h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I mix 1 gal. of janitor strength ammonia and 2 gal of houshold bleach into my pool (about 25,000 gal)It does a fantastic job of killing algea and cleaning up the water. Am I doing anything harmful? I dont mix the 2 together, but in the pool, I have not noticed a strong clorine odor indicating clorimines. Is the water safe?
Thanks,

In that concentration it's not dangerous. However, it's also NOT EFFECTIVE. What you're smelling is "Chloramine" which is formed when free Chlorine ions in a pool reacts with high-pH water. Ammonia is a base and makes the pool alkaline so some of the Chorine you added turns into Chloramine. While Chloramine has a strong, distinctive odor it has almost no sanitizing properties. It SMELLS strong but it ACTS weak.

To keep your pool clean you're better off LOWERING the pH slightly. The lower the pH the more free Chlorine ions will appear in the pool and the better these will work at removing contaminants. Test your pool daily, after heavy use, or rain and douse it just *slightly* on the acidic side. 6.9 - 7.2 is OK. Body oils and residual soaps on the body and clothes will raise the pH a tenth of a point or so over the course of an afternoon. A pH above 7.2-7.4 means you might as well not bother putting Chlorine in the pool at all for all the good it will do. If you ever get your pool looking really cloudy lay on the acid and drop the pH down to about 6.2-6.5, hit it with some shock, then after a couple of days raise the pH back up to 7.0 where it's more comfortable for swimming. Use a broad-spectrum algaecide to keep the algae under control.

Ok, i also have some kind of swimming pool imbalance, i have poured (it wasnt my idea, actually i didnt quite agree with it but its not my pool) a total of 15 gallons of non-chlorinated bleach in a span of 5 days, into this pool. now i noticed a really strong odor and i can also slightly taste it on my lips, i am wondering if this falls into the same category as above, and i would also like to know if and how harmful this may be on humans and two 20 lb. dogs i own. also, what should i do to end this putrid problem? should i keep my dogs away from it? oh yea i have also been pumping solid chlorine tablets into that sucker. it sure killed all the amphipious inhabitants, very quickly so i am very concerned.

Ever heard of that very common head inbalance. It goes like this...
A head with plenty of blond hair to cover it, but not enough brains to fill it. It seems lots of blonds like you have this problem. lol (i just assumed you were blond... sounds it to me)

No, but seriously, its apparent to me and it should be to you that you're going to have to drain out the water and refill it with fresh water. 15 gallons of chlorine is way way way too much for a pool. Now if it was an olympic size pool, 15 gallons wouldnt be as insane, but it still would be too much.