New to pool - but just got my test kit! woot!

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bdpeter

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Mar 31, 2012
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Hi all - first time pool owner here. Just opened the pool last weekend, and then got hit with some lower than expected temps. Typical luck, right?

Pool company opened it to clean water last weekend, and I've been running the filter 10 hours/day and the vacuming every night.

Anyway, I just got my leslie's test kit, and here's what tonight's results showed.

CYA - 110
TA - 90
PH- 7.3
FC - 15
CC - .5
CSI - -0.1

I'm trying to figure out the pool calculator, which is very helpful, but I don't know where to start adjusting first.

I have a bunch of chemicals left from last season, but would like to go BBB method.

thanks - Brian
 
but I don't know where to start adjusting first.
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Welcome to the forum. :lol: I would confirm that CYA test since it is your first one and then I would start a series of drain/refills to get your CYA down to around 50. Managing your pool successfully with CYA that high is incredibly difficult and not worth the effort and chlorine it will take to do it.
 
Ugh. I was afraid of that. I did it twice while looking down into the tube and measured it when the black dot disappeared.

When you say 'drain-refill' how much of the pool are you talking about?? Please don't say the whole thing!
 
Try doing the CYA test again with a 50/50 mix of pool and tap water and then double your reading. That will be another data point for comparison (as your level may be over 110).

Ideally you was to be in the 30-50ppm range ... so 50-70% drain and refill if your really currently at 110ppm.

You still using the chlorinator listed in your signature? That is what would have gotten your CYA so high.
 
yes, the chlorinator is still in use. Pool guy dumped in 4 new "pucks" last week and set it pretty close to "max". I just pulled them all out. That's ok, I assume?

redid the test before I read the 50/50 split, and i'm in the neighborhood of 100-110. will do a tap/pool test now and repost.

thanks all
 
just re-tested w/the 50/50 tap/pool water split. Came out 52.

Is there any other way to adjust this, without a drain/refill? I can only imagine what the water bill in NJ would be for that, and then figuring out how to drain this water and to where!

thanks,
 
ok, looks like I need to take out 50-60% of the water. :x

Do I risk damaging w/the vinyl liner by removing that much water? I'm assuming the tap/city water is fine to replace it with? Calcuating the 10-12k gal I'll need will run me $60-80. Not as bad as I thought, but I just want to make sure I don't screw anything else up by taking out that much water.

TIA,

Brian
 
bdpeter said:
Is there any other way to adjust this, without a drain/refill? I can only imagine what the water bill in NJ would be for that, and then figuring out how to drain this water and to where!
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That's a real bummer! My CYA was high when I opened a few weeks ago, around 100. I went through all the same emotions you are, thinking surely there has to be another way. A couple of days later, algae began to grow in my pool, and I began to see just how much chlorine it was gonna take to shock it with the cya as high as it was. So...I grudgingly threw a sump pump in the pool, and pumped about 60% down, and refilled. It was a hassle (my fault for letting it get so high), but certainly worth it in the long run, and a valuable lesson learned! :) Since the partial drain/refill, it's SOOOOO easy to keep it balanced! :party:

As far as the vinyl liner, I had about 18" left in the bottom after the drain, and refilled it with no problems whatsoever.
 
thanks, Circles.

I'm going to look around and see what I can find about draining the water in the vinyl IG.

My only negative is I KNOW I have a high water table here. The original owner of the house ( I just moved in in sept, and quickly closed the pool after I moved in) told me they were only able to dig down to 7" due to the high water table when they installed it. Leads me to believe that i'm going to have a tough job of getting the 50% drain done w/out some other issue - i.e. a new liner! I'm totally nervous about this whole process.

So, just so I'm clear. CYA gets, and stays, high because of too much stabilizer? What makes it disappear on it's own, sunlight?

Still learning. Stillllllll learning.
 

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bdpeter said:
So, just so I'm clear. CYA gets, and stays, high because of too much stabilizer? What makes it disappear on it's own, sunlight?
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Yes, CYA is usually added at the initial filling of the pool, to protect the chlorine from the sunlight. Lots of pool owners, myself included, have had issues with high CYA due to a lack of understanding with using the chlorine pucks. Each puck used raises your CYA just a bit, and once CYA is present, it's there to stay, unless splashed or drained out. Sunlight has no effect on it at all.

As far as your high water table, you may have to perform multiple "small" drain/refills to achieve your goal. This is a very slow process though.
 
You can drain down to thyroid point of leaving at least 1 foot in the shallow end ....BUT with a high water table that may not be a good idea.

