter (I assume dead algae) sprinkled around the shallow end where the flow is weak.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

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Guest tatt2528

People don't realize how much the sun eats up chlorine, when u have no stabilizer or conditioner in pool water then usually about 50% of chlorine can be eatin by the sun within 2 hrs, if u are using a lot of chlorine then u need to add this product.

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Guest Ron Parrs

It sounds as if the originator of this thread is having a true Chlorine demand problem. The ideal thing to do is to find a good local dealer who can perform a chlorine demand test. The test station is not cheap so most dealers don't have one. Most BioGuard dealers do. It's actually a requirement to being an authorized dealer.

The chlorine demand test takes several hours to perform. At its conclusion, you will know how much chlorine to actually add to reach breakpoint chlorination. The problem with a chlorine demand is that you have to reach & better yet exceed the breakpoint. Example: chlorine demand test shows that in a 20,000 gallon pool 40 lbs (yes 40 lbs) of shock are needed to reach breakpoint. If you add 39 lbs, you don't reach breakpoint and actually add to the chlorine demand problem. It's like trying to jump the Grand Canyon: if you miss the edge by just 1 inch, you still miss and fail. You've got to get over the edge to succeed.

Chlorine demand is a growing issue in swimming pools these days as more & more water authorities use chloramines (which have combined chlorine that we don't want) instead of chlorine. This was done in part to sooth the folks who want to ban chlorine because it's somehow harmful!? The more chloramines that get into the pool water, the more difficult it becomes to treat. This is the reason why we constantly tell our customers to properly shock their pools weekly. Weekly shocking breaks down & helps eliminate all of those chloramines.

I've got more information on Chlorine Demand at our website, www.parpools.com

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  • 4 months later...

Our inground pool can't keep chlorine levels. It has been shocked several times and still nothing. All other levels, including cyanuric acid, are fine. Algaecide was also used. No visible signs of pink algae. Water is clear. Any ideas what can be done?

What you do in that situation is do a water exchange. Your CA is too high above 100ppm. It is called chlorine lock. Empty 2ft. fill back up and do that twice to drop that level. I recomend switching to a non-stabalized based chlorine like lithium by seachlor. Stop using those slow or day tabs they suck. You will notice once you drop the CA level that you will hold chlorine again.

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  • 3 weeks later...

What you do in that situation is do a water exchange. Your CA is too high above 100ppm. It is called chlorine lock. Empty 2ft. fill back up and do that twice to drop that level. I recomend switching to a non-stabalized based chlorine like lithium by seachlor. Stop using those slow or day tabs they suck. You will notice once you drop the CA level that you will hold chlorine again.

The CA had tested fine. I agree with the "break point" amount of chlorine to add. For a pool, changing pool water two times at 20k gallons a pop is difficult even for the most meticulous individual. Many times, once the break point (correct amount of sanitizer for the amount of gunk in the water) has been reached.. the water should snap right back into shape.

If a spa has the same problem... the bacteria could be having a party in the water! It doubles very quickly in the hot water environment and it can be a little tricky playing "catch-up". Superchlorination according to the correct gallons of water will help to get things back into control, or a water change would be reccomended. If a water change is a viable option, make sure the chlorine is in the ok range prior to draining to kill any residual bacteria throughout the spa, and make sure that every surface is cleaned prior to refill (including behind the pillows).

Since this was posted months ago, I would hope the situation has been rectified by now! :P

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The CA had tested fine. I agree with the "break point" amount of chlorine to add. For a pool, changing pool water two times at 20k gallons a pop is difficult even for the most meticulous individual. Many times, once the break point (correct amount of sanitizer for the amount of gunk in the water) has been reached.. the water should snap right back into shape.

If a spa has the same problem... the bacteria could be having a party in the water! It doubles very quickly in the hot water environment and it can be a little tricky playing "catch-up". Superchlorination according to the correct gallons of water will help to get things back into control, or a water change would be reccomended. If a water change is a viable option, make sure the chlorine is in the ok range prior to draining to kill any residual bacteria throughout the spa, and make sure that every surface is cleaned prior to refill (including behind the pillows).

Since this was posted months ago, I would hope the situation has been rectified by now! :P

Superchlorination always hides the true problem

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...
If you test right after you shock you won't get a chlorine reading

Not totally true, depends on the test kit you are using. High clorine levels can bleach out a DPD test so it looks like there is no chlorine. OTO test can be used as a backup. If the levels are very hight it will turn brownish or orange instead of being yellow. The best way to test for very high (shock) levels of chlorine is to use the FAS-DPD test which is a titreation test and can measure very high free chlorine levels with a .5 ppm accuracy. Test strips can also bleach out at high chlorine levels and are not that accurate to boot so don't rely on them!

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Not totally true, depends on the test kit you are using. High clorine levels can bleach out a DPD test so it looks like there is no chlorine. OTO test can be used as a backup. If the levels are very hight it will turn brownish or orange instead of being yellow. The best way to test for very high (shock) levels of chlorine is to use the FAS-DPD test which is a titreation test and can measure very high free chlorine levels with a .5 ppm accuracy. Test strips can also bleach out at high chlorine levels and are not that accurate to boot so don't rely on them!

I would suggest trying a non-chlorine system like Pristine Blue. It will keep your spa or pool clear, clean and santized without the need for harsh chemicals like chlorine or bromine. AND unlike baguinides (Baqucil or Softswim) it's no more expensive than chlorine. For more info go to Pristineblue.com

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I would suggest trying a non-chlorine system like Pristine Blue. It will keep your spa or pool clear, clean and santized without the need for harsh chemicals like chlorine or bromine. AND unlike baguinides (Baqucil or Softswim) it's no more expensive than chlorine. For more info go to Pristineblue.com

Im seeing the exact same reply from you in other posts.Do you work for them or sell their products? Pristine Blue uses copper to sanitize and uses a non chlorine shock to oxidize. Copper ions kill algae and baceria much slower that chlorine or bromine and if you have a high enough copper level to sanitiize you have a high enough copper level to stain the poo, spa or people's hair! Also copper has not been shown to be effective against viruses!

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Im seeing the exact same reply from you in other posts.Do you work for them or sell their products? Pristine Blue uses copper to sanitize and uses a non chlorine shock to oxidize. Copper ions kill algae and baceria much slower that chlorine or bromine and if you have a high enough copper level to sanitiize you have a high enough copper level to stain the poo, spa or people's hair! Also copper has not been shown to be effective against viruses!

I'd like to add at levels high enough to maintain a spa you would also smell and taste the copper in the water.

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