We bought a house with a 30ft x 18ft x 4ft above ground pool. When we moved in the water was green. We have gotten that under control and the water looks good now. I take a water sample to the pool store every thursday and all my levels are good except the chlorine. It should be between a 2 and a 4 ours is a 0. We shock the pool every Friday and always have 2 3 inch chlorine tabs in our floating basket. Why are we not able to keep our chlorine levels up? Any suggestions?
2006-08-03 05:39:15 · 8 answers · asked by Brandy S 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The current weather and likely you have more pool use( bather load) at the moment. Just double up on your chlorine, both tabs and shock, to stop it slipping from you.
I saw someone post against floaties. Don't worry, your plumbing set up likely doesn't allow an off line or inline chlorinator with out substantial modification. It's not really worth it, for your size and type of pool. It's true they aren't all that efficient, but given your volume, they'll do a fair job. I take exception to the person that posted the pool shop is incompetent and that it's not possible to have a 0 cl content. It IS quite possible and actually common, during periods of weather such as we have currently, even with sufficient stabilizer levels and the use of stabilized pucks. I suggest that person might want to take an NSPI level 1 tech course at the very least, before making statements like that.
2006-08-04 05:59:41 · answer #1 · answered by scubabob 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The people at the pool store you are using are INCOMPETENT.
The possibilities are:
1. You are doing something incorrectly when taking the sample and bringing it to the pool store; or
2. The testing is being done incorrectly; or
3. You have some other serious chemical imbalance in your pool water.
The reason I start right off by saying the people you are talking with at the pool store are grossly incompetent is because they should be discussing #1 and #3 above with you (even if the problem is really #2, they should be talking with you about #1 & #3 because they certainly wouldn't think about #2).
I doubt very much that you could have chlorine tablets in a properly used floater and still have Zero free chlorine in the water with all the other levels correct. pH, total Alkalinity, hardness and other factors can effect the amount of free chlorine.
If there is another place in your area to get the water tested, try taking a sample there. If not, get a water test kit that checks at least "Free" chlorine, Total chlorine, pH, and Alkalinity (usually called a 4 way test kit), a 6-way kit that also includes hardness and cyanuric acid would be even better.
If your free chlorine really is that low, the problem is most likely due to excessive total chlorine and lack of cyanuric acid to act as a stabilizer.
2006-08-03 06:41:20 · answer #2 · answered by n4aof 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Floating chlorinators are terribly ineffective. If there is little or no flow across the face of the chlorine pellet then they will not dissolve rapidly enough to maintain a minimum chlorine level.
If you have a pump that will allow you to circulate water, then you should install an in-line chlorinator that you can fill will chlorine pellets and circulate water through.
Also when you add pool shock, you should add acid as well. This will keep the pH in the appropriate range to promote dissolution of you chlorine tablets, as well as produce active chlorine.
And finally, I keep my pool chlorine level much higher than 2-4 ppm. A high chlorine level will insure that you have some reserve in case you have a bright sunny day, or a lot of swimmers in the pool, both of which, deplete free chlorine.
2006-08-03 06:11:07 · answer #3 · answered by richard Alvarado 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's the heat. Lots of people are experiencing the same problem. Try switching to 1 inch tabs for a while. They give a lot more soaking surface, hence more chlorine output. Or break your 3 inch tabs into 4 or 5 pieces. You just have to double up on chlorine additions until the heat abates. Gassing off will slow down a lot as soon as the water begins to cool.
2006-08-03 18:05:43 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
We have the same problem AND we also have a 30 foot pool!
Get a SECOND floater and fill it with SMALL chlorine tablets....they break down faster.
Even if you stick with the big tablets, 3 or 4 tablets in each is going to be much better. If your floater won't hold 4 or 5 tablets at a time, it's not big enough for your pool
Lastly, you can drop the extra broken pieces and bits at the bottom of the chlorine container..directly into your skimmer basket! Bring it up now while you shop for a new floater.
2006-08-03 07:27:46 · answer #5 · answered by WriterMom 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just an idea, double your tabs for a ten or fifteen thousand gallon pool then check chlorine level.Or you may live in an area you need to add salt or sand to your filtration. Good Luck!
2006-08-03 05:53:48 · answer #6 · answered by edwadio1 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
put more tabs in your chlorinator, if your pool is in direct sun the chlorine burns off quickly... are you using chlorine or non chlorine shock?
2006-08-03 05:59:53 · answer #7 · answered by miss angel 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
maybe the readings wrong, all i can think of. you are supplying chlorine so that isn't a issue? humm this ones tricky..
2006-08-03 05:44:37 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