CYA very high

[tazz63]

High All, pretty new member here with some problems. I've had my pool now for two seasons and the water has always been clear . I thought I was doing things right till I came here, I was using test strips. I just got the TF-100 test kit and found some bad things. I tested yesterday and again today and here are my results.
6/20/16
CL 3PPM
BR 6PPM
PH WAY BELOW 6.8, FLUID IS YELLOW
FC 6.5
CC 1.0
CH 100
TA 0 FLUID STAYS RED NEVER TURNS GREEN
CYA 100+

6/21/16
CL 3PPM
BR 6PPM
PH WAY BELOW 6.8 FLUID IS YELLOW
FC 3.5
CC 0.5
TA 0 STAYS RED NEVER TURNS GREEN
CYA 140 50/50 POOL/TAP WATER

these are my results. I know I'll most likely have to swap out at least half of my water which isn't too much of a problem. What i really need is guidance on the rest of the things. OH I forgot to mention that right now the pool is crystal clear and has been. Your help is greatly appreciated. Here are a couple of pics of the pools current state.

Dan

 

[ckk81]

Yep you are going to need to dump some water. :-( At 100 CYA (you are higher) your FC min is 7, target 12. You are operating well below these and headed for a reckoning with algae if you don't get the CYA down.

Have you read through Pool School?
Pool School - Pool School

 

[Donldson]

Take care of the water exchange now, worry about the rest of the levels after that because they will all be different.

I will say that if your TA is zero then your pH is dangerously low. If you are going to do a water exchange right away then the fill water will likely have some TA in it and you can wait until after the water exchange to see how those need adjusted. If you aren't going to do it right away then you need to get a bunch of baking soda in the water ASAP.

 

[duraleigh]

+1 what Donldson said.

 

[tazz63]

Thanks for the quick response guys, I'll be doing the water dump in the morning, I figure I'll dump half and see where that gets me. I have been doing a bunch of reading today and I found the source of my highhigh cya, those darn 3" tabs/pucks I've been using. I never knew, so tomorrow while the pool is filling I'll be at my local Ocean State Job Lot and Aldi getting a few gallons of bleach. With my size pool do you guys have any idea on how much bleach I should keep on hand, just so I don't have to keep running back and forth to the Store and also don't want to get a years supply at once either.

 

[Davejavu]

With my size pool do you guys have any idea on how much bleach I should keep on hand, just so I don't have to keep running back and forth to the Store and also don't want to get a years supply at once either.

Count on anywhere from 1-3ppm FC loss per day. Use pool calculator to tell you how much bleach that will be and buy accordingly.

 

[domct203]

Thanks for the quick response guys, I'll be doing the water dump in the morning, I figure I'll dump half and see where that gets me. I have been doing a bunch of reading today and I found the source of my highhigh cya, those darn 3" tabs/pucks I've been using. I never knew, so tomorrow while the pool is filling I'll be at my local Ocean State Job Lot and Aldi getting a few gallons of bleach. With my size pool do you guys have any idea on how much bleach I should keep on hand, just so I don't have to keep running back and forth to the Store and also don't want to get a years supply at once either.

OSJL is a great deal on chlorine, $2.99 gallon. I buy my CL there all season.

Stay on top of the PH, what you have now is a pool full of very acidic water.

Dom

 

[tazz63]

Hi all, so I dumped half of the water and refilled last night, ran the filter and repeated my cya test and it did come down some but only to 85/90. I guess my cyacya was higher than I thought. Looks like I'll be doing another dump tonight and I think I'll be doing more than half. Boy the water commission is going to love me this month. I guess 85/90 is still to high. Seeing as I live in the north east will my cya drop over the winter?

 

[Mr Bruce]

It's not common but it happens.

I would try to get down closer to 50 if possible. 90 is hard to manage, minimum 7 FC and target of 10! 4k gallons isn't much at all, should be easy

 

[tazz63]

Yeah, it didn't take me too long last night to do that, with such a small pool it is pretty easy. I just wish I had known about the evils of tabs before I started using them, now I'm paying the price.

- - - Updated - - -

I just had my third spine fusion on the 13th of June and I really want to use the pool for some rehab and relaxation so the sooner I get it right the better.

