I’m delighted with my SWG for many reasons. Among them the idea that I can maintain reasonably low chlorine levels while keeping CYA a bit higher. Many thanks to all the contributors on the topic of CYA & Chlorine relationship – including Ben Powell. Richard Falk (chem geek) and other forum members.
Before I had the SWG, I relied on a floating feeder with trichlor tablets – until CYA levels got appropriately high, then I used liquid chlorine until CYA dropped back off. Using trichlor pucks there was of course no need to ever add CYA/stabilizer as long as I kept an eye on levels.. And the cost of trichlor is much higher than CYA granules. Therefore with the SWG, raising CYA with stabilizer granules makes sense. Now enter the problem of how to dissolve the CYA granules because it can take many days to a week for them to dissolve.
My idea - that seems successful so far - is to pour a couple pounds of CYA granules onto a plastic saucer, such as used to catch water under a potted plant. I carefully submerge the saucer to a step or bench in the spa (or pool bottom) and place a small rock on top. Wait a week, and voila! Okay, the downside is you have to place it somewhere where it won’t get disturbed by swimmers, etc. But you don’t need to add CYA very often.
If I consider all the other ideas I’ve read, in threads here in TFP, in other forums, and on CYA & trichlor product labels, here’s why I reject the many other ideas.
Skimmer: It seems to me that every equipment manual I’ve read says the warranty is void if the water is not in balance. That’s for pumps, heaters, SWG’s, check valves, flow meters, sensors, you name it. Is that a scare tactic to avoid warranty replacement? Maybe, but I like to avoid future hassles when possible. And we may think that a sock full of CYA is highly diluted when the water reaches the equipment, but why risk it? Same with trichlor tablets despite the fact that pool services and many forum threads recommend dropping stuff into the skimmer basket. Whatever the amount of dilution, it simply must be the case that the water reaching the equipment is not in balance, certainly not like the rest of the balanced pool. If I want the best chance at equipment longevity, I conclude that no chemical ever should go into the skimmer.
Inline Feeders: Inline feeders are supposed to be installed as the last piece of gear before water returns to the pool so that chemicals (usually dissolving trichlor pucks) enter the water only after passing through all other equipment. They even recommend a check valve be installed ‘before’ the feeder so that reverse flow is precluded and concentrated CYA and chlorine cannot get back to the equipment - a point that underscores the “no chemicals in skimmer” argument above. As an aside I suppose it’s difficult to ensure the inline feeder is absolutely last in the stream when you consider possible downstream check valves, but there are bigger reasons not to use the inline feeder. Mostly, I found the inline feeders don’t work reliably (or at all) when running two speed or variable pumps on lower speeds such as 40 GPM or less. Also, in my experience inline feeders are notorious for clogging. And feeder manuals warn it can be highly dangerous (read explosive) to ever use an inline feeder for one chemical and then switch to another. For all those reasons the inline feeder is out.
Broadcasting: Many product labels and user threads suggest broadcasting the CYA granules around the pool. They sink to the bottom where they sit for a week or so until they completely dissolve. Ugly, perhaps. Annoying to step on, sure. And I guess I don’t want to find out two years from now what they were doing to the pool surface. So broadcasting is out.
Floating Feeder: I thought my deep-chamber “duck” floating feeder might be perfect for this CYA granule dissolving task. After all it worked perfectly for my 3” trichlor pucks, and I always tethered the floating feeder to a pool jet to keep it away from the skimmer and keep it from interfering with pool activities. The last thing you need is a duck floating by as you’re about to spike the volleyball for the big win. I use wax string to tether it after all other string types (nylon, etc) always deteriorated quickly. But the vent holes in the duck feeder are too large and the little CYA granules will slip through, so I filled a sock with CYA granules and dropped it into the floating duck. What I got, very quickly after it got very warm, was a solid brick of cya that may dissolve some day in this lifetime, who knows. It’s been a month and the brick of CYA is still solid and formed so well it won’t even budge to remove it from the plastic floater. So that didn’t work. Some day I might try lining the floater with a fiberglass screen and pouring the granules into it – without the sock. A future experiment, once I determine whether cyanuric acid eats screen.
Squeezing Sock: Well, many forum writers mention filling a sock and squeezing it now and then, and perhaps that will work if you hang out in the pool squeezing a sock for some hours. Most of those threads also mention placing the sock in the skimmer, which is already excluded as an option unless you like replacing pump seals and such. Still, it might make a good replacement for a stress ball, to sit on the pool steps and keep squeezing the sock. Maybe wear rubber gloves though – not sure what that CYA does to your hands over time.
