Chapter One: The Clues
The homeowner swore they did everything right. The water sparkled. The pump hummed. The filter was clean.
Yet every morning, the chlorine test strip mocked them. Low, low, always low.
Then came the signs: cloudy water creeping in, a faint smell of something off, and a growing frustration that something, somewhere, was lying.
Chapter Two: The Interrogation
We pulled out the test kit and began asking questions.
“When did you last check your stabilizer?” we asked.
“Uh… what’s that?” they replied, eyes darting.
We tested the cyanuric acid (CYA) level. Too low. The sun had been burning off their chlorine faster than they could pour it in.
Next question: “How often do you shock the pool?”
“Maybe once a month?”
We tested for chloramines. Sky-high. The chlorine was busy fighting off leftover contaminants instead of sanitizing.
Chapter Three: The Misleading Evidence
Everything looked fine at a glance. The filter was running, the water sparkled, but the truth lay in the numbers.
A clogged skimmer basket was quietly restricting circulation. Debris at the bottom was eating chlorine all night while no one was watching.
Even the heater was working overtime, raising the water temperature and making the chlorine work harder.
Chapter Four: The Real Culprits
We tallied it up:
- Low CYA meant sunlight was devouring chlorine.
- High bather load and organic debris spiked chlorine demand.
- Poor circulation left dead spots where algae thrived.
- High water temperature accelerated chlorine loss.
All the while, the owner thought “adding more tabs” would solve everything.
Chapter Five: Case Closed
We corrected the CYA level, shocked the pool properly, cleaned out the skimmer and filter, and lowered the heater.
This time, the chlorine held overnight.
We handed the homeowner this checklist:
- Test chlorine and CYA levels twice a week
- Keep CYA between 30 and 50 ppm
- Shock the pool after heavy use or storms
- Clean skimmer baskets and filters weekly
- Lower water temperature if possible
The homeowner finally stopped staring at empty test strips and started seeing results.
Case closed. The chlorine stopped vanishing because the truth finally came out, and so did a little humility.
