Levels Are Everywhere - New Test Kit Received

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Amurphy78

Member
Jul 22, 2023
7
Ludlow MA
Pool Size
8300
Surface
Vinyl
Hello everyone,

I’m very new here and made the mistake of using phos-out and then further exacerbating things by adding floc to the pool. I’m staying away from the pool store water checks and their recommendations. I promise!

I have vacuumed 2 times to waste during this time but it never got crystal clear and have been adding 5ppm liquid chlorine to the pool for days as recommended until I received the kit. Nothing has been added to the pool in the last 9 hours. Last was the chlorine early this morning.

These are the results. Edit to add: test kit results (sorry)

FC-10
CC-.5
pH-7.9
TA-70
CH-275
CYA-120

I know that last number is not good and from everything I’m reading is probably because of the Frog Bacpacs we had been using.

Based on most of what I’m seeing on this site I need to dump water. My question is how much? 1/4 of the pool?

I have not really posted. I believe my signature is loaded but if not my pool is above ground, 8300 gal, EC40 de filter with a 1HP pump. Im now using liquid chlorine and have removed the frog system completely.

Thank you for any help you can provide!!
 
Last edited:
If you will be using Liquid Chlorine going forward then you want your CYA to be 30-40. That is a 2/3 drain of your pool.

Instead of draining and risking your liner shifting consider a No Drain Water Exchange as described in Draining - Further Reading
 
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Amurphy78 said:
CYA-120
Click to expand...
Did you achieve this result by using the diluted sample method? If not, follow Step 8.

www.troublefreepool.com

CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test

Cyanuric acid (CYA) is the chemical name for the product commonly called “pool water stabilizer” … Read more…
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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I did use the diluted sample method. The store result from Saturday was high so I thought I should start out with that.

I did look at the page you sent though and saw that I should be outside with the sun at my back. I just retested that way and got 100, maybe like 98 at best.

Thank you for sending that!
 
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Amurphy78 said:
I did use the diluted sample method. The store result from Saturday was high so I thought I should start out with that.

I did look at the page you sent though and saw that I should be outside with the sun at my back. I just retested that way and got 100, maybe like 98 at best.

Thank you for sending that!
Click to expand...
100x’s 2?
ie 200 cya?
 
These results are from my own test kit I received today. I was last at the pool store Saturday and CYA was high so I figured it best to start with the diluted method.

The 100 number is me doubling my diluted result.

The diluted method result was like 49-50. Just very slightly above the 50 line so I doubled it.
 
Amurphy78 said:
These results are from my own test kit I received today. I was last at the pool store Saturday and CYA was high so I figured it best to start with the diluted method.

The 100 number is me doubling my diluted result.

The diluted method result was like 49-50. Just very slightly above the 50 line so I doubled it.
Click to expand...
So you need to exchange 70% of your water to get to 30/40ppm cya
IMG_6998.jpeg
That’s roughly 5800 gallons
IMG_6999.jpeg
The no drain exchange as mentioned above is the safest way to do this.
I used the old poolmath webpage
👇

PoolMath

Discover the calculator behind the perfect pool, PoolMath. Dealing with pools has allowed TFP to become the original authors of the best calculator on the net.
www.troublefreepool.com
 
Thank you! I did not know this page existed. I did download the app on Sunday though.

I’ve been draining the pool and I’m going to remove roughly half of the water. Then fill it again. Test and possibly depending on results remove another 1/3 to 1/2.

I’m curious with this process if I got this to 50 or 60 and we wanted to try and use the pool, can we do that by upping the free chlorine or I should just continue draining and filling.

It was mentioned if I want to use liquid chlorine I need 30-40. Is there a different option? I really apologize. I read about the others but it seems they put CYA in the water (trichlor and dichlor) did I miss a different option where CYA could be at 40-50?


Mdragger88 said:
So you need to exchange 70% of your water to get to 30/40ppm cya
View attachment 517295
That’s roughly 5800 gallons
View attachment 517296
The no drain exchange as mentioned above is the safest way to do this.
I used the old poolmath webpage
👇

PoolMath

Discover the calculator behind the perfect pool, PoolMath. Dealing with pools has allowed TFP to become the original authors of the best calculator on the net.
www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
 

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Refer to…

www.troublefreepool.com

The Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid Relationship

Managing your cyanuric acid and Free Chlorine levels is key to stabilizing your pool. Learn how these two items affect each other.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

At CYA of 60 your minimum FC is 5 and your target FC is 7-9 while at CYA of 40 your minimum is 3 and your target is 5-7.

You can maintain your pool with a CYA of 50-60, you need to use the correct FC targets.

And note that the pH test is not valid, and can read high, when FC is over 10. So you have to be careful when having higher FC levels.
 
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See FC/CYA relationship
FC/CYA Levels

Yes you can run CYa higher - you just need to maintain a higher target chlorine and be mindful of SLAM level being out of reach if you get too high

Many people with SWGs run them higher CYA to help protect the chlorine - CYa of 70 or 80 is not unheard of

For a LC diet - 50 is not unheard of either. Just make sure to stay well above minimum throughout the dag
 
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Thank you all so much! This has been an enlightening experience. I really have learned a ton since I found TFP on Sunday!

About half the pool is filling now and I’ll be testing in the morning!
Thank you again :)
 
Side note - with a smaller pool getting to a higher SLAM level is easier, proportional wise, than a huge pool. At 8k gallons the amount of LC needed to increase FC is much less than 25k or 30k pool. So the downside of a higher CYA may be lesser consideration for you than some given the size of your pool

YMMV
 
BDY said:
Side note - with a smaller pool getting to a higher SLAM level is easier, proportional wise, than a huge pool. At 8k gallons the amount of LC needed to increase FC is much less than 25k or 30k pool. So the downside of a higher CYA may be lesser consideration for you than some given the size of your pool
Click to expand...

You still don't want CYA levels that need FC over 10 as it messes up the pH test.
 
Since nobody mentioned I will. The CYA will degrade a little with time so it's not necessary to bring it all the way down to a manageable level and then let it do its thing. At some point down the road you'll need to bring it back up to the 30-40 level.
 
The 30-40ppm cya recommendation is to help make the SLAM Process easier & not take as much liquid chlorine to accomplish.
As mentioned higher cya levels just require higher fc levels for both maintenance & slam so keep that in mind.
IMG_6554.jpeg
There’s a link to the old poolmath webpage at the bottom of every page on this site
IMG_7007.jpeg
 
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