very small pool ??? on cya

[niteflier]

Hi all,
New to TFP..... great website lots of information.
Quick question about CYA. I setup a summer escape pool made by genfoam inc. for my child on the back patio. 8' round by 3 foot deep .... 528 gallons run the filter 24/7.

I'm using a simple HTH test Kit:
FC- .5ppm
PH- 7.6
TA-130 ppm
Ch-50 ppm
CYA-0 ppm
I live in Palmdale,CA and the temps has been from 97 to 110 degrees!!
I'm adding 2oz of sodium hypo every 2 hrs. to keep fc @ 1.6 ppm
and this is nuts!!! If I add some cyanuric acid,I guess this will lock the free chlor molecules to the acid molecules, so the UV ray will not burn off the free chlor. Then what happens, wait till the sun goes down for the cyanuric acid molecules to release the FC to do its job? I understand the CYA trade-off.
What should I buy or do?
Any help appreciated, Ken

 

[duraleigh]

Forget the CYA. Add 6 ounces of 6% Clorox each evening AFTER the Sun is off the pool. It'll most likely be at zero the next evening so add it again. Test it every now and then to make sure you're somewhere between 1-6ppm and that the FC is not building up. If it is, cut your dosage back.

Keep your pH around where it is and enjoy the rest of the summer.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

If you wanted you could find some tri-chlor tabs from Wal-mart for not too much money, use them in a floater. They'll stabilize your water and you won't be adding chlorine daily. You need to keep an eye on your ph however because they are acidic and usually lower the ph. If you notice your ph drop below 7.2 it's either time to "aerate" or add some borax.

This route has you doing less daily maintenance but in all likelyhood is a slightly more expensive route than just adding a bit of bleach each night. I normally don't recommend trichlor tablets but since this is a temporary set up for the remainder of the summer and the pool will be drained it's no harm.

I think Dave recommended not buying CYA because the small benefit in your situation doesn't justify the expense.

Choice is up to you!

 

[chem geek]

If this were my small pool, I'd either add 13 teaspoons of pure CYA to the skimmer or I'd add 4 ounces (8 tablespoons) of Dichlor into the main body of pool water over the return flow with the pump running. Either way will get to around 30 ppm CYA. The pool size is close to that of a larger spa so buying a small container of Dichlor (usually called granular chlorinating concentrate for spas) is probably the least expensive approach since you don't need very much. After that, just use 6% unscented bleach (Clorox Regular or off-brand Ultra bleach) as needed to maintain an FC of around 3 ppm (about 3-1/3 fluid ounces of 6% bleach).

The smallest bottle of Dichlor I could find is 1 pound which sells for around $11. If you have a neighbor with a spa, you might ask about taking a small amount of their Dichlor granules. Since you don't need very much, I understand why duraleigh said not to bother, but it will help some to protect the chlorine. It won't help as much as with deeper pools, but it will still help quite a bit.

Richard

 

[duraleigh]

My real motive in not recommending CYA is it typically is available in 4-6lb increments when only 2 oz. is required for that pool.

Splashout, time to dissolve, having to purchase 4 lbs, and purchasing a test kit to measure it all seems to make the CYA w-a-a-ay more trouble than it's worth.

The 6 oz chlorine dose should cost less than 10 cents daily and will give the OP a trouble freepool the rest of the summer.....that's a total cost of less than $10.00 and no worries.