Lowering my CYA without draining water!

Fiveflat · May 3, 2021

I went behind TFP's back and tried something, something that has been discussed on this forum before and didn't seem like it was very well received.
My CYA was high because the pool startup guy put way too much conditioner in before I found TFP. Only thing he did right was add plenty of MA in the beginning to get pH down. His "startup" job was complete before I found TFP.
The product is Bio-Active CYA reducer. I am also surprised and unclear how or why, but my CH dropped as well, which is a good thing.
I will say, I tried this because some of the things discussed on this forum about the product lead me to believe I would be okay because of two things
1. Air temp isn't getting above 80 and water temp is around 60-65
2. I feel comfortable recovering if something went wrong after reading and reading, and then reading more on this site.

My CYA was 140 (diluting to the 30ml and doubling results)
on April 27 I turned off my SWG and I let my FC get down to about 1ppm. Water stayed pretty clear - that took about 3 days starting from 4.0

May 1, I added 8oz of Bio-Active - supposedly an all natural CYA reducer and ran my pump for about 8 hours
FC <1
pH 7.8
TA 90
CH 525
CYA 140

May 2, I increased my SWG generation for 4 hours to 100% while my pump ran from 7am to 3pm.
That afternoon:
FC 4.0! ( I turned by SWG down to 20%)
pH 7.8
TA 80
CH 375
CYA 80 (this seems like a drastic drop in 24 hours)

May 3, I added Muriatic Acid and to keep tabs on the productivity of the Bio-Active:
FC 1.5
pH 7.6
TA 80
CH 375
CYA 70

My water looks even more crisp than it did before I started this process and now my numbers are much better. I am going to get readings daily for 7 more days. Bio-Active supposedly stops working after 7-10 days. I am also going to keep close tabs on my FC. The big jump after the first days seems reasonable and I'm assuming the big drop today is because of the product - little nervous about ammonia.

I just wanted to share my results with you all incase anyone else thought about this product but steered clear because of the lack of topics on it. I know it's not over yet but things are looking manageable so far!

Now, I better go order more CYA reagent... haha

May 4 : no change to swg or chemical
FC 3.0
pH 7.6
TA 80
CH 475 (why is it rising again? Still because it's new plaster?)
CYA 60

Jimrahbe · May 3, 2021

5,

For every time your CYA "reducer" has been used and worked, about 10 others have tried it and failed.

We only recommend things that we know work, not things that might work every now and again.. :mrgreen:

Glad it worked for you... But for any new members reading this thread, keep in mind that one of something does not make a good trend..

Thanks,

Jim R.

kellyfair · May 3, 2021

Also, I hope you don’t end up with issues like some of the reviewers that posted on Amazon. Yikes!

HermanTX · May 3, 2021

Fiveflat said:
I went behind TFP's back and tried something, something that has been discussed on this forum before and didn't seem like it was very well received.
My CYA was high because the pool startup guy put way too much conditioner in before I found TFP. Only thing he did right was add plenty of MA in the beginning to get pH down. His "startup" job was complete before I found TFP.
The product is Bio-Active CYA reducer. I am also surprised and unclear how or why, but my CH dropped as well, which is a good thing.
I will say, I tried this because some of the things discussed on this forum about the product lead me to believe I would be okay because of two things
1. Air temp isn't getting above 80 and water temp is around 60-65
2. I feel comfortable recovering if something went wrong after reading and reading, and then reading more on this site.

My CYA was 140 (diluting to the 30ml and doubling results)
on April 27 I turned off my SWG and I let my FC get down to about 1ppm. Water stayed pretty clear - that took about 3 days starting from 4.0

May 1, I added 8oz of Bio-Active - supposedly an all natural CYA reducer and ran my pump for about 8 hours
FC <1
pH 7.8
TA 90
CH 525
CYA 140

May 2, I increased my SWG generation for 4 hours to 100% while my pump ran from 7am to 3pm.
That afternoon:
FC 4.0! ( I turned by SWG down to 20%)
pH 7.8
TA 80
CH 375
CYA 80 (this seems like a drastic drop in 24 hours)

May 3, I added Muriatic Acid and to keep tabs on the productivity of the Bio-Active:
FC 1.5
pH 7.6
TA 80
CH 375
CYA 70

My water looks even more crisp than it did before I started this process and now my numbers are much better. I am going to get readings daily for 7 more days. Bio-Active supposedly stops working after 7-10 days. I am also going to keep close tabs on my FC. The big jump after the first days seems reasonable and I'm assuming the big drop today is because of the product - little nervous about ammonia.

I just wanted to share my results with you all incase anyone else thought about this product but steered clear because of the lack of topics on it. I know it's not over yet but things are looking manageable so far!

Now, I better go order more CYA reagent... haha

I had considered this same product some year back or so. I got mixed feedback from some pool service guys I knew and even from the pool store "experts" stating - no guarantee it would work. Glad that it seems to work for you but I do not remember the instructions - did it state to lower your FC to 1 or lower? Not sure why you did that as that puts you at risk (although you were already at risk with FC of 4 at CYA of 140).
Agree with others, one positive result does not constitute a trend.
I just waited for a large rainstorm and drained about 60% of pool and let it fill back up. That worked with minimal costs and risks as I kept the FC level high to mix with the new rain water.

