help - chlorine levels

[hendi4]

hi, we have got an intex 10' above ground pool. we have the pool starter chemical kit and can manage to keep the ph levels correct but no matter what we do we can't keep the chlorine levels correct. Every time we check them it shows that we have practically no chlorine in the water. We know the test kit works because it worked the first time we used it. Is the shock treatment different to the stabilised chlorine which you get in the starter kit? We have several questions - how do we find the correct volume for our pool? What are we doing wrong with the chlorine? What is the best testing kit to get? Hope you can help us as we do eventually want to get a bigger pool so we want to know how to do this correctly. Cheers! :confused:

[stuartukps]

hi

well chlorine at this time of year can burn off really quickly due to the change in weather. stabalised and shock chlorine are different in some respects.

- stabalised basically adds a stable amount of chlorine into the water. it doesnt burn off as quick as shock. stabalised is what you use in every day maint of a pool.

- shock is used fortnightly and even weekly this time of year when it is being used at its most. what shock does is kills all unwanted bacteria in pool water. and helps re-boosts chlorine. eventually shock will kill itself and leave no count of chlorine in the pool. so when you shock check it before it dies out so you know your pool hasnt went without chlorine.

the volume of your pool is about 1764 gallons

hope this helps

stuart @ ukps

[James]

Hi,

Just to add a few points to my esteemed colleague's post.

He is correct in saying that strong sunlight will burn off chlorine, but the more the pool is used, the more chlorine will be used. In an ideal world everyone would shower before using pools but this is obviously unpractical. Sweat, make-up, sun cream etc all contribute to lowering your chlorine levels. Bear in mind as well that everytime you top your pool up with fresh water, the chlorine will be partially diluted.

Also, be mindful that the pH of the water is all important, as too high and your chlorine will be anything upto 100 times less effective, too low and you will have the possibility of skin rashes and stinging eyes. Try to keep it at around 7.4

Regards,

James