High Alkalinity and Low CYA

[TazJMT]

Hello All,


I just opened my pool about 10 days ago and the alkalinity is coming up high-close to 180 (i am using strips to test).

Also, my Cyanuric acid is close to 0 (again, with strips its tough to get exact and the colors for 0 and 30/50 are so close).

The pool stores in my area find it odd that I would have too high of TA, but our tap water actual registers a TA of about 80. So do I just add some alkaline down (buy it first, doh!) and then i should be good to go? I would have thought that rain water would have brought it down also.

And what do I do about the cya?

In case any of this matters: 21 foot round above ground pool. I have an inline chlorinator that I use the 3" chlorine pucks in. I am having some trouble with the check valve that I installed in between the chlorinator and filter, so i assume it is letting that chlorinated water backup into the filter (yes, I am working to fix it). I didnt know if that last bit was important to the question or not, so i thought i'd mention it.

thanks

John

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

First, there is no such thing as alkalinity down ... it is just acid which is also going to lower your pH. In reality, you can completely ignore TA and just focus on keeping the pH in range.

I would not make any adjustments based on test strips or pool store testing. If you want to take control, invest in one of the Recommended Test Kits and post a full set of test results.

With exclusive use of pucks, I would highly doubt that your CYA is actually zero. Although there is a chance it was converted to ammonia over the winter ... using a proper test kit would help to ID that issue.

How much Pool School have you read? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool

 

[TazJMT]

Welcome to TFP!!!

First, there is no such thing as alkalinity down ... it is just acid which is also going to lower your pH. In reality, you can completely ignore TA and just focus on keeping the pH in range.

I would not make any adjustments based on test strips or pool store testing. If you want to take control, invest in one of the Recommended Test Kits and post a full set of test results.

With exclusive use of pucks, I would highly doubt that your CYA is actually zero. Although there is a chance it was converted to ammonia over the winter ... using a proper test kit would help to ID that issue.

How much Pool School have you read? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool

Oh, i didnt know that-I know Leslie's sells something called "Alka-minus" for lowering TA. Maybe it is just acid.

I always thought TA is what holds your pH and pH is what holds your Chlorine level. So without TA i thought the entire thing would get messed up.

As far as the CYA goes, I emptied half of my pool when i opened it 10 days ago (long story). When I first opened it and tested, the CYA was between 30-50. Obviously it went down when i refilled half of the pool. Since the pucks raise the CYA level but I have read that it takes up to a week for CYA to register on a test, maybe the pucks are slowly raising it but it just doesnt show yet.

 

[JohnT]

No, TA and pH have nothing to do with chlorine. If you have trouble maintaining your pH in the correct range, you may need to adjust TA, but otherwise don't get concerned about it.

CYA is what helps maintain your chlorine level by protecting it from sunlight.

 

[rmturner54]

If you want to take control, invest in one of the Recommended Test Kits and post a full set of test results.

I am a new pool owner this year. After I bought one of the recommended test kits all I can say is WOW!!!! Things are so much easier. I now know exactly what I got and what I have to do knowing that I have reliable test results. Once I got confident in my results, I would take a sample to Leslie's to compare, but not telling them why. They move so fast between test tubes I don't which test they are doing and I can see how they make mistakes. My results are hardly ever the smae as their's. My pool is crystal clear.
I still ask questions about what to do when I get my results. It builds my confidence in my ability. THANKS TFP for all your help so far.

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