Chlorine keeps vanishing, the water looks fine, and your test kit keeps gaslighting you. We’ve all been there, and the fix isn’t “just add more.” I walk through the real reasons a chlorine pool refuses to hold a residual and the exact order to solve them: restore flow, clear the water, set cyanuric acid in the sweet spot, and only then fine-tune sanitizer. You’ll hear why torn DE grids, clogged cartridges, and starved runtime quietly turn your pool into a chlorine sink — and how a simple filt...

Show Notes

Chlorine keeps vanishing, the water looks fine, and your test kit keeps gaslighting you. We’ve all been there, and the fix isn’t “just add more.” I walk through the real reasons a chlorine pool refuses to hold a residual and the exact order to solve them: restore flow, clear the water, set cyanuric acid in the sweet spot, and only then fine-tune sanitizer. You’ll hear why torn DE grids, clogged cartridges, and starved runtime quietly turn your pool into a chlorine sink — and how a simple filter service can flip the script in 24 hours.

From there, we get into water quality and chlorine demand. Cloudy pools devour sanitizer until you shock, circulate, and clean the filter repeatedly. I unpack the CYA puzzle in plain language: too little and UV burns chlorine off by lunch, too much and chlorine goes sluggish. Using the 7.5 percent rule, we translate cyanuric acid numbers into real free chlorine targets, show when tablets push you past the line, and explain why a partial drain beats chasing a residual that won’t stick. We also spotlight the sneaky players: early-stage algae you can feel but not see, high bather load, phosphates that feed blooms, and nitrates that all but force a refill.

Finally, we cover real-world diagnostics that save time and chemicals. Learn the signs of a leak that keeps diluting your pool, why UV index changes how you plan runtime, and when to test for phosphates or nitrates before you waste another gallon of liquid chlorine. 

• poor filtration and weak circulation causing rapid chlorine loss
• cloudy or green water driving extreme chlorine demand
• shock, continuous run, and filter cleaning restoring clarity
• cyanuric acid sweet spot and 7.5 percent rule
• high UV, low CYA, and fast burnoff
• high CYA making chlorine ineffective and when to dilute
• early-stage algae signs and decisive shocking
• bather load raising daily demand
• phosphates as algae fuel and removal strategy
• nitrates requiring drain and refill
• leaks diluting chemistry and tipping off with shifting levels

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