Get a new test kit or new test reagents. Total Chlorine is the measure of free and combined chlorine, therefore the free chlorine cannot be higher than the Total Chlorine. You can't put 10 gallons of water in a 5 gallon bucket.
A good way to lower chlorine is to give it a day without the cover in the sunlight. The sunlight will lower your chlorine significantly.
my free chlorine level is way to high above ten my pool is 12 by 24 what can i do to fix it
There is 3 measurements of chlorine in a pool or spa. Total chlorine, combined chlorine, and free available chlorine. Free available chlorine is the good chlorine that is active in the pool killings germs and algae. Combined chlorine is chlorine is basically chlorine that was once active but has killed germs or bacteria and is now inactive in the pool. Total chlorine is free available and combined chlorine added together. If your combined chlorine is higher than free available chlorine then the water needs to be shocked to eliminate the combined chlorine. But be careful here. If you don't reach what's called break point you will only add to the combined chlorine. There are products on the market which will only remove combined chlorine without effecting your free available chlorine if you are unsure about reaching breakpoint. Hope this helps.
Cl is an abbreviation for "chlorine" you should check free chlorine and total chlorine for comparison.
Free Chlorine is the Chlorine which is free to do its work in the pool, as opposed to Combined Chlorine which is chlorine that has combined with contaminants and is tied up and ineffective as a sanitizer in the pool. Sometimes you will see it abbreviated as FAC, which stands for Free Available Chlorine.
You only need to shock the pool if there is visible algae, or if the ppm of total chlorine is higher than the ppm of free chlorine. Generally, a level of 2-4 ppm chlorine is all you need to keep your pool sanitary. Let the level drop to that on its own, or use sodium thiosulfate to drop it quickly if you notice itchy skin from excessive chlorine.
Total Chlorine = Free Chlorine + Combined Chlorineor, put another wayTotal Chlorine - Free Chlorine = Combined ChlorineFree Chlorine is the chlorine that is doing its job.Combined Chlorine is the chlorine that has combined with contaminants such as nitrogen. It is ineffective as a sanitizer and it is noxious.Total Chlorine is the total of these two levels.To eliminate the Combined Chlorine (making all the chlorine in the pool Free Chlorine) you must shock the pool to remove the contaminants. You must reach "Breakpoint Chlorination", which is the addition of chlorine to your pool equivalent to the Combined Chlorine level times 10.example:Total Chlorine = 1.5ppmFree Chlorine = 1.0ppmSo, the Combined Chlorine (the difference between the two tests) is .5ppmBreakpoint chlorination, in this example would be .5ppm X 10 = 5ppm. So, in this example, you would add enough chlorine to your pool to raise the chlorine level up by 5 parts per million.
Total Chlorine = Free Chlorine + Combined Chlorineor, put another wayTotal Chlorine - Free Chlorine = Combined ChlorineFree Chlorine is the chlorine that is doing its job.Combined Chlorine is the chlorine that has combined with contaminants such as nitrogen. It is ineffective as a sanitizer and it is noxious.Total Chlorine is the total of these two levels.To eliminate the Combined Chlorine (making all the chlorine in the pool Free Chlorine) you must shock the pool to remove the contaminants. You must reach "Breakpoint Chlorination", which is the addition of chlorine to your pool equivalent to the Combined Chlorine level times 10.example:Total Chlorine = 1.5ppmFree Chlorine = 1.0ppmSo, the Combined Chlorine (the difference between the two tests) is .5ppmBreakpoint chlorination, in this example would be .5ppm X 10 = 5ppm. So, in this example, you would add enough chlorine to your pool to raise the chlorine level up by 5 parts per million.
Combined chlorine is when the chlorine molecule has attached itself to other molecules in water. In other words it has "combined" with something else in the water. Those could be iron, manganese, ammonia or other things depending on the source water. Free chlorine is the molecules that are "free" in the water to do the disinfection.
You need to shock the pool. The difference between Total Chlorine and Free Chlorine is tied up and it will be cleared by shocking. Thatis the purpose of shocking.
yes, the algae feeds on the chlorine.. must get rid of algae, then bring up chlorine level
Total Residual Chlorine (TRC) is the total of free available residual chlorine and combined (bound) residual chlorine. The amount of measurable chlorine remaining after treating water with chlorine i.e. amount of chlorine left in water after the chlorine demand has been satisfied
Celebrate, for the day has come.