High cya levels in California drought area

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boson415

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Jul 22, 2015
38
el sabrante ca.
TEST results using the Taylor k-2006

Fc 0
Ph 8.0
Ta 110
CH 210
CYA 80

I recently bought this house 3 months ago for the first few weeks there was a pool company taking care of this pool, evidently they're the same company who took care of it when the previous owners were here. I come to find out they've been using these clorox tablets in a floater to maintain the free chlorine levels what I don't understand is if there a pool company and they know they are in California where the rain is limited why they would be using these tablets? Just in the limited time I've been researching, these tablets have stabilizer in them! so...... without the rain to balance things out why they would be doing this?! Just that alone was all I needed to fire them and start taking care of my own pool. I started out with a cya of 200 I did 3 partial drain and fills and got it down to 80. It took me 3 months each partial drain and fill each month to avoid any fines I'm in an area where we get fined for using too much water so 1 drain/fill per Month To avoid any fines and the whole time the pool has been green since I first moved in 3 months ago so..... there's my story all in a nut shell any help would be great

Thanks
Boson415

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I'm about to start My shock I was wondering if my test results look good to start shocking I am going to be using sodium hypochlorite that I bought at Home Depot 10% strength I also bought muriatic acid pH down I realized I have to get my Ph to 7.2 I've already put one gallon of the muriatic acid in a few days ago and my PH still reads 8.0 there must be something I am missing here? I poured the muriatic acid* in in the deep end right next to a return jet and swished it around with my pool brush. Both these products I bought at Home Depot are kemtek brand.
 
Great work on the CYA! That was a chore I'm sure. Using the Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart, I see the SLAM/Shock level for your pool is an FC of 31. Remember you can use any regular liquid bleach (generic is fine). The muriatic acid should continue to lower your pH. Aeration and new plaster are two big causes of pH increase. You might want to ensure you have the proper strength acid listed on the Poolmath calculator when you're figuring out what to add. Some of those improvement store acid products are diluted, so watch for that as well. But you have the right idea on everything. Aside from getting the pH down some more, your numbers look good. I'm surprised your CH is so low. :) Definitely get that bleach in there as soon as you can though. An FC at 0 is an invitation to more algae. Let us know if you still have questions.
 
I feel this is a growing problem in California and there are limited options to deal with this. "Bio active" and a product at Wal-Mart called "from green to blue" but this method requires using a vacuum to waste method this is all I came up with unless you have a company that can come to your place and filter your pool water but this is very new and there are no companies in my area San Francisco Bay Area to be precise that can do this.
 
boson415 said:
I feel this is a growing problem in California and there are limited options to deal with this. "Bio active" and a product at Wal-Mart called "from green to blue" but this method requires using a vacuum to waste method this is all I came up with unless you have a company that can come to your place and filter your pool water but this is very new and there are no companies in my area San Francisco Bay Area to be precise that can do this.
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so far bioactive has not been proven to work as described so it is not a product recommended by TFP.

Green to Blue is an ammonia product that causes many more problems than it fixes and again, we would not recommend it's use.

The only viable way to reduce CYA without replacing water is reverse osmosis. RO does produce waste water,,but not as much as the drain/refill.
 
Good morning or at least good morning to everybody in California in the San Francisco Bay Area as it still morning with everybody else good day I am ready to start My shock treatment I am trying to work the calculator to enter my percentage of chlorine and type of chlorine but I am using cam Tech brand sodium hypochlorite it doesn't give me an option for this am I missing something here? and I tested my pH today and I'm at in between 7.4 and 7.6 should I lower it down To 7.2 or is this fine?

