My pool has been treated for everything but no matter how much chlorine I put in, the test says its low?

Question

I have treated my pool for everything from phosphates to algae and now when I test it, the chemicals all check out good but it says I have low free chlorine. I cant get the water to clear up (still a little green) and I have shocked it plenty. I dont know what to do. The chlorine wont stablize and the water wont clear up. PLEASE HELP!

Answer 1

There are three components to chlorine in pools.  Free Chlorine is what you measure though some kits only measure total chlorine.  Combined chlorine is the bad stuff caused by not having enough chlorine in the water.  All the organic matter in the water absorbs the free chlorine to create combined chlorine and the result is a smelly pool most people would associate with chlorine smell.  If you swam in a pool like this you might complain of red eyes.  Total Chlorine is the sum of free and combined chlorine.

There are test kits that can show you these three values.  In your case it would answer your question.  

The apparent answer is for you to superchlorinate your pool.  In this process you raise the chlorine level 10x the free chlorine test value.  Though this can be done any time the results are better if you wait until the sun is off the pool and if you use liquid chlorine, sodium hypochlorite 12.5% is common mixes well with the water and if your stabilizer, conditioner or cyanuric acid levels are 50 or less, the chlorine should dissipate sometime the following day.  Test first before swimming, safe if 5ppm or less.

Some people refer to the above as shocking your pool.  It is, but using bagged calcium hypochlorite can raise your calcium hardness very high, cause clouding, precipitation of calcium on pool surfaces and tile.  For this reason I prefer to use liquid chlorine for superchlorination.

Make sure you clean out your filter after a green pool episode and you may have to repeat the cuperchlorination process sever times to cook out all that combined chlorine!

Keep an eye on the pH and Total Alkalinity during this process they may need adjustment.

You're Welcome!!

Answer 2

sounds like you need to get a bigger pump/filter....walmat water clarifier it works for me...