I can't keep cya up!

[ladiekali]

i was trying to maintain cya at 50.
this is almost impossible it seems.

I have to slam a lot too.

and slamming is expensive. $45 just in chlorine.
so i get three weeks of swimming with good numbers and easy adjustments.
and then i have cloudy water so i slam, and that takes two weeks.

and then the cya is zero again.

I've also noticed my hair gets brittle and falls out in clumps.
except for the two weeks i'm slamming the pool and not swimming.

I have to add about two gallons of muriatic a week to keep ph just below 8.
I do have well water.

i usually add 4.5 cups of chlorine every night.

things are good till it rains. I try to "shock" before it rains, but sometimes it comes out of no where and sometimes it lasts for a few days.
then the pool is green and I start all over again.

I'm so confused on if this method isn't a good choice for me.

i don't know what to do anymore.
BUt my frustration level is high at this point. because I'm on a budget here. and $60 a week in chemicals is a lot.

help is appreciated. or advice of any sort.

i just got down with a two week slamming process, and the the last two days it has poured, my cya is zero when it was 50 while slamming. So my chlorine is at about 9. but since cya is so low the chlorine is too high to swim in. cya takes forever to dissolve. so i have to add it, wait to days, test, add more, wait two days.

then get that up, then fight with ph for another week.... then it's time to backwash the filter, add water, fight with checmicals for another week.... then it rains.

help.
wishing i didn't have this pool anymore. and i bought this house because of the pool.

 

[poolmama67]

What test kit are you using?

 

[ladiekali]

oh i use the taylors fas/dpd kit.

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where i live they really make fun of me for not using this yellow gone, it contains bromine so i havn't used it. but they told me the previous owner used it with a lot of success. then i read once you start using bromine chemicals, you always have to use them....

should i cave in and use the yellow out to fight this algae and maybe i won't have to slam for two weeks.

 

[poolmama67]

Post a complete set of test results and that will make it easier for the experts to help you.

 

[ladiekali]

really?

Ok

well cya is less than 30
ph is over 8
fc is 9.5
cc zero
didn't test TA

but it rained a lot today and i know it takes a few hours to cycle the water thru. over 8. so i will retest in the morning because I added some cya, the rest that i had, and i added some muriatic acid.
tomorrow i'll pick up more chemicals.

 

[ladiekali]

Cya about 30
Fc 7
Cc .5
Ph 7.9
Ta not tested

And its about to rain.

Frustrating to see cc, usually its zero.
I super slammed for 2 weeks.
My cya was less than 50 and I maintained a fc of atleast 20 but closer to 30.
I did that until I had only dropped .5 ppm fc overnight with a zero cc.

Two days later I feel like its time to slam again.
Havnt even had a chance to get my cya and ph levels correct

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Also wanted to add it looks like yellow algae is back. Brushed the pool and the deep end has the yellow cloud I shouldnt have.

This is a lot of work for me. I brush this darn pool every day.
Since november ive had maybe 4 weeks of swimming water.

The rain will surely deplete my cya again.
And so will slamming because I have to clean the sand filter afterwards again.

I need serious help here.

 

[ta2dwonderwoman]

CYA does not disappear unless you remove water by draining, splash out or overfill...once you get your cya locked in where it needs to be, it should remain steady unless you have a significant exchange of water... I am following this thread to see what the experts say on this one... good luck and know that they will guide you to the right answer...just have to bear with it and answer the questions and follow what they say to the letter...

 

[ladiekali]

Help

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I do t think you understand I do have a serious exchange of water. Weekly
It rains and cleaning the filter weekly

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Everytime it rains I have to drain the pool.

Loss of cya.

Also my filter is a sand filter so usually have to backwash it weekly.

Loss of cya.

So how am I suppose to set the cya and forget it.

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I cant keep any of chemicals regulated for more than a week or two

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Not sure if it matters but im in coastal georgia. My water temp is 94

Im told yellow algae here is impossible to fight with out algaecide but I havnt used any yet

 

[pookiesunshine]

Help

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I do t think you understand I do have a serious exchange of water. Weekly
It rains and cleaning the filter weekly

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Everytime it rains I have to drain the pool.

