Cya & dichlor

[Jules]

Just bought our pool and set it up last week. I'm using the BBB method, everything was good, except I didn't add CYA when I started up. I've been losing chlorine like crazy, and I know that's the reason. I only have the 6way drop test from walmart, as of right now.

I added CYA yesterday, in a sock and put it in my skimmer basket. I added 1.75lbs, which was the whole bottle. I know I need more, but the pool store was closed.

My question is this, the 1.75lbs was only about half of what I need. What damage would I do if I switched to Dichlor to get my cya the rest of the way? Kids are bugging me to swim, and the cya is taking forever to dissolve.

Thanks for any help y'all can give me! I hope I made sense.

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

First, they can swim as long as the FC level is appropriate for your best guess at what the CYA level is.

Using dichlor is just fine as long as you keep track of what it is adding. Dichlor adds chlorine, adds CYA, and lowers PH. One good way to approach this is to calculate how much dichlor you need to use to raise the CYA level by the desired amount and set that much dichlor aside for use raising the FC level. Then actually add the amount of dichlor you need to raise FC the correct amount, until you run out of dichlor. Remember the keep track of the PH while using dichlor. You will typically need to add soda ash/washing soda every time you add dichlor to keep the PH balanced.

 

[zea3]

You can add CYA slowly that way. You don't want to try to get all the cya from dichlor in one application or it will take a while for the FC to drop low enough for the kids to swim.

The kids can swim now while the cya is dissolving. Just treat the pool as you would if the cya you added was showing up on a test. You can add liquid chlorine to supplement the SWG until it keeping up with demand.

 

[Jules]

My TC is extremely high right now, and I can't measure FC with the test I have. I added 314oz of bleach yesterday (my chlorine level was 0) to hopefully reach shock level. I figured that since I didn't have any cya in the water it would just burn up anyway...hopefully I'm right :| I think I'll just stick with the cya, it seems easier.


ETA: I added all the bleach because I thought algae was the reason for my chlorine drop, even though the pool is crystal clear. After I added the bleach last night I checked the level and it was bright orange (hth drop test), checked again this morning and it was still the same color. I didn't realize that not having cya could in fact cause the sun to eat through my chlorine in a couple of hours. I feel like I'm messing up so bad, this is a little overwhelming at first!

 

[Bama Rambler]

It's a little overwhelming to begin with but if you keep reading here and keep practicing what you read it'll get simple in no time.

I suggest that you get the TF-50 kit from tftestkits.net. Since you have a OTO/pH kit it'll be a perfect addition for you.