CYA Sense or Nonsense

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M

morning dipper

0
Apr 13, 2016
51
France
good morning have just refilled the pool as CYA was over OTT.

Went to purchase salt (ok) and CYA - not so easy. Both suppliers don't sell it.

Explanation SWG pools don't need it. The specialist in the pool shop said he'd been running swg pools for years without CYA.

Why did I want it?

With my TFP forum info I battled but the patronising pool shop owner knew best! Run without CYA.

Can someone please fill in on the technical side concerning quantity of CYA.

Running too much I get, but zero or low, what are the consequences.

Happy to talk generalities.....

Thanks for any help
 
CYA (stabilizer) serves a couple purposes. One, to serve as a sort of buffer against the chlorine in the water. Without any stabilizer, the bleach is much more harsh against skin and equipment. Two, it serves to protect the free chlorine from the sun's UV. Without it, chlorine gets burned-up very, very quickly in a body of water. Indoor pools can have a lower CYA simply because there is no sun to worry about, but they still need it for the harshness of the chlorine.

In salt pools, the chlorine is generated over a slow, extended period of time, or as long as the pump is running. We have found that by maintaining a higher level of CYA as opposed to manually chlorinated pools, it helps protect the FC better and reduces the amount of SWG run-time needed, thereby extending the life of the SWG.
 
I have a couple of links for you. The first one is very deep into the whys of the CYA/FC ratio.

Chlorine/CYA Chart

EDIT: You will find a simplified and standardized version of this chart at Pool School, Chlorine / CYA Chart. Chlorine/CYA Chart by Chemgeek FC = Free Chlorine in parts-per-million (ppm) CYA = Cyanuric Acid in parts-per-million (ppm) CYA ........... Min FC3 ..... Target FC ...... Yel/Mstrd...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

This one is a more user friendly one:
www.troublefreepool.com

The Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid Relationship

Managing your cyanuric acid and Free Chlorine levels is key to stabilizing your pool. Learn how these two items affect each other.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Get it from Amazon. WAY cheaper than anything I have found locally. Also really there is no reason at all to ever go into a pool store.

Amazon.com : Puri Tech Stabilizer Conditioner Cyanuric Acid UV Protection for Swimming Pools and Spas (25lbs) : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : Puri Tech Stabilizer Conditioner Cyanuric Acid UV Protection for Swimming Pools and Spas (25lbs) : Garden & Outdoor
www.amazon.com

And one of these....

Amazon.com : DOLOPL 30 Packs Pool Skimmer Socks : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : DOLOPL 30 Packs Pool Skimmer Socks : Garden & Outdoor
www.amazon.com
 
I’ve run my pool with zero stabilizer and with 80ppm.

The difference? At zero I had to run my system at 40-60%. At 80 ppm I ran it at 18%

I’d love to see the math worked out, four years of 10 lbs+ of stabilizer versus none, then figure out cell life. I’m thinking it’s darn close to a push. I know the chlorine is more protected from sun burn off with stabilizer but isn’t it also more effective with none?
 
I would not buy the puritech brand from Amazon. Another member recently bought some and it was labeled CYA but was actually sodium bicarb. He knew this because his alkalinity rose and the powder dissolved from the sock in a matter of minutes versus CYA which is VERY slow to dissolve. I would buy another brand. Don't trust Puritech.
 
justinc said:
I would not buy the puritech brand from Amazon. Another member recently bought some and it was labeled CYA but was actually sodium bicarb. He knew this because his alkalinity rose and the powder dissolved from the sock in a matter of minutes versus CYA which is VERY slow to dissolve. I would buy another brand. Don't trust Puritech.
Click to expand...

The company sells sodium bicarb also in a 25lb box. If that happened, it was most likely a shipping error. The box and description both say 100% CYA. Also the comments and ratings are overwhelmingly positive on the reviews. I would not hesitate to buy this product.
 
justinc said:
I would not buy the puritech brand from Amazon. Another member recently bought some and it was labeled CYA but was actually sodium bicarb. He knew this because his alkalinity rose and the powder dissolved from the sock in a matter of minutes versus CYA which is VERY slow to dissolve. I would buy another brand. Don't trust Puritech.
Click to expand...

