Ok, so first forgive me as Im a big newbie. Pool just got put in this week. We had pool school with our pool company today and he said cya needs to be less because we have a glass not sand filter. Do TFP believe the same thing? We have our Taylor kit from tfp. We haven’t tested it but probably will tomorrow. Not sure if we should today as we just added 4 bags of salt and liquid chlorine on advise to pool guy as we had very little chlorine in it. The pool guy insisted that we don’t listen to pool companies that think the cya needs to be higher because that is only for sand filters. Thoughts?
Does cya change if we have a glass filter pump
- Thread starter ivparker
- Start date
jtpipkin
Bronze Supporter
- May 3, 2014
- 58,311
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
iv,
My "thought" is that your pool guy has no clue what he is doing.. CYA has nothing to do with the type of filter or filter media that you are using. Another thought is that you need to learn how to maintain your own pool so that you don't get taken advantage of..
Thanks,
Jim R.
My "thought" is that your pool guy has no clue what he is doing.. CYA has nothing to do with the type of filter or filter media that you are using. Another thought is that you need to learn how to maintain your own pool so that you don't get taken advantage of..
Thanks,
Jim R.
The only could advice the pool guy gave you was "don't listen to pool companies (stores)". Pool Filters are there to filter debris in the water, it does not filter CYA or Chlorine or other chemicals. Follow the recommendations of the experts on this site and read the articles noted by the others. Good Luck.
- Jul 17, 2019
- 3,702
- Pool Size
- 13000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Tell him that your CYA needs to be higher because of the automation. 
PS - Good job at asking the right questions and good luck with your pool. You will be a much better pool person than the pool guy.
PS - Good job at asking the right questions and good luck with your pool. You will be a much better pool person than the pool guy.
By the way, he said 10-15 cya. So quite low. I quickly did a strip test because the Taylor kit just looks more complicated and my husband will do that later once the salt dissolves more. We have 0 Free chlorine and low cya. Can’t see the number as the guy crossed it out. So we are good right now if it’s all low, right? 
Water is crystal clear but only 3 days old.
Water is crystal clear but only 3 days old.Attachments
You (or your husband) can do the CYA test now. Refer to FC/CYA Levels Also, @mknauss gave you the link to Recommended Levels and also best tor read ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry. Trust the advice you receive from the experts on the TFP forum. It is amazing what you can learn and not spend a fortune at pool stores or with poorly informed pool guys.
iv,
Having zero or low chlorine in your pool is almost never a good idea.. Low CYA will cause any chlorine you do have to burn off very quickly...
See this chart... FC/CYA Levels
Thanks,
Jim R.
Having zero or low chlorine in your pool is almost never a good idea.. Low CYA will cause any chlorine you do have to burn off very quickly...
See this chart... FC/CYA Levels
Thanks,
Jim R.
Could the chlorine just be low because our pool is fairly new and the swg hasn’t worked enough yet?
- Mar 5, 2020
- 2,969
- Pool Size
- 66000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Astral Viron V35
What is the automation that is mentioned in your signature? Some fully automated systems rely on ORP measurements that don't really work if there is too much CYA in the water.
For me, that's more a reason not to use ORP sensors than not to use CYA. But that is the only argument I could see, why someone might recommend to use less CYA.
I don't see what the type of filter has to do with that.
For me, that's more a reason not to use ORP sensors than not to use CYA. But that is the only argument I could see, why someone might recommend to use less CYA.
I don't see what the type of filter has to do with that.
iv,
Most pool builders do not start add salt or start the SWCG until after 30 days.. After the pool is filled the pool builder adds some kind of chlorine..
Has your pool builder already turn the operation of the pool over to you??
Thanks,
Jim R.
Most pool builders do not start add salt or start the SWCG until after 30 days.. After the pool is filled the pool builder adds some kind of chlorine..
Has your pool builder already turn the operation of the pool over to you??
Thanks,
Jim R.
Yes. It’s a vinyl pool so they put the liner and water and bags of salt on the same day. Monday. They turned on the filter and the swg. He came back today to teach us everything. Made us put our swg at 100%, add 4 more bags of salt and 1 gallon liquid chlorine.
The automation is ScreenLogic by Pentair. At least that’s what I meant when I said automation.
Is it possible the swg is faulty. It’s been on for 48 hours. We just used the Taylor kit and it also reads no chlorine and ph of 7.5 The water is quite salty. My kids say it burns their eyes and it tastes quite salty. We just did the salt test with speedstir. We got 21 drops or 4200 ppm.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,311
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I assume you have a Pentair ICXX SWCG. Please add more detail to your signature.
The ICXX will operate at that level of salinity.
If the low salt light is on, you are not creating chlorine. But the ICXX only checks salinity at start up and every 12 hours after that. Be sure the water is well mixed and the SWCG should recognize the salt the next time it is cycled on.
The ICXX will operate at that level of salinity.
If the low salt light is on, you are not creating chlorine. But the ICXX only checks salinity at start up and every 12 hours after that. Be sure the water is well mixed and the SWCG should recognize the salt the next time it is cycled on.
My husband just shut the filter off and started it again and now the light says salt is good and on the app it says 3350 ppm. Do you think the swg wouldn’t be making it into chlorine if the low salt light was on. Is it normal that we needed to restart it? This is a 2 day old machine.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,311
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
The salt that was added this morning was not registered by the ICXX. It has now mixed, you cycled the power to the SWCG and it ran its diagnostic process (the red /green lights flashing for a couple minutes), it now sees the salinity being appropriate and will now generate chlorine.
www.troublefreepool.com
Pentair Intellichlor ICXX SWG - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
Saw this after I typed out my last post. Ok, that makes sense. My husband did the salt test 2 more times and got 3000ppm and 3200ppm. So that’s probably more accurate. The green light is on now so hopefully we get chlorine by the morning.