How much chlorine is needed to add to a pool?

Cloud forms when i add chlorine to my pool?

• in order to save money these days i have decided to clean my own pool the peoblem is i dont know how. i added chlorine and started brushing my pool and it got really foggy. i replaced 2 filters thinking they had holes. i brushed and vacuumed the pool 3 times this last week thinking the filter powder leaked in. when guest arrived this past sunday the pool got foggy again. i justed added chlorine today and it seems like the chlorine is causing the fogg, there is a cloud forming in the area i poured the chlorine and it seems there is some powder on the floor. HELP i am having guest this comming saturday.

• Answer:

  You provided very little to go on here. You mention "filter powder" so you must be using a DE filter. If your elements had a hole, gap or weren't assembled properly then yes..that DE will make it's way out to the pool and milk it all up and then some will settle on the bottom. If the chlorine is "fogging" immediately...have a look at that "fog". Look very carefully. If that "fog" is tiny bubbles then that pool needed that shock and probably still needs more. That's a chemical reaction as the shock oxidzes an organic and it gasses off chloramines. It usually only happens in a pool that is low in sanitizer but high in organic load. In other words..your pool was stinky dirty with organics and that liquid chlorine you just poured in was used up almost instantly as it tried to knock the junk out. Liquid Cl does that in a pool on the edge of going really bad. Edit: Like I mentioned..if there's a hole in your filter elements anywhere, that DE will shoot through and back to your pool. Liquid chlorine won't produce any sediment on the pool bottom period. If what you're doing is pre mixing a cheap calcium hypochlorite shock, that MIGHT produce sediment, since the binder material in it is calcium. Cheap granular shock will contain more binder than anything else ( that's why it's cheap and crap). If it's premixed into a liquid form by yourself then it's possible to see sediment afterwards. It certainly is if you broadcast it in granular form without pre mixing but you have stated that you "poured" it in...therefore a liquid. You don't "pour" granular shock in your pool...ever. That's asking to bleach or burn the bottom. As for what's on your pool bottom. It can be either DE or calcium. It''s NOT chlorine, I can guarantee that. As for your chlorine levels....read what I'd posted earlier. That's a gungy pool ya have there. It's got more organics in it than chlorine and that's exactly what I'd posted earlier. The idea of a shock is to get your "army" bigger and badder than the organic " army". He who has the biggest army wins. You're losing because you're not reaching what's called breakpoint chlorination. Your army isn't big enough and the other side keeps winning the battles. You have to eliminate ALL of the bad stuff, not just some of it or it just comes back in a day. Get your water checked for stabilizer, adjust your TA and pH to get that in range too and shock the hell out of it but before you do...get that filter fixed if it's DE on the bottom and not calcium!!!! At this point you probably need a pool tech in to set you straight, especially if you want to use the pool this weekend. Tomorrow will be too late for that.