Differences in CYA Types....Are any the "Best"?

[Bill in SoCal]

Looking to bump up my CYA a little bit. Where I live (Southern California) and where the pool is located (outdoors, little or no shade) the pool gets intense sunshine all day long (at least on sunny days---which we have lots of!!). I tested my CYA for the first time this morning using my new TF-100 kit. My previous kit (a Poolmaster 5-way Test Kit) did not test for CYA so I was relying on my AquaCheck 4in1 strips and the local pool store (Leslie's) testing. My first test shows it at about 35 ppm, which corresponds roughly to what I've been getting on the Leslie's tests. My strips showed it being higher, maybe 60-70, though it is subjective.

With all of the intense sunshine I'd like to keep the CYA at 45-50 ppm. I recently stopped using the tri-chlor "hockey pucks", so now if I want to increase CYA I've got to find another means. Does anyone have any suggestions as to types and or brands to use? Or should I just buy whatever seems to be cheapest at the big box stores? In my readings it seems like using a solid product versus liquid is the preferred (cheapest?) way to go. My apologies if this topic has been already covered in the Forums. If it has, maybe someone can direct me to where to find it? Thanks.

 

[woodyp]

Walmart HTH brand of Stabilizer and Conditioner is hard to beat (granular).

 

[Bill in SoCal]

Thanks for the quick response woodyp! I've been buying that brand of chems at Walmart and the prices seem pretty good. Last time I was at the local pool store getting water tested the sales person tried (of course) to sell me all kinds of chems. I told him that I only buy my MA there (price is competitive and they sell the 31% stuff versus the local big boxes which seem to just carry the 15% stuff) and that I buy other needed chems based upon price, usually at a big box. Of course he started bad-mouthing the "quality" and potency of the big box store chems. This is the same guy who, when I went in to buy some liquid chlorine (they were convenient and their price was only a little bid higher than buying it at the big boxes....) to shock my pool (algae problem), told me he'd never heard of anyone using liquid chlorine to shock a pool! (and promptly tried to direct me to their overpriced powdered shock product selection) BTW, prominently displayed on the front of the pool store's chlorine box (2-1 gal containers) in LARGE letters was "POOL SANITIZER AND SHOCK" .....and he'd never "heard of it being used to shock a pool"!?!? Moral to story.....invest in a good test kit, use TroubleFreePool.com and keep it simple!!!!!

 

[Divin Dave]

+1 for Walmart, HTH Brand

 

[anonapersona]

valueFor small adjustments to CYA there is no harm in using a few tricolor tablets.

Use Pool Math to find how many you need in total. Add them over whatever is the appropriate time interval. Monitor FC as always.

Like, if you could use 10 tablets to get CYA to the required value, then use them instead of bleach for that time. Assuming you still have some laying around. I keep been in storage for use during vacations.

So, do consider whether you will soon be gone for a week when using the tablets and bumping up the CYA might be worth doing then. Hard to beat the luxury of tablets for vacations, if you can afford the CYA included.