onslaught of CYA eating bacteria?

[singingpond]

I've been struck by the number of threads lately where posters with an unexpectedly low CYA number are advised that they may have CYA eating bacteria in their pools. I thought that was a fairly rare occurrence, seen mainly after months of overwintering the pool. Are we really seeing multiple instances of this happening now, over the course of just a few days, in the middle of the summer swim season?

Or is it more of an advice 'fad' at the moment here on the forum? I have the feeling I'm coming across this type of advice half a dozen times a day now, but the pool owners rarely (if ever?) come back with a report that actually confirms the huge chlorine demand that would be characteristic.

Has anyone tried keeping track to see if confirmed cases of rapid CYA consumption are actually on the rise?

It seems to me that CYA eating bacteria were a rarely seen 'zebra' in the pool problem bestiary; now they are trotted out so often as to appear commonplace.

 

[tim5055]

While it may seem like a lot, I think more of them can be traced to other causes, like a very wet spring in many areas, pool leaks with auto fills and stuff like that.

Many times new folks read a few threads and self diagnose without the full picture.

 

[singingpond]

My confusion / concern comes partly from the fact that experienced posters are introducing this idea into threads fairly often IMO. It isn't just new people trying to self diagnose.

 

[Defgufman]

This does seem to pop up a lot this year. Though in many cases it seems like it's been true, and feeding enormous amounts of bleach seems to solve it. Perhaps we are seeing a rise in this particular bacteria because of the wet spring and summer in many areas.

 

[chem geek]

It shouldn't happen if the FC level doesn't drop to near zero in a pool. Bacteria, especially those that degrade CYA, won't grow in a pool with chlorine.

For those shocking at high SLAM levels, they may be having some CYA loss there.

 

[kimkats]

What I THINK you are seeing is people making sure of what is going on. Just how fast is the chlorine leaving? Better safe than sorry. I do NOT say "oh I think it is ammonia"or any such thing. I just like to find out just how fast it is leaving so I can know how to tailor the SLAM to THEIR needs.

Kim

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I think most pool owners in California would wish for an invasion of CYA-consuming bacteria right about now....now if I can only find some bacteria willing to eat my calcium hardness