Testing CYA questions

[Kathy3232]

I ordered at Taylor kit, but I'm still waiting on that. Since I don't have the patience to wait, I bought a cheaper 6 way kit at Wal-mart.

I was/am concerned about CYA because we have a frog installed and you've all told me that it can raise the CYA.

So, the directions say "add cloudy mixture until the black dot just disappears". I'm not quite clear on that. Does that mean add the mixture until you just start to not be able to see the black dot. Or does it mean add it until you can't see the black dot at all.

This doesn't seem to be a very accurate way to test. I hope the Taylor is more clear.

FWIW - I added the liquid until I could just barely see the black dot and I was at 100. So, am I right that CYA is high?

I need to go back to a pool store and get a real reading.

 

[duraleigh]

I need to go back to a pool store and get a real reading.

It's very likely to be much less accurate than your own testing. The CYA test is the same on most kits and it is somewhat inexact but it works just fine for the ranges you need.

100 is very high. You'll either need to drain some water from your pool or keep very, very high levels of chlorine all summer. I would suggest partial draining.......1/2 of your water will probably get it down to a manageable level.

 

[Kathy3232]

That's what I was afraid of. While waiting for a reply, I read through some more stuff on CYA with pictures. Mine's probably not quite 100, since I could still see the black dot, but I'm sure it's higher than it should be.

Ok, if I drain and refill, how to I take care of the metals in my water. I finally got rid of the green tint with sequester and conditioner. Now, when I refill it, I'm going to need to take care of it again, but on a larger scale.

Once I get it filled back up, what should I do?

 

[JasonLion]

Your CYA level might be alright. You need to keep adding solution until the black dot completely disappears. There should be just a general gray cloudiness without any suggestion of the black dot at all. There are pictures of what it should look like at the bottom of this article at the Taylor web site.

By the time you add more, your CYA level might actually be reasonable.

 

[Kathy3232]

ok, I went out and did it again. It's more like 80. Would you still suggest doing a partial refill? I'm in the process of unhooking my frog now.

Also, is the pool safe to swim in? I know my husband and son want to swim when they get home from a ball game today.

 

[JasonLion]

As long as the FC level is reasonable, the pool is safe to swim in.

80 is high for CYA, but livable. The main problem with CYA around 80 is that it take really huge amounts of chlorine to fight algae. As long as you don't get algae you should be fine.

 

[Kathy3232]

FC was 9.9 yesterday according to PS. I tested it today and the yellow was darker than the 5, so I'm guess it's still a bit high.

How do you all get accurate readings, like to the decimal point, without going to a PS?

 

[JasonLion]

We use a FAS-DPD chlorine test, which tests FC and CC levels from 0 to 50+ by either 0.5 or 0.2 depending on how you use it.

I strongly recommend getting a top quality test kit that includes a FAS-DPD chlorine test. The best kit is from TF Test Kits, see the link in my signature. The Taylor K-2006 is essentially identical, but includes mush smaller quantities of several of the reagents.

The results from the tests in either of those kits will be more accurate than the results from the majority of pool stores. Actually, test results with several decimal places are often the least accurate test results out there. A number of pool stores use computerized testing that reports to several decimal places but uses test strips, which are inherently imprecise and can't possibly supply the precision indicated on the print out.

 

[Kathy3232]

Jason, I did order the Taylor K 2006! I ordered it friday so with the holiday weekend it probably won't be here till Tuesday at the earliest.

Thank you!