CYA at 100, ok?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
azdaren

azdaren

0
Jun 9, 2010
23
cave creek, AZ
Ok I just started reading the forum a couple days ago. Using Pucks to chlorinate my water for years. My pool always looks great as I do test every/every other day, but only test for FC / PH / TA. Had water tested yesterday at Leslies for CYA and was told its at 100, ouch.

Here are my current #'s

FC 4-5
PH 7.5
TA 100
CYA 100

Using the pool calculator, it says my FC should be from 8 to 13. Does this seem high? I always shoot to keep my pool at 2-3.

I will be ordering a test kit this week so I can more accurate #'s. These are from one of the taylor test kits that gives a range based on the colors.

I had my pool acid washed and refilled last April, so the high CYA is definitely from using the pucks im guessing?

Thanks,
 
Welcome to TFP!

There are two issues here. The first is that pool store water testing can occasionally be way off, so it is difficult to decide how much to believe that test result. The second is that most common CYA tests read levels above 100 as 100, so if the test result is correct, your actual CYA level might be much higher than 100.

Assuming your CYA level really is 100 or higher, you should replace water to get the CYA level down below 100. Very high CYA levels present numerous problems, such as requiring extremely high FC levels.

The required FC levels depend on your CYA level. CYA buffers chlorine, reducing its effective strength, so you need to raise the FC level as the CYA level goes up to compensate.
 
Welcome to TFP.

Running with your CYA at 100 is a problem. You need to verify that you are at 100ppm and not a lot higher. There are testing issues that make the test inaccurate at high levels. You can dilute a sample with tap water 50-50 and your CYA reading will be close to half of your real reading. That will help you nail down where you are.

The higher recommended chlorine level is fine, and you will never notice it. A fixed percentage of your chlorine will be bound with the CYA, so if the CYA gets, too high, your 2-3ppm FC may perform like 0.5ppm when it comes to sanitation. Running the higher level will not be noticeable to bathers.

The best solution is to drain about 45% of your water and replace it, but you are not in an area where water is plentiful, so the higher FC levels may be preferable until your CYA naturally lowers due to splash out.

Jason posted before me, but we described the situation a little differently, so I'll post mine anyway.
 
45% at one shot, may be excessive in more than one way. High water tables and pool types have different safe low water levels for dilution to prevent pop ups and floats of the structure.

In order for us to suggest the correct actions to take, wrt the dilution process, we need to know some addition information.

Pool type
Where to dump excess water
Can you system do this?
Drainage areas. High water tables make life a little interesting.

Pictures help. Equipment pad, pool, path to drainage area are particularly telling. Descriptions help too.

Scott
 
Yes, RO and R/O stand for reverse osmosis. RO is a treatment that removes nearly all of the dissolved solids from the water. It is handy any time you have extremely high CH or CYA levels and water is expensive or needs to be conserved.

Pumping the pool water to the sewer system is allowed most places, but not everywhere. Aside from the question of local rules, it is fine.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Same process; just on a much larger scale (and way more efficient than what is under your sink!)! The technology has been around for a very long time, but is just now being put to use by a handful of people who have seen what it can do to pool owners with high CH (among other things) and in areas with water restrictions and/or high water tables, to name a few. It is not available everywhere yet, and probably won't be needed in areas where water is plentiful and CH levels are low. In the southwest, where these conditions exist, it is starting to gain acceptance and growing.
 
Ok so I diluted my water 50% with tap water an had leslies test my cya again, still came back with a reading of 100 or more. I think I'm going to wait for my test kit and test it myself before I do any draining/refilling.

Could my cya level really be that high? After diluting 50% with tap water an still getting a reading of 100+, that would put my cya at 200+, wow.
 
azdaren said:
Ok so I diluted my water 50% with tap water an had leslies test my cya again, still came back with a reading of 100 or more. I think I'm going to wait for my test kit and test it myself before I do any draining/refilling.

Could my cya level really be that high? After diluting 50% with tap water an still getting a reading of 100+, that would put my cya at 200+, wow.
Click to expand...
Yes, it could.

When I first tested my pool I diluted and was still off the scale. Diluted again, got something like 220. I later found out that cool temperatures make it read low, so it was probably higher. The previous owner and his useless pool service liked pucks in a floater. The pool was supposedly replastered and filled with fresh water two years ago.
 
Got my test kit yesterday and did a full workup this morning. Here are the results.

FC 6.5
CC 0
pH 7.4
T/A 120
CH 650
CYA 160


Not too thrilled about the thought of draining/refilling %75 of my pool. Do I really have any other options?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply