What If? With Bob Lowry Part 2 of 2 - You Add Cal Hypo and A Black Stain Appears & More!

“What If?” Episode
In this series with chemistry expert Bob Lowry, I take a page from Marvel comics and ask Bob a series of “What If?” questions. Bob applies his 48 years of pool industry knowledge to answer these questions and I think you will learn a lot from what he has to say about each one.

For part 1: https://youtu.be/9v8NR1KzsnA

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:15 Cal Hypo causes a black stain
06:48 Not treating visible algae
10:25 Swimming in Zero chlorine
14:38 You smell "Chlorine"
19:45 Tri-Chlor Tablet on the pool bottom

What if you added Cal Hypo and notice a large black stain on the pool bottom?
This is something that has happened to many pool techs and Bob Lowry explains that the large amount of Cal Hypo that lands on the bottom of the pool actually reveals an existing copper stain by turning it black. This can usually be corrected by letting the chlorine level drop and when the Cal Hypo dissolves the black stain disappears. If it persists you can use ascorbic acid on it and you may need to add a metal sequestering agent and a CuLator 4.0 to remove the metals from the pool. I also suggest not using Cal Hypo in the pool or dissolving it in water before use.
You just added chlorine and someone jumps in the pool?

What if you see algae but do nothing to treat it?
This is one of those rookie mistakes or sometimes if you get busy you just don’t take a little algae seriously. Bob Lowry explains that the algae you see is just the tip of the iceberg and there is probably a lot more micro-algae that you can’t see. Algae also multiply at an alarming rate and chances are if you don’t treat it the next week it will be even worse. In other words, when you see algae it is too late.

What if you swim in a pool with zero chlorine?
If you swim in a pool with no chlorine chances are you can get very sick from bather to bather contamination. Now if no one swam in the pool prior to you are is swimming with you then you may be relatively safe. Bather to bather transmission is one of the main reasons for chlorine in the pool and swimming in a pool with zero chlorine can be hazardous.

What if you smell “chlorine” at the hotel pool you are staying at. Should you go in?
That smell is not chlorine but chloramines. Or combined chlorine. If it has a Windex-like ammonia smell this means that the chlorine in the pool has combined with contaminants and it may or may not be safe to swim in depending on how much combined chlorine there is in the water. Remember, chlorine has no smell or if any a fresh scent. So what you are smelling is not chlorine.

To combat this you need to actually add more chlorine to bring the free chlorine up and break the combined chlorine in the pool or spa.

What if a Tri-Chlor floater tipped over and tablets spilled into the pool?
If a floater tips over in a pool and the tablet falls out, it could leave a black mark on the pool surface. Now is this a burn from the acid in the tablet or the same black stain that happens when you pour cal hypo in a pool with an unseen copper stain on the bottom? And how do you clean the unsightly mark-up? Purity pools make two acid stain kits and you can look those up on their website here: https://www.puritypool.com/stainremovers.html

Bob Lowry is the author of over 23 books but this has to be one of his most relevant and shortest books coming in at just 19 pages thick. But it is packed with so many essentials on residential pool chemistry that you will want a copy to carry in your service truck. Bob Lowry has been in the industry for over 47 years and is the Lead Consultant at Lowry Consulting Group, leads the Pool Chemistry Training Institute, and has created the Certified Residential Pool & Spa Certification Program. Learn more at https://pcti.online/

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