New to site, need some advice on CYA level

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valleyofthesun

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May 11, 2009
10
Great Site! I stopped using chlorine tabs in my chlorinater after reviewing your site. My CYA level is out of control and I want to drain my pool but I was told that draining is not recommened because I live in Arizona and we alrealy have 100+ degree days. The pool store recommened numerous backwashes instead. Is draining still safe? I have a plaster/pebble pool surface with a tile/grout waterline border. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Fc 5
Tc 5
ph 7.4
TA 130
Ch 260
CYA 184
 
Welcome! :wave:

You should be able to safely drain down to the skimmer/return level. Is their concern the exposed pool surface? It's not exposed for very long...

Doing it in cycles will use more water, and it will take several to bring the CYA into acceptable range. But it is a good idea, that CYA is just too high and the problem is it could in reality be higher. A series of partial drains, refills, and retesting will tell the picture.

Do you have your own test kit yet?

What kind of pool is it? Above ground or Inground?
 
frustratedpoolmom said:
Welcome! :wave:

You should be able to safely drain down to the skimmer/return level. Is their concern the exposed pool surface? It's not exposed for very long...

Doing it in cycles will use more water, and it will take several to bring the CYA into acceptable range. But it is a good idea, that CYA is just too high and the problem is it could in reality be higher. A series of partial drains, refills, and retesting will tell the picture.

Do you have your own test kit yet?

What kind of pool is it? Above ground or Inground?
Click to expand...

Their concern is the exposed pebble pool surface in this heat. I dont think it will be an issue if it is drained and immediatly refilled but if I can get the CYA level down with numerous partial drains like you mentioned then I will do that. My pool is an inground with a pebble/plaster surface and yes, I have a Taylor brand test kit.
 
You can drain and refill simultaneously.

A colder fill water should stay near the bottom of the pool. You can take your fill hose to the bottom and anchor it there to insure that.

At the same time your could withdraw water from the opposite end of the pool somewhere near the top. If you can match the rates, your pool water with the high CYA will slowly be replaced.

This will take somewhat more water but your CYA is really almost unmanageable and you need to make some positive steps towards reducing it.
 
duraleigh said:
You can drain and refill simultaneously.

A colder fill water should stay near the bottom of the pool. You can take your fill hose to the bottom and anchor it there to insure that.

At the same time your could withdraw water from the opposite end of the pool somewhere near the top. If you can match the rates, your pool water with the high CYA will slowly be replaced.

This will take somewhat more water but your CYA is really almost unmanageable and you need to make some positive steps towards reducing it.
Click to expand...

I like your idea. I will try it. Thanks
 
Thanks to all that responded. I used the great idea of draining and filling at the same time. I bought a cheap $60.00 pump at the hardware store with a low flow rate. I didnt want an expensive pump with a large flow rate because my fill hose would not be able to keep up. I matched the flow rates at about 250 gallons per hour and left it going for about 24 hours. It worked, my CYA went from 184 to 74.

Here are my new levels

Fc 6
Tc 6
ph 7.4
Ta 120
Ch 160
CYA 74
Temp 84

Does anyone have any suggestions on these numbers? Should I drain/fill a bit more to get my CYA to 30-50 ppm range or will it go down with time and weekly backwashes? And, I no longer use the pucks! Also, should I work on getting my Ta down to 70-90 range?
 

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Are you in Phoenix? You could probably do fine w/CYA of 74. Lots of sun on your pool? Many folks in your area run a higher CYA. Maybe some of them could respond.

Nice job on your numbers :goodjob:

Unless your are having problems with constant pH rise, I'd leave your TA alone.

You do need to increase your CH levels. See "Recommended Levels" in Pool School.

Don't let your FC drop below about 6 to stay safe. See the CYA/Chlorine Chart in my sig.

If I understand correctly, you have an inground pool and that should be listed in your sig. :wink:

ETA: How are you getting thes test #'s? CYA 74? What test kit? Pool store?
 
Butterfly said:
Are you in Phoenix? You could probably do fine w/CYA of 74. Lots of sun on your pool? Many folks in your area run a higher CYA. Maybe some of them could respond.

Nice job on your numbers :goodjob:

Unless your are having problems with constant pH rise, I'd leave your TA alone.

You do need to increase your CH levels. See "Recommended Levels" in Pool School.

Don't let your FC drop below about 6 to stay safe. See the CYA/Chlorine Chart in my sig.

If I understand correctly, you have an inground pool and that should be listed in your sig. :wink:

ETA: How are you getting thes test #'s? CYA 74? What test kit? Pool store?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback...First, yes my pool is in ground (typo on my part/I changed in signature). I do live in Phoenix with plenty of sun on the pool so I will leave my CYA level at 74. I dont know yet about constant Ph rise since I just started using this method (so far great) but will monitor it.
As far as the numbers, I used my Taylor 2005 test kit and came up with 70 to 80 CYA so I took a sample to pool store and they came up with 74. I called Taylor and they said I could convert my 2005 to a 2006 with the addition of R-0870-I and R-0871-A and a new instruction sheet (instruction 5811). This will save me from buying a whole new test kit.
I havent checked, but from my understanding, we have very hard water in Phoenix. Do you think I can get away with leaving my CH at 160 since it will most likely creep up as time goes by with the addition of fill water and large evaporation here?
Thanks again for the help
 
I just tested my fill water and the Ch is 120. I tested my pool water yesterday and got a Ch of 200 while the pool store came up with 160 for the Ch of my pool. I thought the water here in the valley had a higher Ch like you wrote. I called my pool store and they would only tell me that the Ch varies on where our municipality is currently getting our water from. I would rather not add any ch to the pool because historically it climbs every year to the point where I have to drain about every other year due to the Ch level. Im pretty confident my Ch in the pool is around 200. You think I can just leave it at this level and let it rise on its one without causing any damage? Also, my test kit is about 2 years old (Taylor k-2005). I did have to replace reagents R0001 and R0002 due to giving out bad readings (verified with new reagents). You think I should replace all the other reagents? The others seem ok since I have verified the readings with the pool store.
Thanks again for all the help. I have come a long way in the past week and I see a light at the end of the tunnel!
 
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