How Much Chlorine?

[Jack7]

I have an inground pool which is about 29,000 gallons, how much chlorine should I add to shock it, and how much do I need to add weekly?

I'm quite new to this, so I was wondering, do you generally cover your pool when you are not using it?

[chem geek]

Pool School will answer these questions and many more. Your Free Chlorine (FC) level should be based on your Cyanuric Acid (CYA aka stabilizer or conditioner) level. You can use The Pool Calculator to calculate dosages.

[PaulR]

Some people use covers, some don't. I have a "solar cover" (basically heavy bubble wrap) to reduce water loss through evaporation; it's marketed as a "solar" cover to warm the pool passively, but I find that's a secondary effect.

--paulr

[Jack7]

Pool School will answer these questions and many more. Your Free Chlorine (FC) level should be based on your Cyanuric Acid (CYA aka stabilizer or conditioner) level. You can use The Pool Calculator to calculate dosages.

How can I find out how much CYA is in my pool, and what is CYA anyway, am I supposed to add it to the pool?

PS: Sorry if my questions look rather stupid, I'm quite new to all of this.

[Jack7]

Some people use covers, some don't. I have a "solar cover" (basically heavy bubble wrap) to reduce water loss through evaporation; it's marketed as a "solar" cover to warm the pool passively, but I find that's a secondary effect.

--paulr

Thanks Paul, just wondering though, if you were to leave the cover off, would algae grow more quickly?

[PaulR]

CYA is cyanuric acid, or "stabilizer." There are a couple kinds of chlorine that come with CYA bound in; these are "dichlor" (ingredient: sodium dichloro-blahblah) which is one kind of granular, and "trichlor" (ingredient: sodium trichloro-blahblah) which is usually formed into tablets or pucks. Pool stores also sell CYA by itself as "stabilizer" or "conditioner."

There's a CYA test made by Taylor, that seems to work pretty well. You can get it by itself from a couple places online, or get a kit that includes the test. Don't be suckered by test strips, they are useless for CYA. Pool stores may test for CYA, but the training and care shown by pool store employees, hm, let's say it varies widely.

Some CYA (30-50ppm usually) is good, it protects the chlorine from being broken down by sunlight. Too much CYA is bad, an over-stabilized pool will make normal chlorine levels really ineffective.

Regarding covers, by itself a cover does not encourage or discourage algae.

--paulr