Well, that’s how I came to the conclusion to use the potted plant saucer. I welcome any other creative and safe ideas.
Before I had the SWG, I relied on a floating feeder with trichlor tablets – until CYA levels got appropriately high, then I used liquid chlorine until CYA dropped back off. Using trichlor pucks there was of course no need to ever add CYA/stabilizer as long as I kept an eye on levels.. And the cost of trichlor is much higher than CYA granules. Therefore with the SWG, raising CYA with stabilizer granules makes sense. Now enter the problem of how to dissolve the CYA granules because it can take many days to a week for them to dissolve.
My idea - that seems successful so far - is to pour a couple pounds of CYA granules onto a plastic saucer, such as used to catch water under a potted plant. I carefully submerge the saucer to a step or bench in the spa (or pool bottom) and place a small rock on top. Wait a week, and voila! Okay, the downside is you have to place it somewhere where it won’t get disturbed by swimmers, etc. But you don’t need to add CYA very often.
If I consider all the other ideas I’ve read, in threads here in TFP, in other forums, and on CYA & trichlor product labels, here’s why I reject the many other ideas.
Skimmer: It seems to me that every equipment manual I’ve read says the warranty is void if the water is not in balance. That’s for pumps, heaters, SWG’s, check valves, flow meters, sensors, you name it. Is that a scare tactic to avoid warranty replacement? Maybe, but I like to avoid future hassles when possible. And we may think that a sock full of CYA is highly diluted when the water reaches the equipment, but why risk it? Same with trichlor tablets despite the fact that pool services and many forum threads recommend dropping stuff into the skimmer basket. Whatever the amount of dilution, it simply must be the case that the water reaching the equipment is not in balance, certainly not like the rest of the balanced pool. If I want the best chance at equipment longevity, I conclude that no chemical ever should go into the skimmer.
Inline Feeders: Inline feeders are supposed to be installed as the last piece of gear before water returns to the pool so that chemicals (usually dissolving trichlor pucks) enter the water only after passing through all other equipment. They even recommend a check valve be installed ‘before’ the feeder so that reverse flow is precluded and concentrated CYA and chlorine cannot get back to the equipment - a point that underscores the “no chemicals in skimmer” argument above. As an aside I suppose it’s difficult to ensure the inline feeder is absolutely last in the stream when you consider possible downstream check valves, but there are bigger reasons not to use the inline feeder. Mostly, I found the inline feeders don’t work reliably (or at all) when running two speed or variable pumps on lower speeds such as 40 GPM or less. Also, in my experience inline feeders are notorious for clogging. And feeder manuals warn it can be highly dangerous (read explosive) to ever use an inline feeder for one chemical and then switch to another. For all those reasons the inline feeder is out.
Broadcasting: Many product labels and user threads suggest broadcasting the CYA granules around the pool. They sink to the bottom where they sit for a week or so until they completely dissolve. Ugly, perhaps. Annoying to step on, sure. And I guess I don’t want to find out two years from now what they were doing to the pool surface. So broadcasting is out.
Floating Feeder: I thought my deep-chamber “duck” floating feeder might be perfect for this CYA granule dissolving task. After all it worked perfectly for my 3” trichlor pucks, and I always tethered the floating feeder to a pool jet to keep it away from the skimmer and keep it from interfering with pool activities. The last thing you need is a duck floating by as you’re about to spike the volleyball for the big win. I use wax string to tether it after all other string types (nylon, etc) always deteriorated quickly. But the vent holes in the duck feeder are too large and the little CYA granules will slip through, so I filled a sock with CYA granules and dropped it into the floating duck. What I got, very quickly after it got very warm, was a solid brick of cya that may dissolve some day in this lifetime, who knows. It’s been a month and the brick of CYA is still solid and formed so well it won’t even budge to remove it from the plastic floater. So that didn’t work. Some day I might try lining the floater with a fiberglass screen and pouring the granules into it – without the sock. A future experiment, once I determine whether cyanuric acid eats screen.
Squeezing Sock: Well, many forum writers mention filling a sock and squeezing it now and then, and perhaps that will work if you hang out in the pool squeezing a sock for some hours. Most of those threads also mention placing the sock in the skimmer, which is already excluded as an option unless you like replacing pump seals and such. Still, it might make a good replacement for a stress ball, to sit on the pool steps and keep squeezing the sock. Maybe wear rubber gloves though – not sure what that CYA does to your hands over time.
Well, that’s how I came to the conclusion to use the potted plant saucer. I welcome any other creative and safe ideas.