Fiveflat · May 4, 2021

I knew that I wouldn't get very good feedback on this when I posted this topic. I understand that TFP doesn't and probably never would endorse it. Nor am I promoting it! I get it, it's hit and miss and sometimes costly! But at least I'm providing these data for anyone who cares to read it. My "why" is irrelevant really. I was nervous and wish I never had to try it. Bringing my FC to below 1 is because I don't have any "storm drains" to wash my pool water down. I'm rural and consider myself a good tenant of the land I live on for my family and my cattle. ...and I figured I could recover after reading a lot on this site if things went south bad.
This thread is not about me bragging on a product by any means, just my experience for others to do with as they please. I'm all about giving information as much as my feeble experience can provide.
I am continuing to update my readings daily though and I'm hoping I can edit my first post to keep it all sequential up there.

Newdude · May 5, 2021

Fiveflat said:
I'm rural and consider myself a good tenant of the land I live on for my family and my cattle

I’ve read here that local vegetation in parts of the country do not do well with pool water, but in the Northeast any grass or shrubbery LOVED my salt pool drain water. The flood area was by far the greenest and most lush spot on my acre.

The first few times I flooded my backyard, the neighbor behind me came over concerned about his meticulous yard getting the runoff. Once he saw it with his own eyes he would come over and tease me and ask if I could drain some more to help his lawn out.

Try draining 100 gallons in a certain spot a few times and see if yours likes it too.

Jimrahbe · May 5, 2021

5-flat,

Please keep on posting, we do like the feedback even if we do not totally agree.

Thanks again,

Jim R

Newdude · May 5, 2021

+1, Five. We preach owner education.

Know what you need to accomplish.
Know exactly what you are adding.
Know what it will do.
Know it’s success rate.

If you get all the pertinent information and make a well informed personal decision, then we’d love to hear about it. To be fully endorsed, something needs to work for nearly everyone. But that doesn’t mean that some outside of the box things can’t work for you.

Geminisq · May 26, 2021

Fiveflat said:
I went behind TFP's back and tried something, something that has been discussed on this forum before and didn't seem like it was very well received.
My CYA was high because the pool startup guy put way too much conditioner in before I found TFP. Only thing he did right was add plenty of MA in the beginning to get pH down. His "startup" job was complete before I found TFP.
The product is Bio-Active CYA reducer. I am also surprised and unclear how or why, but my CH dropped as well, which is a good thing.
I will say, I tried this because some of the things discussed on this forum about the product lead me to believe I would be okay because of two things
1. Air temp isn't getting above 80 and water temp is around 60-65
2. I feel comfortable recovering if something went wrong after reading and reading, and then reading more on this site.

My CYA was 140 (diluting to the 30ml and doubling results)
on April 27 I turned off my SWG and I let my FC get down to about 1ppm. Water stayed pretty clear - that took about 3 days starting from 4.0

May 1, I added 8oz of Bio-Active - supposedly an all natural CYA reducer and ran my pump for about 8 hours
FC <1
pH 7.8
TA 90
CH 525
CYA 140

May 2, I increased my SWG generation for 4 hours to 100% while my pump ran from 7am to 3pm.
That afternoon:
FC 4.0! ( I turned by SWG down to 20%)
pH 7.8
TA 80
CH 375
CYA 80 (this seems like a drastic drop in 24 hours)

May 3, I added Muriatic Acid and to keep tabs on the productivity of the Bio-Active:
FC 1.5
pH 7.6
TA 80
CH 375
CYA 70

My water looks even more crisp than it did before I started this process and now my numbers are much better. I am going to get readings daily for 7 more days. Bio-Active supposedly stops working after 7-10 days. I am also going to keep close tabs on my FC. The big jump after the first days seems reasonable and I'm assuming the big drop today is because of the product - little nervous about ammonia.

I just wanted to share my results with you all incase anyone else thought about this product but steered clear because of the lack of topics on it. I know it's not over yet but things are looking manageable so far!

Now, I better go order more CYA reagent... haha

May 4 : no change to swg or chemical
FC 3.0
pH 7.6
TA 80
CH 475 (why is it rising again? Still because it's new plaster?)
CYA 60

I have read about this product. Potential users do need to be aware it is not an ideal solution if you already have algae present. Per the company website, if algae is already present they recommend draining enough to remove most of it. If you are trying to avoid drain/refill because of high CYA and algae is already present....then I guess you will have to at least partially drain/refill anyhow! Also for the product to work, chlorine levels must be lowered. If you are already in chlorine lock w/algae because of high CYA-do you want the risk of the algae becoming even worse ? Just a few things to consider.

V___25 · May 26, 2021

I must confess, I have looked at this product and considered it. My CYA is 80, down from about 110 when we bought the house because prior owner used tabs. However, having to lower the FC to 1 makes me very nervous and then once this treatment is done, if not successful, I have to get my FC back to up around 9 which will take a lot of FC, and with FC being that low, a SLAM could be necessary. Given LC already in short supply this year, I don't want to chance it.

It seems my son and his friends on track to do an excellent job of lowering water levels through splash-out this summer so I may be able to continue to work it down through refilling due to that and backwashing.

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Lowering my CYA without draining water!

Fiveflat

Well-known member

Jimrahbe

kellyfair

HermanTX

Fiveflat

Well-known member

Newdude

Jimrahbe

Newdude

Geminisq

Well-known member

V___25

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