I CAN'T KEEP CHLORINE IN MY POOL!!!!!!!!!!

[KIMMYJO]

I PUT CHLORINE IN MY POOL EVERY EVENING AND BY MORNING WHEN I TEST IT, MY FREE CHLORINE LEVEL IS ZERO. BECAUSE OF THIS ISSUE, I AM CONSTANTLY FIGHTING BUGS AND ALGAE. I SHOCK ONCE A WEEK, BUT IT USUALLY NEEDS IT AGAIN BEFORE THE WEEK IS UP. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG OR WHAT CAN I DO TO FIX THIS? PLEASE HELP! I AM ABOUT READY TO GET RID OF MY KIDS POOL.

[Pool User]

A- is your ph stabilized? chlorine doesn't work well at low or high PH. B-try an algecide.... 1- your shock has to match the volume of the pool. (or it ain't a shock, put more in). 2- if no residual is shown , it's all bound. You can try a non-chlorine oxidizer like monopersulfate, then try again to establish a free chlorine level. The life of MPS is short and gasses off quick. Oxidizing what would bind the chlorine your putting in daily. If you are growing plants (algae, there has to be 2 things, 1- food, (phosphates) and 2- sun. Plus a lack of high enough sanitizer. address these issues and your done. bob

[chem geek]

Depending on the type of chlorine you are using, you may need to add some every day, not once a week. Only the slow-dissolving tablets can be added less frequently, but such Trichlor pucks/tabs increase the Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level requiring higher Free Chlorine (FC) levels in order to prevent algae -- a catch-22. As the previous poster stated, if you use a supplemental algaecide, such as PolyQuat 60, then this will reduce the demand on your chlorine.

Another possibility is that you are only using unstabilized chlorine (bleach, chlorinating liquid, Cal-Hypo, lithium hypochlorite) and never added any CYA to the water. In that case, the chlorine will breakdown very quickly in sunlight.

You can read more about chlorine and its relationship to CYA and algae growth at the Pool School. By the way, I have 2000-3000 ppb phosphates in my pool yet do not get algae because I maintain an FC level at least 7.5% of the CYA level in my manually dosed pool. Though removal of phosphates is one approach to algae control, it is not the only one.

Richard

[fern]

I have been maintaining our pool, 31.000 litres, for years, and for the first time I cannot keep the chlorine in the pool.
All the required levels like PH, Hardness etc, are at the right levels.
I originally thought there must be too much chlorine in the pool so it was bleaching out the 'stick reading, not so.
The 'expert's by telling me to add more PH, which has now sent the PH level too high, plus adjusting the hardness level, the pool is now out of balance.
Any one shed any light on this chlorine level problem, I'm beginning to think it must have something to do with 'weak' chlorine.
I use "Stingy sticks" as well.Also algaecide

[chem geek]

Test your Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level. It's probably too high and even the chlorine and algaecide aren't able to cope. Algaecide, such as PolyQuat 60, will usually let you get away with having your CYA level up to perhaps 200 ppm if your FC is kept around 3 ppm, but it can't help much more than that. A copper-based algaecide or metal ion unit can prevent algae, but if the pH rises it can stain. Again, have your CYA level checked -- better yet, get your own test kit. Either the Taylor K-2006 kit you can get at a good online price here or the TF100 kit from tftestkits(dot)com here with the latter kit having 36% more volume of reagents so is comparably priced "per test".

BioGuard Stingy Sticks have been replaced by BioGuard Silk Sticks. They are Trichlor where for every 10 ppm FC that they add, they also increase CYA by 6 ppm. Unless you have a small pool with a short swimming season and a filter you backwash weekly, then your CYA level can climb quickly. Even at a low 1 ppm FC per day usage, after 6 months you've added over 100 ppm CYA to the water.

Also, read more about how to maintain your pool at the Pool School.

Richard

[omegapool]

u need to get your alk. up by using balance then keep schocking you might need a doz. or so bags depending on how many gal. your pool is in order to get your chlorine level up. If you can maintain your level for 24hrs. you doing good. If not you might need to add stabalizer.

[Bjorn]

You must test your water every day during the bathing season for the ph and chlorine levels. If chlorine levels are too low, you need to add more granulatet chlorine in the water. During the bathing season, the chlorine is "burned off" by the sun and when you are using the pool a lot, you also need to add up chlorine. As a rule, you must add chlorine every day to keep the right balance during the bathing season. But always AFTER the test of values.

[jobeck05]

I cannot seem to keep a decent chlorine level. I opened in May, superchlorinated with Cal Hypo. So far this year, I am eating through Di-Chlor tabs at a good clip, but even with a full feeder set on max and a tab in each skimmer (and moderate but not hot weather), I cannot keep the chlorine above 1.0 consistently. My latest test results are:
TA: 125
Adjusted TA: 95
CYA: 92
Free Chlorine 0.7
Total Chlorine 1.6
PH 7.3
Calcium 86
Phjosphates 500

Since the readings taken above, I have added a phosphate remover. But my pool is crystal clear, so I am not sure why.

At first, I thought Chlorine Lock, but my guess is I do not have a high enough CYA level, and I was told that my Chlorine level should still register high in such an event.

Typically my pool ran fine, even in hot weather, with a medium chlorinator setting and a Chlorine level around 2.0-3.0. Now I cant seem to keep the chlorine in the water.

Pool is crystal clear. We do have some slight foaming, but I think its from a slight overdose on algeacide upon pool opening.

I am considering simply a draing and refill 18 inches at a time for a week, and see if maybe some fresh water doesnt help, as I am tired of spending money on checmicals and water in my area is cheap.

[Pool User]

I'm having the same problem as you are. My water anlaysis is very similiar except my Calicum is higher since I have a heater. Where you able to solve the problem?

[chem geek]

At a CYA level of 92 ppm, if you don't keep a minimum Free Chlorine (FC) level of at least 6 ppm in a manually dosed pool, then algae can grow faster than chlorine can kill it -- certainly a minimum of 4 ppm is required unless the pool is devoid of algae nutrients or is in complete darkness.

The chlorine/CYA relationhip has been known since at least 1974. There is no such thing as "chlorine lock". There is no magic number where chlorine all of a sudden is locked up. It i ALWAYS locked up to a large extent when there is Cyanuric Acid (CYA) in the water. When the FC is around 10% of the CYA level, over 97% of the chlorine is bound to CYA in a series of compounds (chlorinated cyanurates) that are not effective sanitizers nor oxidizers nor algaecides. Fortunately, it takes a very low level of active chlorine (hypochlorous acid) to kill bacteria and even to kill algae (though it takes far more to kill algae than to kill most bacteria). As the CYA level rises from continued use of stabilized chlorine products, the FC must also be increased or else algae can grow (unless one uses a supplemental algaecide or phosphate remover).

Nascent algae growth will look like an unusual chlorine demand even before the water gets dull or cloudy.

The following are chemical facts independent of concentration of product and of pool size:

For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Dichlor, it also increases CYA by 9 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Cal-Hypo, it also increases Calcium Hardness (CH) by 7 ppm.

Even with a low chlorine usage of only 1 ppm FC per day, after 6 months of Trichlor use, the CYA will have increased by over 100 ppm if there is no dilution of water. Learn more by reading the Pool School.

Richard