Loss of cya.

Also my filter is a sand filter so usually have to backwash it weekly.

Loss of cya.

So how am I suppose to set the cya and forget it.

When it rains, you drain only enough to get water below top of skimmer opening, right? you dont drain the whole pool?

I do the same thing. along with the filter backwashes, this shouldn't amount to that much water exchange. sure, somewhat, but not from 50 to 30 in a couple weeks. unless it rains an inch every day.

I notice you have concrete pool but haven't shown any test results for TA or CH. you should probably test for those to be sure you are within recommended levels for that type of pool.

 

[ladiekali]

When it rains, you drain only enough to get water below top of skimmer opening, right? you dont drain the whole pool?

I do the same thing. along with the filter backwashes, this shouldn't amount to that much water exchange. sure, somewhat, but not from 50 to 30 in a couple weeks. unless it rains an inch every day.

I notice you have concrete pool but haven't shown any test results for TA or CH. you should probably test for those to be sure you are within recommended levels for that type of pool.

my hardness is high, barely with in level but there is nothing i can do about that, i have well water. and my ta is always high if my ph is high so i only test that after i have my ph right. my well water is also high alkalinity.

it's just a waste of chemicals other wise. since november i have depleted the chemicals that came with the kit and have ordered new almost everything.

i drain water after it rains. down to the half way of my skimmer. in my 20,000 gallon pool it's approximately two inches.
when i back wash it takes about 1-2 inches.

now when it rains here, it pours. I'm new to coastal georgia (from virginia) but i'm told it will rain almost everyday all summer long.
and 50-30 cya was less than 2 weeks. and it's not the first time.

it rained yesterday, today and i'm told it will rain everyday up to the weekend. so how do i keep that from affecting cya?
its bad enough it depletes my chlorine. will take it from 10 to 2 in a day.

 

[pookiesunshine]

wow, that is a lot of rain. after a heavy rain, you might try dropping only low enough so that the skimmer works, not as far down as you do. that will leave you more water for the back wash. that is what i do. i will admit that sometimes i have to let more out when it rains again, but just a small pain.

That is a lot of water on backwash, too. how long do you run it? mine takes about 3 minutes tops, then 20 seconds to rinse. about 200 gal based on water level change.

 

[ladiekali]

wow, that is a lot of rain. after a heavy rain, you might try dropping only low enough so that the skimmer works, not as far down as you do. that will leave you more water for the back wash. that is what i do. i will admit that sometimes i have to let more out when it rains again, but just a small pain.

That is a lot of water on backwash, too. how long do you run it? mine takes about 3 minutes tops, then 20 seconds to rinse. about 200 gal based on water level change.

It usually takes a good 30-60 seconds, and i rinse for 30. I don't like to go longer than that because It takes hours to fill up an inch or two. usually about 4. and my well water is really high alkalinity so every time i fill, it's another trip to the store for muriatic acid.

ok my newest numbers since 11am

it's now about 4:15 pm

FC 8
CC 0
TA 90-100 (hard to tell if it got pinker or not)
ph 7.4 (finally got it below 8!)
cya 50

now my free chlorine is up a little and i have not added any chlorine
my CC is zero and it was a healthy .5
I added stabiler yesterday and today, looks like it might be where i need it.

funny thing is, looking at my pressure gauge, tomorrow i'll probably have to back wash the filter.
I back wash when pressure gets to the 20, it's at 17. (normal is 14)

i did brush the pool this morning when i got the CC of .5 and that's when i saw the yellow cloud.
I won't brush again till tomorrow, that is if the rain lets up enough to do so.

 

[BobbyR]

You said your water was 94 degrees. Is that what you meant? Good grief. I know it's warm in Georgia this time of year but still, with all the rain you've been having, that's really warm for a pool (I assume you aren't heating it). I don't know how much the temperature is contributing to your problem but it's not surprising that you are fighting algae. In fact, that might be the root of your problem despite all the Slamming. Just a thought.