 

[fajitas21]

I was in the same boat as you about 2 months ago when I found these guys. My CYA was at about 220, and after a 1/2 drain I got it down to about 110. A few smaller drains later got me to 70, and while that's a bit high, it's totally manageable, and the pool is both clear, uses less chlorine, and is pretty easy to keep clear.

Here's some helpful things I learned from these guys here.

1. Ratio of CYA to FC is important. Disregard the pool store advice of 1.5 - 3.0ppm FC. It's approx 7.5% FC to CYA. So if CYA is 100, then minimum FC should be around 7.5ppm. If you drop to CYA to 50ppm, then you only need 3.75ppm (give or take, but you get the idea).
2. The offical name of Trichlor pucks is Trichloroisocyanuric acid. Notice the 'cyanuric acid' part? I never knew that until I started researching it like you did. That explains the boosted CYA levels, it's got stabilizer built into the pucks. The more you use, the more you "stabalize," and the more chlorine you need. Vicious cycle.
3. If you choose to do the bleach method, go to Wal-mart, pool isle, and buy as many of the $2.50 gallon bottles of Liquid Chlorine they sell. Check the chemical makeup, it should say like 10% sodium hypochlorite. (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pool-Essentials-Chlorinating-Liquid/48938023) It contains no CYA, it's 40% more chlorine than the typical bleach, and costs $0.50 less a gallon. It's the best deal I've found.

 

[domct203]

Hi all, so I dumped half of the water and refilled last night, ran the filter and repeated my cya test and it did come down some but only to 85/90. I guess my cyacya was higher than I thought. Looks like I'll be doing another dump tonight and I think I'll be doing more than half. Boy the water commission is going to love me this month. I guess 85/90 is still to high. Seeing as I live in the north east will my cya drop over the winter?

Have you fixed the PH?

Dom

 

[tazz63]

Thanks for the advice fajitas, I have a couple of other stores in my neck of the woods I'll check out today as well as Walmart. We have a pretty big ocean state job lots here that I know they do high volume on everything so I know that there bleach will be fresh. I just have to investigate what they have for bleach, I see it on the shelves but never really looked at the labels cause bleach is bleach right.... Well now I'm learning so I'll be looking. We also have a couple of Aldi's near me so I'll check them out too.

- - - Updated - - -

Hi Dom, no I haven't, I'm not going to waste chemicals seeing as I'm going to do another dump tonight. As soon as the cya is in an acceptable range I'll check the pH. I have a pretty big bag of baking soda waiting just for this.

 

[fajitas21]

Hehe, I'm always entertained by the fact that other parts of the US (and world) have places, drinks, foods, etc. that I've never heard of. Ocean State Job Lots is a name I have never heard of, and it's probably common for you guys up there. I looked up their website, now I kinda want to go there. CRAZY DEALS! Word of the day.

 

[tazz63]

They actually have some pretty good stuff there, you just gotta dig through all the not so good stuff.

 

[Donldson]

Your pH will have already improved with the water replacement. After another replacement it will likely only need minor adjustments. I would be curious though, if you get a chance before the next water change, if you would test the pH and TA. Just for reference in the future when someone comes with a similar problem I can point back to your experience.

 

[tazz63]

Will do

- - - Updated - - -

I have to take it easy for a while now, don't want to over do it seeing as I just had back surgery, two rods four screws with a disk replacement with a cage around it. I'll get to it later today, just took some pain killers and I'm waiting to take a snooze

 

[tazz63]

Your pH will have already improved with the water replacement. After another replacement it will likely only need minor adjustments. I would be curious though, if you get a chance before the next water change, if you would test the pH and TA. Just for reference in the future when someone comes with a similar problem I can point back to your experience.

I'm finally getting a chance to post, my ph and ta after the first water change were zero, as in ph was well below 6.2, water was yellow in the test. Ta when I did the test the water stayed pink, never turned green. I did my second water change which resulted in my cya coming down to 40 and is holding steady. All of my other readings were all zero and that's for everything. I got the pH in by using soda ash and I also used the last 2 1/2lbs of baking soda I had on hand. So far my fc is 7, a little high, cc 0, ph 7.3, ta 90 and cya of 40. So I guess I'm right there. I can't say enough about that new test kit I got, wow, enlightened me.