My CYA seems to be holding and not climbing.
he said a company called Biowish Technologies makes a biodegradable CYA reducer? It sounded interesting, I have to do some research on this to see if it is a valid product but who knows!
First, as to your CYA rising. It is. It is basic science. In your 7,500 gallon pool, when totally consumed each 8 ounce trichlor tab will have added 7.3 FC, 4.4 CYA, lower pH by .36 (trichlor is an acid) and will raise the salt content of the water by 6. It is basic physics. The CYA is in the tab and when the tab is gone the CYA is now in solution in the water.
Why do tabs have CYA?
In it's natural state, chlorine is a gas. Many large commercial pools actually use gas injection systems to chlorinate their pools. Now, to change chlorine into something we can use at home it needs to be bound to something to turn it into a solid. The "somethings" that are commonly used are stabilizer (also known as CYA), calcium, lithium, or --- get this water.
All of these add a little salt to your water, but they add something else. Cal-Hypo add calcium, Tri-Chlor and Di-Chlor (tabs and most granules) add stabilizer, Lithium hypochlorite adds lithium and liquid chlorine adds - water.
All of these things can be bad for your pool (except the water) in large quantities. The stabilizer helps shield the chlorine from UV degradation, but at higher levels it also impairs the ability of chlorine to do it's work. The higher the stabilizer level you have the higher the amount of chlorine you need. Too much calcium and you start to get scaling on the walls and floors of your pool.
So, why do pool stores push these products? Several reasons.
- Money would be the first. Unless a pool store is in Florida, Arizona or other year round areas they must make their profit in a short swim season. So, they need to sell you as much as they can as quickly as they can. Additionally, chemical sales is their bread and butter. Profit on a bucket of tabs is much higher than on a gallon of liquid.
- Secondly, we are an immediate gratification society. We want a magic potion that will fix our problem right now. This is where the industry has tried to ad items like clarifiers, floculants and the like which in a perfect world help get the bad stuff out of the water quickly.
- Third in my book is training. Most pool store employees learn on the job or through seminars taught by chemical salesmen. So, bad information is handed down from employee to trainee and the chemical salesmen teach them to push high profit items. This is especially true in large chain stores where employees are paid commission and managers jobs are based on how much product flows out the door.
Pool store methods can work for a long time and many are oblivious to what is happening in their pool. If you are in an area where your pool is drained down a lot each winter and winter snow/rains fill an overflow the pool each spring you are starting with a blank canvas, chemically speaking.
Are there good pool stores out there, yes! But, most of them are in the "sun" states where a family can own a small store and operate it 12 months a year, give good service and make a profit.
As to the CYA reducer. Through the years several members tried it with minimal or no results. The manufacturer even participated here on the forum for a short time trying to work with members to get positive results. When no positive results were obtained they stopped participating.
We have had several folks join the forum, say the stuff is the best thing since sliced white bread and then never participate again. I don't want to accuse anyone of being a shill, but these type of "reviews" are suspect at best.
We base our pool care system on accurate testing and only adding what the pool needs, when it needs it. To do that you need your own accurate test kit. Anyone who posts reviews of the product using only pool store testing (we have had a couple) are ignored entirely.
As you have probably notices many of the members here are passionate about our system of pool care. They are trying to make you beleive
I will close by quoting Dave here at TFP:
Throughout TFP, you will read that we suggest certain levels that good science and practical experience has taught us fall within safe ranges.
Further reading of posts here will draw you to the inescapable conclusion that these guidelines work.......in thousands and thousands of pools worldwide.
You may or may not choose to use these methods and guidelines or you may use some and not others. Our goal is to teach you what has been proven time and time again and then let you use that information to your benefit.
