Cya 0

[Unior]

Question: why does pool math state: be careful if your CYA is really and truly 0?

I don't have a way to test for CYA but I assume it's 0 cause I just opened my pool and have added nothing but bleach yet. (I know I need a better test kit but I'm reluctant to spend $100 on test kit when I only spent $50 on the dang pool itself)

I'm trying to maintain 2ppm chlorine levels and shocking at 10-11ppm. (according to PM) Is this shock level right for CYA 0? I read somewhere else in an old post that shock level should only be 5ppm with 0 CYA.

Edit:
PH is currently 7.2
CC is 0

I lost some a few inches of water yesterday hopefully I don't have a leak. If I top it off with my tap water that is 8.4 PH it should bring the PH up a little.

It sucks it seems we bought just a big enough pool for my toddler that we have to screw around with chemicals. Just big enough that I can't dump it out and refill it every 2 days lol.

 

[mulia]

with a small pool such as yours, you should read the link for temporary pools & purchase the small test kit at walmart.
Pool School - Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools
you need to get cya in the pool
here is the cya chart
Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

 

[Texas Splash]

The stabilizer/conditioner helps serve as a buffer to shield swimmers and the pool liner from the harsh (active) effects of chlorine - and help FC last longer. I'm not great on the scientific numbers, but if you do raise your FC to about 10 without any CYA, the effects of active chlorine are probably close to 2Xs as strong (if not more) that a pool with 30-40 ppm of CYA. The seasonal guide link mulia gave you above is what you need. For CYA, just use the Poolmath calculator to add the required amount. No need to test it from there. Once you add "X-amount" of stabilizer for the target, it's good. All you need to test each day is FC and pH, then dump the water if it gets really bad.

 

[Unior]

That guide is helpful I hadn't seen it before on this site. I did find test strips kit at wallie world for about 15 bucks that states it can test stabilizer. I might try it out. I didn't really realize that CYA helps shield swimmers and pool liner from negative effects from the chlorine.

We will probably upgrade to something a lot bigger next year so all this knowledge and experience is good.

Thanks for the responses.

- - - Updated - - -

If I add CYA should I immediately bump up my FC levels?

 

[AimeeH]

If you add CYA, you should keep chlorine for the target CYA. It's better to let CYA dissolve in a sock than applying directly to pool.

The test strips aren't really accurate enough to guarantee a properly bale fed pool. Have you seen this article?

Pool School - Test Kits Compared

 

[pooldv]

More here on adding CYA and other chems, Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals

 

[Unior]

I bought some cheap trichlor shock granules at wallie world. These will raise my CYA right? The pool needs shocked anyhow cause FC dropped to 0 again. I'm wondering how much this will raise my CYA cause my second cheapo test kit sucks just like the first lol. The CYA readings are in like 50ppm increments.

The granules are 53.5% trichloro-s-triazinetrione - available chlorine listed as 48.6%

PM says add 1.5 oz of trichlor to bring FC to 10....so since this stuff is only about 50% trichlor should I double that?

Lastly can I use a tablespoon to measure this stuff I don't have a scale that measures oz or grams.

Thanks

 

[Unior]

Well I figured out PM has a thing at the bottom for chemical effects. Supposedly 1.5oz of trichlor will raise my CYA to 6.2. I'd still like to know if I have to about double that since my bag of granules says 53.5% trichlor. Is pool math calculating for 100% trichlor?

 

[Unior]

FWIW 1lb of pool essentials trichlor shock granules = 25 tablespoons. I just measured the whole bag.