Do I need to drain?

[jvrobert]

So unfortunately I came late to this site and my pool is kind of a mess. We had about 2 weeks where the pool was green, I shocked the **** out of it and the pool guy added some chlorine and it came back but now I've finally been doing my due diligence and reading around here. I bought a test kit and seems since I've been using the pucks + shock my CYA levels are sky high.

I think my FC is too low as well. I'd like to move off the pucks and aim for maybe an 80 CYA level since I'm in Phoenix?

FC=6ppm
CYA=185 or so.
CC=.5ppm
pH = 7.9-8.0
TA = 90-100
CH = ~350ppm

Questions:
Can I move to using plain old chlorine and will my CYA level go down over time? I'm in no major hurry, maybe by next April or something - 2-3 more months of swim time left this season. Or must I drain to get them under control?

Assuming I move to liquid bleach now, should I aim for about 14 FC or so with my CYA levels? My levels seem off the usual charts

Is my pH bad enough I need to add some acid?

Thanks!

 

[Abigail K]

You definitely can move to using plain bleach / liquid chlorine.

Our recommended maximum CYA level without an SWG is 50, I would advise that you bring it down to around 40 and monitor your daily FC loss.

What test kit are you using?

With CYA ~180, it is advisable to do a partial drain and refill to bring your CYA to a more manageable level. CYA primarily goes down when water is physically removed from the pool (backwashing, pump out, splash out) and does not decrease through evaporation.

Pool math indicates that 14FC is the MINIMUM for CYA 185, you will need to aim slightly higher to account for daily FC loss.

I would advise you to add acid, depending on the test kit ph 8.0/8.2 is the maximum reading and the pH might be higher.

Please read Pool School, in particular ABCs of pool water chemistry and how to chlorinate your pool if you haven't already done so.

Also, could you please add details about your pool to your signature as detailed in this post? This will enable us to help you better.