Is CYA my problem?

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allisonmarie

0
Aug 29, 2016
23
Chesterton IN
Hello everyone!

As my signature implies, I am the noobiest of pool noobs. My pool was installed last year, and since then, I have been getting inconsistent and expensive advice from my local pool store. So far, I get my information from test strips and water tests at the pool store, which I understand are unreliable. I ordered a K-2006 kit from recommendations on this page, and I will be receiving it from Amazon in 2 days. I would like to get started on solving my problem before that, if at all possible.

We are experiencing an obvious algae problem, and I responded to it several days ago by shocking the pool. Per the advice of the pool store, I have kept the chlorine levels very high, and the green is not budging. From my research, it appears that I have too much CYA (I'm basing this on the fact that the algae is not clearing up even though the chlorine has been so high). I've also read that the only way to lower CYA is to partially drain and refill the water. My question is - should I wait for my test kit to arrive to confirm CYA levels, or should I drain and replace some water now?

I'm sorry for the lack of details. Like I said, I'm working off of test strips, so I can't give definite levels. I can tell you the chlorine is BRIGHT purple, and the pH & alkalinity appear to be in check.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks :)
 
Allisson,

Welcome to TFP, you will love it here. :lovetfp:

I suspect you are correct about your CYA being way high, but unless you test it you can't know for sure.

Worst case, I see no reason not to exchange 50% of the water except the cost of the water and your time. It can't really hurt, but you won't really know if it is necessary, until you get your test kit.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Thank you all for the advice so far - I have added bleach to the water, but all I had on hand was some old stuff, which I imagine has lost some potency. I just picked up twelve 64 oz bottles of 8.25% bleach from Aldi, along with a few boxes of baking soda and borax. I am happy to report that my test kit has arrived! Now I have the daunting task of reading the included pamphlet and making sense of it before my 9 month old wakes up from his nap ;) so wish me luck! I will report my levels ASAP!
 
Okay - I got my first ever test done (before my son woke up!) Here's what I've got:

FC - 10.4 PPM (nothing registered for CC)
pH - 7.6
TA - 70 PPM
CH - 370 PPM
CYA - 62 PPM

And here she is:

pool 08.31.16.jpg

I am going to continue to research, but any advice at this point would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
 
So, you have read pool school, right?

Now is time for slamming your pool if you have algae, start lowering your pH a little to 7.2 using Muriatic Acid 31% and then calculate how much bleach to add using pool math for your CYA level, follow the instructions in the slam process in pool school, remember to brush... Good luck and ask questions


One more thing, to save reagent for FC, use 10 ml of pool water only and multiply every drop x 0.5 [emoji4]
 
Allison,

I suggest you read the following:

SLAMing Your Pool SLAMING is best done with a CYA of 30 to 40, but can be done at 62, just takes way more chlorine.

Chlorine CYA Chart This chart shows the level that your FC needs to be to SLAM at a particular CYA level.

Overnight FC Loss Test This is the easiest of all tests and should tell you if you have any active algae in your pool. If your overnight loss is close to zero, then maybe all you need to do is run your pump 24/7 and vacuum until your pool is clear.

Jim R.
 
I am making my way through pool school, but I haven't yet had the time to get all the way through. I was wondering if I need to partially drain the pool, but honestly, I expected the CYA levels to be higher than they are. I will definitely be reading up on the SLAM process in more detail today! And not needing to replace water is always a relief!

And thank you so much for your suggestion on saving reagent - BOY did I got through a lot of of drops with that 25 mL sample! :)

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you Jim! I will read through all of those ASAP! Appreciate the help!
 
At the beginning, you will have to test and brush often, to maintain your FC, (every hour or two) this is the hardest part, later in the slam process when the FC slam level last longer you can spread the FC test longer, but keep brushing all around, and remember to back wash and rinse your filter every time the pressure raise 20% above your clean pressure, I think your slam will not last longer, and please post pictures!!!!

Keep the pump ON during the duration of the slam
 

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Allisonmarie, quick tip on city water refill costs, when I called the city water department and told them I was draining the pool 16,000 gallons, they gave me a credit on the water bill based on the refill usage NOT being from toilet flush activity. So try it might make a difference on bill next month maybe to 50 $ what would have been.
 
It would require draining a third of your water to get to 40CYA. Not too, too bad...

Whatever you choose to do, please take those steps out as soon as you can and clean them really well. They certainly look like algae could be hiding in and under them. The sooner you do that, the faster your slam will go.

Let us know if you need help with PoolMath, or anything else.
 
Thanks again for all the great tips! I just added some muriatic acid to drop the pH, and plan to start the slam asap! We are getting close to end of pool season here, so I don't really want to make the investment for thousands of gallons of new water if I can avoid it. I figure I will do my best to deal with the high CYA for the next month or so, and then next year I will start fresh with tons of info and help from you fine people!

I appreciate the suggestion about the steps - I had not thought of that. I am planning to get that done sometime tomorrow evening, as I will need help from my husband to get them out.

Can anyone tell me how long I should wait to test the water after adding muriatic acid? Forgive me if this info is somewhere in pool school - I couldn't find it. I would love to add bleach tonight to begin the slam, but I want to make sure the muriatic acid has circulated and pH is at the proper level.
 
Good morning! Here's my update:

My FC was 23 PPM at 9:30 this morning. I added some bleach, since I'm shooting for 25. I just finished my first round of brushing. Gonna be a long day around here. Especially since I need to go to Costco as well - lol (at least I can buy more pool supplies! :)) As for the steps, my husband should be home from work around 4:30 to help me remove them. For now, I brushed on, around, and behind them the best I could. My swamp is looking swampier than ever!

And here are my current questions:

1. I am embarrassed to even be asking this question, but I'm not exactly sure what ideal pressure is for my pump. My model # is SP0714T1, and I have looked through all the paperwork that came with it, and googled it to no avail. Can someone please tell me what I should be shooting for? Right now I'm @ about 18 PSI, and we are always between 10 and 20. I just want to be as exact as possible and not take any shortcuts on this slam.

2. Should I be checking any other levels during my slam, or simply focus on FC? From my understanding, pH readings are not reliable during the slam process, and I do believe CYA will not change (as I have not added anything but bleach since last night's muriatic acid addition). I think I'm on the right track with only checking FC, but I would like to confirm. Please let me know if anything I'm saying is incorrect.

I think that's all for now!
 
1. There is no "ideal" pressure for a pump. Whatever the psi is right after backwashing is the baseline. As soon as it raises 25% you should backwash again. So you should backwash around 13 (or higher, like now :) )

2. FC is the important one. CC can be interesting too, and you will need that for the OCLT, but you don't need to test it every time.

No dumb questions, ask away.
 

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