Pool Store Test Sucks/ Very high CYA

[largen101]

Well I bought this house in June of 2005 and just did what the pool store said for the rest of that summer. In the winter I read bout BBB etc.., but was too lazy to look into it further. After a much higher then expected pool cost (go figure) the summer of 2006, I was fully ready to implement the BBB. I opened the pool and had it clear with in days and it was going great. I used up some Chlorine tablets I had left and started in on the bleach. I left on a four day trip and came back and the pool was cloudy. I hadn't gotten a test kit yet so I still relied on the pool store and their wonderful Biogaurd software and color strip coumputer test. I have been literally dumping bleach in this pool and nothing has happend, I kept going to the pool store and the test all looked good. My own test kit finally came and I did my own test. I should add that their test had my CYA at 30 and I wanted it a little higher so I added 4lbs or Cynuric Acid. I don't know what their test was doing, even after I added the stuff it showed CYA 30. My first test of my own shows the CYA at 90-100! So I was already high and then made it worse. Curently here are my numbers

FC 30-40ppm
CC 0ppm
TC 30-40ppm
PH 7.4-7.5 although this is probally worthless right now with TC so high
T/A 170
CYA 90-100


So the whole time I am wondering what is wrong cause I didn't think I had mustard algae, well now I know my CYA is so high it is killing me.

My pool is a 30,000 gallon concrete pool. I am going to get some Polyquate or whatever and add that to try and help, but I refuse to spend the money on the amount of bleach it will take to keep my TC where it needs to be with this high of a CYA. I need to at least cut it in half so do I need to drain out half the pool!!!!

Any help would be great!!

At least I wasn't buying pool store chemical and feeding their pockets by just burning up Chlorine

Thanks

 

[JasonLion]

You didn't post a calcium (CH) number. Your TA is a little high, which by it's self isn't a problem. But if your CH is also high the two together could cause calcium clouding.

You are well above shock level for that CYA level (20-25) so I am sure you have killed whatever is in the pool.

Since you will lose so little chlorine to sunlight with that CYA level you might actually need less bleach than if you lower the CYA level. Though shocking the pool will require a large initial pour.

You can lower the CYA level by adding fresh water and removing existing water. This can be done at the same time, running a garden hose into the pool while running the pump to waste (or backwash if you don't have a waste setting). Just keep an eye on the water level one process or the other will be faster and need to be stopped occasionally to let the other catch up.

 

[algaeh8er]

If your pool is still cloudy, your CYA level might not really be that high. I have recently went through an algae killing spree that took a few weeks. During this time, while the pool was still cloudy, I tested the CYA. I also took a sample to the pool store. We both came up with a CYA level of 70. Learning this, I brought my pool up to a 20-25 FC shock level and the pool cleared. After it cleared, and without any form of draining the pool, I retested the CYA and it is really between 30 and 40.

 

[duraleigh]

Largen,

As Jason is saying, running a higher ppm of bleach does not mean you USE more bleach...you simply maintain it at a higher level. A pool with 40CYA may lose 2-3ppm daily keeping the Cl between 2-5ppm. A pool with 100 CYA may need to be kept up around 8-10ppm but will still lose the same 2-3ppm.

Secondly, the polyquat will burn a hole in your wallet quicker than bleach and will have little effect.

Last, to clear your pool, you must keep the bleach up there at shock levels until the process is complete. Don't let it drift down below 20 over the next few days or you will have to start over again.

Chlorine is all you need to clear your pool and it's the cheapest way to do it.

Read more about the BBB method in the stickies section.

 

[JohnT]

As algaeh8ter said, the CYA test can be thrown off a bunch by just a little cloudiness in the water. The water in the collection or test vial can look crystal clear, but it can have enough stuff in it to mess up the CYA test.

 

[algaeh8er]

My husband and I became pool owners about two months after you. It was fine for the first year, but we let it go over this winter. We started out with just about as dirty a pool you can imagine at the end of May. Our pool was quite cloudy until last weekend when it finally started to break. My husband wanted to add floc to our pool earlier this week to "help things along." I convinced him to wait a little longer and the pool completely cleared in a couple more days. Yes, we poured a lot of bleach into it; but it was a lot less expensive than the chlorine the pool store was selling us.

Aside from adding bleach, are you brushing the pool daily? Running the filter 24/7? Changing the filter/backwashing as needed?