It has been unusually hot here this past month and it is sure effecting the swimming pool water. The water is usually clear and you can see the bottom of the pool easily, but now it is hazy looking all the way down. I tested the water and found that all of the chlorine had dissipated because of the extreme sunlight. Both free chlorine and bromine were almost non-existent. After adding enough chemical to bring the water back in range with PH, Alkaline, chlorine and bromine I found that the stabilizer that I was using was out of date.
I never even knew there was an expiration date on it. Without adequate stabilizer the sunlight just destroys the chlorine, and quickly. That solved the mystery for me as to why the chlorine had disappeared since the stabilizer that I was using was no good. I went and got some new stabilizer and added it to the water so now, even with this extreme sunlight the chlorine should last a while longer.
I have run the filter for fifteen hours since I brought the chemicals up to where they should be and the water is still somewhat cloudy. The cartridge filter that I am using is no nearly as efficient as the sand filter I used to have. The sand filter had valving on it to allow for purging the sand of debris, something that you cannot do with a cartridge filter. With the cartridge filter you need to remove the element and wash it off by hand each time it needs cleaning. A time consuming chore.
Bob Crane is the author of http://www.poolheadquarters.com - a site that helps swimmers find what they need for their swimming pools.
