CYA test results inconclusive

[cookstar]

Hi everyone- I have the Taylor K-2006 test kit and below are my results. My understanding for the CYA is that the solution is supposed to get cloudy and the dot in the test vile is supposed to disappear when you pour the solution into it, thus getting the ppm results. For some reason my solution never got cloudy and when poured into the vile supplied by Taylor the black dot did not disappear. Does anyone know what this means?? The water was crystal clear when emptied into the vile.

FC: 1.4
CC: 0.2
PH: 8.0
TA: 100
CH: 110
CYA: inconclusive

 

[Pool Tool]

Yes, once you mix the reagent with your pool water it should cloud and block the dot. It likely means you have 0 CYA. Have you added stabilizer or pucks recently?

 

[singingpond]

The test result isn't inconclusive, it is telling you that you have low or zero CYA (lower than the lowest reading marked on the tube anyway).

 

[cowboycasey]

The CYA test is backwards of what you would think When the dot never disapears it meens you have no CYA

CYA: 0 with 0 CYA your FC will get used fast during the day..

Your PH is high, try to bring it down...

I just saw you have a T15 40k SWG, is your 60K gallon water correct or is it liter? If 60K gallon your t15 cell will probably not be able to keep up with fc, you may have to add liquid chlorine/bleach to supplement.. You could try to bring your TA down to 70 and see if your ph will stay at 7.7 or 7.8

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also, with a SWG your CYA should be at 70 or 80, I would shoot for 70 to start

 

[cookstar]

The CYA test is backwards of what you would think When the dot never disapears it meens you have no CYA

CYA: 0 with 0 CYA your FC will get used fast during the day..

Your PH is high, try to bring it down...

I just saw you have a T15 40k SWG, is your 60K gallon water correct or is it liter? If 60K gallon your t15 cell will probably not be able to keep up with fc, you may have to add liquid chlorine/bleach to supplement.. You could try to bring your TA down to 70 and see if your ph will stay at 7.7 or 7.8

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also, with a SWG your CYA should be at 70 or 80, I would shoot for 70 to start

Hmm, so it looks like I have 0 CYA than. I opened up my pool in late May and the only chemicals I add on a weekly and biweekly basis is liquid chlorine to bring up FC and muatric acid to bring down PH. I bought a bucket of Calcium Chloride right now for 25 bucks which will increase the CH by about 50 ppm, not much but better than nothing.What do I need to add to bring up the CYA? Its a salt water pool, approximately 60,000 gallons.

 

[zimm]

You need CYA - Cyanuric Acid. Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Basically CYA is sun screen for your chlorine. Too much can be bad as the chlorine can't do it's job, but you need some in there.

Recommended levels are 60-70 for salt water pools. With 60k gallons, you're looking at 481oz! It comes in 4b bottles of granules. You can fit about 2 pounds in a sock, tie it closed and hang or rest in front of your skimmer. Every day massage the sock so the CYA flows- it's makes a big white cloud. It takes several days to dissolve, so give it a week to test for CYA before you add more. I'd go 4 pounds and see how much it raises your CYA.

You can buy it at walmart Clorox Pool and Spa Chlorine Stabilizer, 4 lbs - Walmart.com

 

[tim5055]

Pick up CYA where you can, Big Box stores it they have it in Canada or the pool store if you must. A hair over 300 ounces will take you to 40 and a little over 550 ounces is 70.

Add it in at least two stages, testing and verifying the new level before you add more. You do not want to add to much.

CYA should be placed in a tight weave sock so it doesn't spill out and hung in the water in front of a return. Once the sock is empty (give it a squeeze every once in a while to speed up dissolving) wait one week to test to see what level has been obtained.

 

[singingpond]

Please make sure about the gallons vs. liters issue before adding the CYA. You don't want to overdose by a factor of almost 4.

 

[cookstar]

Please make sure about the gallons vs. liters issue before adding the CYA. You don't want to overdose by a factor of almost 4.

It should be 150,000 Liters so its just about 40,000 gal. I dont know the exact measurement of the pool nor the capacity since its not rectangular all the way around and the previous owners left no literature.

When I went to the store to buy the Calcium Chloride the lady said that unless the pool is brand new or just refinished there is no point of bringing up the CH level, any thoughts on this? I dug around on the site and it does not seem like good advice to ignore the CH levels.

 

[tim5055]

When I went to the store to buy the Calcium Chloride the lady said that unless the pool is brand new or just refinished there is no point of bringing up the CH level, any thoughts on this? I dug around on the site and it does not seem like good advice to ignore the CH levels.

She is wrong. Strange, because she could have made a sale. Yes, you want the CH between 250 & 350.

Check out the Recommended Levels Chart

 

[chem geek]

You have a gunite/plaster pool. Of course you need calcium in it because saturating the water with calcium carbonate is how you prevent calcium carbonate from dissolving from the gunite/plaster surface.

What they seem to be saying is that calcium is only needed in a freshly plastered pool but after the plaster has hardened there is no need for calcium. That is ridiculous. It may not happen quickly unless the pH is low, but calcium carbonate will dissolve from plaster over time if the water is not close to saturation with calcium carbonate. See this post that refers to some experiments that indicate that you would slowly degrade the plaster surface over years if you were to have a low Calcite Saturation Index, such as by not having much CH in the water.

Now in your case you don't have zero or extremely low CH so with 110 ppm CH you'd have to have your pH down at 7.4 and TA down at 70 ppm or so for your CSI to get below -0.6 where the experiments showed CH rising in the pool water which meant the calcium carbonate was dissolving from the plaster. So it's not a disastrous situation needing any sort of immediate attention in your case, but nevertheless the pool store is wrong in asserting that calcium isn't needed except for new plaster.