1444573597215.jpg

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Sorry for the sideways picture still learning how to work the fourm
 
This is what I used to lower the Ph
1444574011778.jpg
the calculator when entering target Ph and choosing from the different strengths of muriatic acid, "hydrogen chloride 14.5%" is the active ingredient so I'm a little confused on which one to pick since I don't see an option for hydrogen chloride? Oh and it took 2 one gallon jugs of this stuff to bring my Ph from 8.0 to now 7.4-7.6​

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I still don't know how my picture came out like that as I took it the appropriate way but oh well I'll figure it out so excuse my side ways picture.
 
boson415 said:
This is what I used to lower the Ph
View attachment 43296
the calculator when entering target Ph and choosing from the different strengths of muriatic acid, "hydrogen chloride 14.5%" is the active ingredient so I'm a little confused on which one to pick since I don't see an option for hydrogen chloride? Oh and it took 2 one gallon jugs of this stuff to bring my Ph from 8.0 to now 7.4-7.6​
Click to expand...
In Pool Math there is a drop down menu on the right side that will allow you to select 14.5%

When buying Muratic Acid, I would recommend checking out Lowes or Home Depot in the paint section. They sell the 31% at about the same price as the 14% so it ends up being half the cost.
 
Ok just about ready read over the appropriate forms and enter my numbers in the pool math calculator one thing though on the pool math calculator when entering my now ppm of fc which is 0 an adding in target ppm 31 at 10% strength sodium hypochlorite its telling me to put 991 ounces but on the bottle of this sodium hypochlorite brand Kemtech it says for every 10,000 gallons add 128 ounces to raise the ppm - 10 parts per million I'm not sure if I follow the directions on the bottle or I follow the directions on the calculator what do you guys think? I'm thinking follow the calculator since this forum so fare has not steered me wrong
 

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I've learned so much these past few months thanks for all the support I went ahead and put in 8 jugs of the Kemtech sodium hypochlorite 10% the calculation was 991 ounces which I divided by 128 ounce jugs that it comes in which gave me 7.7 I just round it to 8 I will test in few hours and let you guys know what's going on.

Thank you
Boson415
 
boson415 said:
TI come to find out they've been using these clorox tablets in a floater to maintain the free chlorine levels what I don't understand is if there a pool company and they know they are in California where the rain is limited why they would be using these tablets? Just in the limited time I've been researching, these tablets have stabilizer in them! so...... without the rain to balance things out why they would be doing this?!
Click to expand...

They use Trichlor tablets/pucks because they aren't visiting the pool more than once a week so need to provide chlorine dosing when they are not there. The tablets/pucks are convenient, but insidious, because for every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm. Some pool services shock (elevate the chlorine level) with chlorinating liquid during their weekly visit so can use less Trichlor that way and some use algaecides or phosphate removers to target a lower FC/CYA ratio to lessen the rate of CYA rise. Others can use peristaltic pumps, The Liquidator, or install a saltwater chlorine generator for automated dosing, but some clients don't want chlorine chemicals on-site to protect their children (or so I've been told, even though the Trichlor tabs used for that week are still on-site in either a floating dispenser or an inline chlorinator).

It is unfortunate that there is not a slow-releasing form of chlorine that doesn't add CYA to the water, but that's just how it is. By taking charge yourself and being able to add chlorine every day or two, you can switch to using chlorinating liquid or bleach and prevent the CYA buildup. You'll still have a salt buildup but your pool can tolerate far higher salt levels than CYA levels so the level of dilution that will be needed will be far lower and likely handled by winter rains, especially with this El Niño year.
 
Jus my luck I ran out of the reagent R-0871 I called my local pool store to see if they have it and the guy didn't know whati was taking about? ? He asked me what test kit I was using I told him the taylor k 2006 he said why on earth ami using such an old kit he said who told you to use this!!? I said never mind anyways what am I suppose to use then? He said the Taylor basic dpd test kit. Am I using the right one? I'm pretty sure I am I read over the pool school lots of times I'm pretty sure I am.....

Why would he say this and why would he have a reaction like I'm stupid or something for using the Taylor k-2006?
 
And therein is yet another pool store that doesn't seem to understand the relationship between FC and CYA. Most over-the-counter salesman think any FC over 5 is too much. The DPD kit he is referring to probably only reads FC to 5 ppm. When you refer to the Chlorine/CYA chart, you see quickly you need the R-0870 and R-0871 to read higher FC over 5, and sometimes (depending on your SLAM level) up to 30 or more. Many, many people in the pool industry don't realize that relationship between CYA and FC.

In any case, you can order more of the drops from the TF-100 site below in my link.
 

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