I've not been very active on the forums, but I've read quite a bit over the last couple years. I wanted to take a minute to share my success story and say Thank you to all contributers of this site.

April 2009
Long story short. We purchased a house with our first ever pool in April 2009. I had no clue what to do so I just took a water sample down to the local Pool Store. This was the begining of my aggrivation and the endless cycle of buying whatever they told me I needed which never yeilded the results promised. Well that first summer the pool was frequently cloudy and always on the edge of turning green.

September 2009
My wife found this forum and sent me the link.
I read through Pool School a few times.
Still continued down the Pool Store powder shock, 3" pucks, and whatever other water treatment junk they had to sell.

December 2009
Purchsed the suggested test kit.

May 2010
Started testing my own water and found out my biggest issue was high CYA which peaked in June around 100.
Water is not cheap here in Tampa so draining & replacing was to going to happen overnight. Instead I went the Mother Nature route and drained the pool little by little during heavy rains.

July 2010
I was also stopped suplimenting the liquid chlorine with 3" pucks in the feeder. Now I just use liquid chlorine and when needed baking soda and muriatic acid.

April 2011
Well it took about a year, but I am happy to say I have dropped my CYA from 100+ to 50 thanks to Mother Nature and 32 inches of fresh rain water.

My first full year of owning a pool I spent around $450 at the pool stores on chemicals and such which left me with terrible results. That's what you get when you allow others with a financial interest to guide you along the way. Well, enough was enough and in 2010 I am happy to say I spend just around $100 and our pool has never looked better!!!

You'd think that saving $350 is the best part, but for me the best part is that I've spent less time managing my pool than I did while I was "under the control" of the pool store. Leaving more time to enjoy the pool with my family.

Thank you for posting and sharing your success! It is wonderful to hear your story! Mine was very similar as I know many others on this site came to TFP after having been frustrated by conventional "pool store" advice. Pool ownership should be about relaxing with the family not pouring all your money and time into a hole in the ground. Do you have any pictures of the pool you would like to share?

Congratulations!

I am also making use of the iPhone app!

Nice post, ssanders. It is always rewarding to everyone on the forum when they can read how you took the info provided here and became Manager-in Chief of your pool. Nice work!

Another great TFP success story!

It is a really good feeling when we take control of our pools!

Thanks for sharing.

What does this iphone app do?

Math.

It enables you to bring this pagepoolside, on your phone.

Update January 2011
My efforts to drop my CYA have been effective, a little too effective. Now when I test my CYA I can fill the tube with all the solution and still see the black dot at the bottom. So my CYA is <20.

I read a few threads regarding CYA, but I cannot find one specifically asking for advice on managing the addition of CYA. If it can take a week to register the addition should I plan for a couple week of managed dosing? I see there are different methods to use to raise CYA, what would be considered a best practice?

Realistically, I would like to try to get a CYA reading around 30 (I think). I do get sun, but not all day full sun depending on the time of year I would estimate direct sunlight from 9:30-4PM.

30 is not a bad number....40 might be somewhat more useful and, in Florida with your pool, that would be my suggested target.

I REALLY like the Pool Calculator and using regular CYA additive to calculate the dosage to get to your target. Do the math carefully, put it in the skimmer and then forget it for 5-7 days....then test.

The only disadvantage to that method is if you have the need to backwash during that 7 day period and I wouldn't think that would be an issue this time of the year.

If you're in a hurry, buy the CYA as a stand alone product. The liquid just gets poured in. The granules should get put in a sock and hung in front of a return. The Pool Calculator can tell you the amount needed.

If you're not in a hurry, use trichlor in a floater. After you have your volume entered, down near the bottom of the page, there's a box that shows the effects of adding chemicals. Plug in 8 oz of Trichlor, it will tell you how many PPM FC and CYA it will add. If it says 1.25, for instance, and you want to add 10 PPM CYA, 8 pucks would do it. You just can't add them all at once.

When you tested the CYA, what was the water temp? Cold water (under 70 degrees) can throw off the results.

See the CYA section in the Extended Test Kit thread http://www.troublefreepool.com/extended-test-kit-directions-t25081.html

Thanks for the quick replies.

Thanks for the tip, but I just have a filter so this will not be an issue.


I am not really in a hurry. This time of the year the water is too cold to swim, but I still try to keep it looking good. Too bad I sold my old bucket of pucks on Craigslist. Would it matter if I put them in a floater or would the inline feeder work just the same?


The water is 58, but I did do a test back in Nov when the water was still in the mid 70's with the same result.