Finally reached my breaking point with CYA problems

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M

mlrogers

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Jun 16, 2013
29
My plan a few weeks ago was to just deal with the high CYA (155) til end of season, however I am so disgusted with the weather, pool temp and algae that I am dealing with the CYA RIGHT NOW!!! No one has been in the pool for over a week, having rain and 65 degree temps again in Michigan. Pool temp is 78 and falling so nobody will swim.

Sick of trying to keep chlorine level high and getting algae anyway so I am done waiting on this issue.

Drained pool down to 4" below skimmers. Filled back up 2" and drained again. Total of 10" so far. Will drain one more time to get to the total of 12" water replacement, unless you think with my CYA number I need to go to 18" replacement. This will take 2 days to refill with hose. Don't care about water temp at this point. May not be able to swim for the rest of the summer but darn it I am going to get this pool cleared up before fall!

After I test CYA level I will slam, hoping to get to 80 CYA for rest of summer and with water replacement over winter should be at about 50 for next season. Any other advice is appreciated.
 
I'd be surprised if you've drained enough yet. You will probably need to drain a bit more. The test will tell you how you've done at any rate.

80 ppm CYA is still going to be a lot to contend with during the SLAM process.
 
You might as well work on bringing it down a bit more, doesn't look like we will be getting any swimming weather in Ohio or Michigan for at least another week. Feels more like pool closing season than the middle of summer. If you get it down to 50 before you SLAM it will save you some chlorine now, and then next season you will be near the lower end of the CYA range and won't have to worry if you need to use some trichlor for a week away.
 
To lower your cya to 80, 80/155= 51%... you will need to drain 49% of your water. Doing it in small increments as you have does not drop it much. I don't quit understand your drain/refills you described, but every time you drain 8 inches then bring the level back up to where you started, will only reduce your cya by 13.5%....so (1-.135)*155= 134 ppm cya (note each inch of your pool water at the surface is ~404 gallons). By refilling and doing it in stages, you will use a lot more water. If you were to drain 30 inches all at once and refill with 30 inches, then you would be done.
 
I am just worried about how far down I can take the water in my vinyl in ground pool without risking the liner or sides of pool? I saw warnings in other posts about draining too far down. If it is going to stay cool and rainy I can drain again, just don't want to compromise the structure of the pool.
 
okay, I will go for it and drain down farther before I refill. Husband is getting nervous about water level in pool... he doesn't trust me but I will refer him to you guys for back up. thanks for all the info and advice! might as well do this once and get it over with:)
 
If it makes you feel better we "accidentally" drained our IG vinyl pool about a month ago to maybe 9 inches of water in the shallow end. It didn't stay that way for long but our 2 year old liner didn't seem to suffer. I assume much of that could depend on your current water table.......we've had LOTS of rain.....hence the accidental drain. Somebody left filter handle set to waste with pump OFF after draining excess water from rain. It drained the pool overnight.
 
Somebody left filter handle set to waste with pump OFF after draining excess water from rain
Click to expand...
I know someone who did the exact thing for the exact reason. We didn't lose too much water but the person who did it at my house feels pretty careless and his physical description reminds me of me....a whole lot. :shock: :shock: :shock:
 

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Quick question: once I get back up to the skimmers and can start circulating the water, how long do you think I need to let it mix before taking a CYA reading? (Just did a practice one and got CYA of 20, which is impossible so I am assuming the fresh water is staying on the top of the pool and most of the heavy cya is still at the bottom of deep end).
 
I don't think you risk anything in draining down over 50%. I had a couple small leaks develop this past spring, and by the time we opened the pool up (25,600 gallon) there was 2 inches of water left in the bottom. I repatched the holes, and refilled with no problems at all. the liner was a bit saggy all the way around..but as it filled, it pressed right back into place.
 
how long to circulate replaced water before cya?

Topics merged. Please don't double post. Keep everything here. Bama

putting this question here because it is getting lost in my other post and I am hoping for an answer.
Replacing water to lower cya and level will be back up to skimmers soon. How long should I circulate the pool before taking a new cya reading? I am assuming the older water with higher cya stays at bottom of deep end while the fresh water is more toward the top so I am likely to get an incorrect number.
 
Please keep your posts together as bama said. It is VERY confusing for those of us who answer lots of post and when you have simultaneous threads, you often get overlooked.

If your pool has any reasonable circulation at all, there is no stratification...it's a non issue.

You can take the CYA test as soon as your pool is full. You are running your pump, right?

(Sorry we weren't able to answer as quickly as you apparently needed. :shock: :shock: )
 
Most of the forum regulars use the quick link functions above, so for example if you post a new post for your thread, it shows up when the quick links: "active topics", "view unread posts","New posts by date", and "your posts" are chosen...so we see it.
 
Bought a cheap 6 way test kit to get me thru til next spring and just did 3 cya tests which did not go well for me. Used up a whole bottle of reagent and got cya of 20 on all 3 tests. I KNOW I did not go from CYA of 155 to CYA of 20 by draining down about 18 inches of water! So I am guessing I am still over 90 and it was inaccurate?
Read here about diluting water, went out to try it and found black bits of mold(?) floating in the 2nd bottle of cya reagent. Needless to say that bottle did not work at all. Lol. Guess I am off to pool store tomorrow for water testing so I know where I am at with the chemicals after the drain. Next spring I hope I have better luck with a good kit!
On a happier note, just replacing that amount of water in the pool has really improved the smell and look of the water, even though I believe there is still algae lurking in the deep end. (which I will deal with tomorrow after learning the new cya number). The water had been kind of musty/moldy smelling this year, now it smells fresh again. (pool is 5 yrs old)
 
Please read about the TF100 or K2006 test kit. You need a test kit with guaranteed fresh reagents not the pool store to do the testing for you. In my limited experience with things like building computers and now learning about pool chemistry by doing the building or in this case the water testing yourself you learn about the cause and effect of the chemicals you add instead of relying on a pool store that gains bytelling you what to buy. the biggest scam I see with pool stores is the pushing of dichlor/trichlor and having to usehigher and higher levels of chlorine to counteract the CYA. And if their scheme fails they make more money on selling you algecides instead of bleach. Take the time to read BBB and Pool School. You will soon be in control of your pool instead of the pool store and algae being in control
 

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