 

[Razorhog]

It usually takes a good 30-60 seconds, and i rinse for 30. I don't like to go longer than that because It takes hours to fill up an inch or two. usually about 4. and my well water is really high alkalinity so every time i fill, it's another trip to the store for muriatic acid.

ok my newest numbers since 11am

it's now about 4:15 pm

FC 8
CC 0
TA 90-100 (hard to tell if it got pinker or not)
ph 7.4 (finally got it below 8!)
cya 50

now my free chlorine is up a little and i have not added any chlorine
my CC is zero and it was a healthy .5
I added stabiler yesterday and today, looks like it might be where i need it.

funny thing is, looking at my pressure gauge, tomorrow i'll probably have to back wash the filter.
I back wash when pressure gets to the 20, it's at 17. (normal is 14)

i did brush the pool this morning when i got the CC of .5 and that's when i saw the yellow cloud.
I won't brush again till tomorrow, that is if the rain lets up enough to do so.

You need to read up on pool school and get the basics down. The things you say in this post don't make sense. FC does not go up by itself, and CC at zero is what you want.

 

[Mike1162]

How often are you adding chlorine (Be honest!) & what type are you using?
At the end of the slam are you doing the overnight chlorine loss test?
What is a super slam?
You might want to backwash after it rains & kill two birds with one stone.

This question is for the experts:
If the CYA is dropping that quickly would this be a case where using solid chlorine makes sense?

 

[Philo]

I'm not an expert but the CYA test is sometimes tricky. You may not be getting accurate results.

 

[spinPHD]

You should test your CH. You can't have that much water exchange from rain that it completely removes your CYA, but at same time have constant high CH from your well water.

When you're adding CYA, how are you doing it? Are you making sure it absorbs before backwashing? If you're putting it in skimmer and backwashing, then you could be removing it before it has a chance to absorb.

 

[pookiesunshine]

.....
You might want to backwash after it rains & kill two birds with one stone.
..

I think that is a good idea, even if not quite time to backwash.

 

[ladiekali]

You said your water was 94 degrees. Is that what you meant? Good grief. I know it's warm in Georgia this time of year but still, with all the rain you've been having, that's really warm for a pool (I assume you aren't heating it). I don't know how much the temperature is contributing to your problem but it's not surprising that you are fighting algae. In fact, that might be the root of your problem despite all the Slamming. Just a thought.

Ahhh. Ok.. yes when its not rainin its about 97. They say it will get over 100 and ill have to use a fountain to keep the water cooler. I bought a polaris fountain for this. Which we know will higher my ph.. im going to master this pool. Im determined.

 

[ladiekali]

You need to read up on pool school and get the basics down. The things you say in this post don't make sense. FC does not go up by itself, and CC at zero is what you want.

I believe it takes about 6-8 hours for the chlorine to mix.. so if I test before that time I wont get a true reading yet. Thats the only thing that makes since to me. Rereadi g wont help me at this point. I have reread it many times and taken notes.

So either I dont understand, or it takes that long for my water to mix with the chemicals I add. Same for adding muriatic acid. I learned to wait overnight before retesting.

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How often are you adding chlorine (Be honest!) & what type are you using?
At the end of the slam are you doing the overnight chlorine loss test?
What is a super slam?
You might want to backwash after it rains & kill two birds with one stone.

This question is for the experts:
If the CYA is dropping that quickly would this be a case where using solid chlorine makes sense?

I add chlorine daily. I use a 4 cup glass measure cup.
Super slamming, I was suppose to bring chlorine up to 20 andhold it there.... I tried to keep it at 30 for ten of those 14 days.

Very hard to do.
I did do overnight test. Lost .5 chlorine and had zero cc.

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You should test your CH. You can't have that much water exchange from rain that it completely removes your CYA, but at same time have constant high CH from your well water.

When you're adding CYA, how are you doing it? Are you making sure it absorbs before backwashing? If you're putting it in skimmer and backwashing, then you could be removing it before it has a chance to absorb.

I add it to the deep end. I brush it around hourly till it dissolve with the pumps running. I almost never turn my pumps off. I recently started leaving the pump runnin while it rains thinking maybe the top of the pool is getting depleted of chlorine from the rain water.

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Forgot to add I buy chlorine from a water supply store. Its 10 percent chlorine. Come in a yellow jug that holds 2.5 gallons.