CYA = 0 but pool looks great!

[yzfrr11]

cl 3
ph 7.5
cya 0
ta 80
ch 250

Good morning and happy Saturday!

I've been having great success with Ca Hypo this year. My CH is creeping up, and I would move away from Ca Hypo. Also, I'd like to stay away from Di/Trichlor because I'd like to stay away from CYA for the moment.

So, is bleach my best option at this point? Is it reasonable to stay keep the CYA at zero? My rational is that the Chlorine has the best kill rate without the CYA in there. And, I don't mind adding bleach every night.

Thanks all!

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

No, it is not a good idea to run with CYA at zero. You don't need CYA very high, but a level around 30 is much better than CYA at zero. CYA at zero causes significantly higher levels of some of the most dangerous chlorine byproducts, makes the pool chemistry relatively unstable (easy to get in trouble), is much harsher on hair and swim suits, and prevents you from having enough chlorine in the water to deal with unusual situations. Bacteria/viruses are killed very effectively even with CYA as long as your follow our recommended levels based on your CYA level.

 

[Donldson]

Welcome to TFP!

Jason summed up the most important points, those are the reasons even indoor pools should have a small amount of CYA in them. For an outdoor pool it is also very important as it protects the chlorine. With absolutely no CYA in a pool the sun will burn off all of the chlorine in a matter of hours. During the summer that usually means you will have zero FC in your pool by noon. It can often be a worse situation than having too much CYA.