You can do many small replacements or drain and fill at the same time or use a plastic sheet over the pool and drain from below while adding water on top.

Oh and CYA = stabilizer the only way it leaves the pool is by splash out or backwashing. The FC is used up by the organics and sun.

Posted with Tapatalk ... sorry if I sound short ... hate typing on phone :)
 
High water table is definitely a factor you should be concerned with. If you water table is actually that high, I would not lower you water level much at all.

Similar to jbiz's plastic sheet/tarp idea, some people on here have used a sillage bag and filled into that which would displace high cya water without lowering the level of the pool. It sounds like draining water is an issue for you but filling on one end of the pool and draining from the other (or floor drain) without circulating the water can sometimes segregate the new water long enough from the old water to decrease how much mixing keeping while keeping the pool full.
 
I'll be the contrary one here...

First off, what does the water look like? If it's clear, you can maintain it that way with high CYA. I've done it. It's not easy, but I had no choice due to water restrictions. You will need a FAS-DPD chlorine tester so you can read high enough to maintain enough FC. You may as well order refills of the powder and the reagent now, you'll be using a lot of both. And you will need to stop using pucks.

You don't say where you are; that makes a difference. You may be able to count on summer rains to help dilute things. Or water may be expensive and scarce.

If the water is clear, be scrupulous about not letting algae get started. And do a series of partial drains, 6" at a time or so, and use it to water the lawn. Then refill the pool. It takes longer, but it can be done. I've done it. If the water is green or cloudy, bite the bullet and drain it. The water will be cheaper than the tanker trucks of bleach you'd need.
 
I hear what Richard 320 is saying but I don't think attempting to maintain a pool with a CYA of 110 works well for a newbie (which he is) or, for that matter, any of us. Running FC levels up that high constantly just takes too much time and attention and money (and god help you if you have to shock @ 40ppm for several days)....his $60-80 dollar savings will soon be gone and he'll still have CYA over 100.

I would suggest to OP that a series of 25% drain refills will quickly get his CYA down to around 50 for a cost of considerably less than 100 bucks and then he can manage the pool normally.
 
I live in north Jersey too and had the exact same problem you have. (Bought a house with a pool I have no idea how to operate) After reading alot on this board I came to the inevitable conclusion that the cheapest and really only option is to drain the pool partially. (It is also the hardest and is a big aggravation) I was worried like you that I would damage the pool. I went to home depot and bought a big blue tarp. You can buy a clear plastic sheet but its the same cost - (about $100). I figured that was an acceptable cost of an insurance policy. I ran the pool cover pump for three days and the hose simultaneously on top of the tarp. The water level always remained equal in the pool this way. today cya level is 30 - it was worth it.
 
Thanks guys. I'm in NJ

Water is clear, not cloudy. I do know the water table is high because my basement, which is roughly the depth of the deep end of pool has a sump pump which kicks on every 40-90 minutes constantly. It was even mentioned to me by my neighbor as to why I don't have a diving board, since the pool installer couldnt get a deep enough hole without it filling w/water.

I think i'll try sucking the water down to about 18-20 inches in the shallow end while watching the liner carefully, and then replace the water as quick as the faucet will allow.

Question - how quickly should i wait for the next CYA test, once I've replaced a good foot or so of the water?

Michael - interesting approach - were you running the cover pump on top of the blue tarp or stuck in the bottom of the pool?, as well as running new water on top of the tarp? just want to make sure I totally understand this process.
 
The tarp idea is to remove the high CYA from underneath and add fresh water with 0 CYA on the top. The tarp keeps the water from mixing and diluting. After you have pumped 50-70% of the water from underneath, just pull the tarp out and then circulate the water for a few hours to mix and then you can test.

If you are only going to drain 18-20", what % of the pool volume is that?
If that is about 40%, after that drain and fill, your water will go from 110ppm (*.6) = 66ppm
If you then do that same amount again your water will go from 66ppm (*.6) = 40ppm

No real point in testing again, until you think you have replaced enough water. Aim a little low as it is certainly easier to add the CYA that to remove it as you have discovered.
 
16 x 32 = 512 drained down one foot which you say you will do = 512cu feet. 7.48 gallons in a cubic foot so you will drain 3829 of water from a 19k pool....roughly 20%. Your CYA will then be reduced by 20% when you refill it.
 
Question - how quickly should i wait for the next CYA test, once I've replaced a good foot or so of the water?
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The new changed test result will be instant once the refill is complete. If it were my pool I would do 2 successive 30% drains (remove 18" each time) and that should be doggone close to 50ppm.
 

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