CYA Level

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drew13

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Jun 8, 2011
13
Abingdon Md
I am having a problem with a cloudy pool for some weeks now. I take all my pool samples to a local pool store to get them done. Here is what they were yesterday.
FC-4
PH 7.6
TA 90
CH 200
CYA 0
Salt-4000
I have an intellichlor 40. I cleaned this past weekend due to salt light on red constantly for low salt. Went to green after cleaning on Friday. Now i put in pool 1st aid yesterday morning. Now by 4pm yesterday the light went back to red.Will have to take off and clean again.
But my questions are what is causing the cloudiness-(CYA?) Have had pool and all parts since that time. Just need to know what direction to go in here.
Thanks
 
Have you had the swcg the entire 5 years?

I know that's not your cloudiness problem but your cell may be going out and letting your FC go to zero which would let the pool get cloudy. Without a good test kit it's hard to say what's going on but I suspect you need to shock.

Read Pool School on how to shock your pool.
 
I see where i put that FC amount in and it looks like Negative 4. It is at 4. Up from 1 on a test that was done 1 week prior. I did shock it and it went to 4.
Here is a little more on the story.
I week ago i put in some liquid chlorine. It went from cloudy green to cloudy blue.I usually get tests done on the weekends.So about 5-6 days passed and i went back yesterday and got the results that are above. They recommended Pool 1st aid. That is where i am now.
 
drew,

Your pool cannot function properly without CYA. I suspect. like bama, that you need to shock as well but the first thing I would do is stop putting in "pool first aid". I don't know what that is.

Secondly put enough CYA in the pool to get to 30ppm. You'll need more later but 30 for now and prepare to shock the pool properly.
 
Drew13

I have a Intellichlor 40. If the red light is on constant for low salt, and the green cell light is off (which I am certain it is with the red low salt light on), you are making zero chlorine.

Your pool has algae due to low chlorine and that is why it looks the way it does. There is a lot of things to do here, but let's try to prioritize.

First you going to need lots of liquid chlorine to get you through this, so make sure you have a few cases on hand. Regular bleach is the same thing and works as well, whichever is cheaper for you.

Now add enough liquid chlorine to get your chlorine level at 20. You are going to need to keep it there, even if you need to measure every couple hours to check. It will go down rapidly in your situation with no CYA and algae growing.

After you come back from adding the chlorine, we need a few questions anwered.
1) Is your CYA truly zero? Have you ever had CYA in the pool. Why is it zero now? If it is truly zero, this must be increased pronto with stabilizer, conditioner, or CYA (all the same thing). With the Intellichlor, you need to get it up to 70 ppm. Without CYA, your Intellichlor will never be able to keep up with chlorine demand, and any sun will very very quickly erase your chlorine produced.
2) How did you measure the salt level. What level does the Intellichlor say you have? Some methods of salt measurement have large errors (test strips have been very unreliable for me).
3) How old is your Intellichlor? These things do have finite life spans.

As we work through the other problems, for now the most important thing is getting and keeping chlorine in the pool -- constantly. Not a here and there addition.
 
Weth,
When i first opened the pool i put stabilizer in there. I will be going back tonight to get all my levels checked again and will have them pull all my results from this year to see exactly when and if i have had cya at all this year.
2.This year i am truly finding out alot about the SWG and the readings. The reading on the easytouch panel says 2743ppm. Leslies said it was much higher-4000ppm. I always have them test it every year.The intellichlor says add salt. Correct the green cell light is not lit at all.
3.I have had the intellichllor for 5yrs now.
Now after reading what you have sugested i will be adding chlorine in high amounts starting tonight.Should i also get the stabilizer and add that to at leat get some in there after adding the chlorine?
 

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That is great!

Make sure you follow the shock procedures until all 3 parameters are met.
CC < 0.5
Pool is clear
Less than 1 ppm decrease in FC in overnight test

Even though the Intellichlor is producing again, to shock properly, you will need to supplement with liquid chlorine until shock is done.

As you are working through this, get the CYA back up to 70. There have been reports of CYA loss over a winter, so I do not know if that is what happened to you.

So the summary is low CYA, malfunctioning SWG leading to inadequate chlorine levels, leading to algae bloom. I think it will be well sorted out from here!
 
Ok Here is the deal today.
On the 14th i put in 3gals of liquid shock and some stabilizer.
On the 15th pool looks a litlle clearer. I cleaned out the filters and brushed the pool. Added another gal of shock.
Today i go get my levels checked-Here they are
FC 0
TAC 2.5
PH 7.4
TA 120
CYA 40-FINALLY HAVE THAT UP FROM ZERO
CH 230
THEY SAY SALT WENT UP TO 5400.
I know i really need to get a test kit to do the overnight testing.
My question is what is my next step. I am staying home tomorrow to get this fixed and the weekend.
Any help would be great.
 
You say you are using liquid shock instead of bleach. What is the liquid shock? You don't want to creep up your CYA any more right now, wait until after the shock process is complete. Your liquid shock may be adding CYA.

I may have missed it, but is this a plaster/gunite/concrete pool or a vinyl pool?
 
Pool store results are about as reliable as the weather report...sorry.

If you really want to control your pool, I would suggest investing in your own test kit. We recommend the TF100 from TFtestkits.net or the taylor k2006.

Now, IF CYA is really 40, you should raise your FC to at least 16ppm and hold it there until CC are 0.5 or less, the water is clear and you can pass the overnight FC loss test.

Sorry, I know that is a lot of info, but it sounds as simple as the pool needing to be shocked with liquid chlorine. Shocking is a process and is described in the article below.

pool-school/shocking_your_pool

After you are done shocking, while still maintaining FC via manual chlorine additions (if needed), we can help trouble shoot the salt/chlorine generator. But for now, get on top of the pool before it get's away and turns into a green mess :goodjob:
 
RobbieH said:
You say you are using liquid shock instead of bleach. What is the liquid shock? You don't want to creep up your CYA any more right now, wait until after the shock process is complete. Your liquid shock may be adding CYA.

I may have missed it, but is this a plaster/gunite/concrete pool or a vinyl pool?
Click to expand...

Liquid Shock is just concentrated bleach...10 or 12.5% Sodium hypochlorite :goodjob:
 
I do not trust them very much either this year...I am getting the real deal test kit also...
It is a plaster pool.
I was in the process of schocking the pool..i wanted to see what my FC was upto...but Zero surprised me
What is the deal with the TAC being 2.
So now i will have 3 days to commit to this.
1st thing i need to do is get the FC up to 16ppm, (do i turn off my swg also)
 
OK, thanks for the plaster info. Once you get your numbers from the real kit, if you wish, you could use Cal-Hypo to shock and get your CH up some. 300 would be a good target, and you are low if 200 is accurate. BUT, wait for the new kit.

TC of 2 and FC of 0 is likely just error in the test. You'll find out real quick the first time you do the test with the FAS why it is more accurate.
 

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