I recently bought Puritech stabilizer from Amazon and got exactly what I ordered. I'd think if this is a frequent problem with the product, people would be complaining a lot and I couldn't find any such complaints. Primary complaint for the Puritech stabilizer is it takes longer to dissolve than comparible xxxxxx brand stuff.
 
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PoolGate said:
The company sells sodium bicarb also in a 25lb box. If that happened, it was most likely a shipping error. The box and description both say 100% CYA. Also the comments and ratings are overwhelmingly positive on the reviews. I would not hesitate to buy this product.
Click to expand...
It was a recent thread on this forum where a user purchased PuriTech brand and it was labeled with a sticker (the user posted pictures of the product) as CYA but did nothing to their CYA and raised their alkalinity. It also dissolved in a matter of minutes. It was clearly a case of Puritech mislabeleing their product which in the world of chemicals is a BIG no no in my book.

Where is my CYA going?

Hello everyone, first post here. We have had our pool for about a year now. The builder finished last May so he got everything in order and it as a fairly easy season for maintenance, just a lot of MA to keep pH down. I opened the pool two weeks ago, it was a little green but cleared up...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
FYI -The Pool Owner member that started this thread is in France. I am not sure they have the availability you all have to products you are talking about.

To the OP -- just for comfort, CYA is very important. You can run your SWCG all out if you want and buy them as often as needed. But getting in a pool with 1 or 2 ppm and 0 CYA is not as pleasant as getting in a pool with 5 or 6 ppm FC and 70 CYA.

Good luck.
 

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thanks for all your comments.

To Pool-Medic.....not sure I understood the conclusion of your experience, better with or without CYA.

It seems from the comments the SWG will work without CYA, but has to work more to cope with high loss of FC to UV burn off.

Onto water conform, mknauss I think maybe this is it! CYA reduces run time and makes the water feel better.

Good enough for me.

And yep pool stuff would seem to be far more readily available in the states.
 
If you can't get the 100% cyanuric acid there, you could always slowly build it up by using Dichlor powder or Trichlor tablets (both of which also add FC and lower the pH).
This is going to take awhile (months) though as you do not want to sky rocket the FC or crash the pH and TA by adding too much at once.
 
If you're really interested in the FC/CYA relationship and related analysis, feel free to read this post:

Pool Water Chemistry

This thread presents my findings so far on pool water chemistry including the following: More Accurate Calcite Saturation Index (CSI) to replace Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) Calculation of ppm HOCl (disinfecting chlorine) at various levels of Total Free Chlorine (FC) and Cyanuric Acid (CYA)...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Last edited:
Pool_Medic said:
My point was I noticed zero difference in pool water quality. If cya was more expensive I might be tempted to have none again in my pool.
Click to expand...
You may not have noticed, but I would have to think that there was more wear and tear on your skin, hair, and suits unless you were running a VERY low FC level without the CYA.
 
None that were noted, no harsh chlorine smell either. I know my cell will last longer but is it a break even after 5-6 years versus cell replacement and yearly stabilizer. I should note at that time cya was costing me about $90 a year from a questionable pool store.
 
Just commenting to add another +1 for the Puritech CYA purchased on Amazon. I went searching on TFP before ordering to see if others had good or bad experiences. I was a bit leery due to the mislabeling incident that was reported, but ordered anyway due to other positive reviews. I received my 15lbs on Saturday and tested a small sample. It is definitely CYA. I will be adding it to the pool shortly. It is the best price I have found on the stuff so far.
 
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SPKNout4CHRIST said:
Just commenting to add another +1 for the Puritech CYA purchased on Amazon.....It is the best price I have found on the stuff so far.
Click to expand...
Ebay has the 25lb box of Puri Tech CYA for about $3 cheaper. It ships the same source, Back Yard Pools.
 
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