Hi all
We just moved into a house with a pool. Its a 15,000 galloon pool with aggregate (I think). We have a pentair clean and clear plus cartridge filter system. The pool is new built 1-2 years ago.
The prior owner gave me a rundown on his pool maintenance. He used 2-3 pucks of trichlor weekly, ran the filter 8 hrs a day, shocked when it rained and that was basically it. For what it is worth the water is crystal clear and no current algae issues.
As you can imagine our CYA levels are through the roof. I've read the pool school articles, and moving forward will stop using trichlor pucks and use liquid bleach as needed. Two questions:
I'm going to do the extended CYA test when I get home from work, but for now I know our levels >100. Everything I've read here says that I need to drain and refill. How do you actually do this? I can't find backwash or waste setting anywhere on my pool pump. And is their harm in draining the water below the skimmers? IE should I drain just a few inches, then refill/redilute and keep doing that till CYA levels are acceptable?
Second question is if I don't do drain/refill - how long will it take CYA levels to naturally come down? obviously won't use any more trichlor.
I'm frustrated that we are walking into this situation. I also want to maintain my pool myself and keep it perfect. Talking to some friends who have outdoor pools they said they only use trichlor pucks/shock (for years) and don't worry about CYA levels - how does this work?? I've seen in my pool the levels are off the chart from prior trichlor usage.
We just moved into a house with a pool. Its a 15,000 galloon pool with aggregate (I think). We have a pentair clean and clear plus cartridge filter system. The pool is new built 1-2 years ago.
The prior owner gave me a rundown on his pool maintenance. He used 2-3 pucks of trichlor weekly, ran the filter 8 hrs a day, shocked when it rained and that was basically it. For what it is worth the water is crystal clear and no current algae issues.
As you can imagine our CYA levels are through the roof. I've read the pool school articles, and moving forward will stop using trichlor pucks and use liquid bleach as needed. Two questions:
I'm going to do the extended CYA test when I get home from work, but for now I know our levels >100. Everything I've read here says that I need to drain and refill. How do you actually do this? I can't find backwash or waste setting anywhere on my pool pump. And is their harm in draining the water below the skimmers? IE should I drain just a few inches, then refill/redilute and keep doing that till CYA levels are acceptable?
Second question is if I don't do drain/refill - how long will it take CYA levels to naturally come down? obviously won't use any more trichlor.
I'm frustrated that we are walking into this situation. I also want to maintain my pool myself and keep it perfect. Talking to some friends who have outdoor pools they said they only use trichlor pucks/shock (for years) and don't worry about CYA levels - how does this work?? I've seen in my pool the levels are off the chart from prior trichlor usage.
