cloudy and low CYA.....???

[onestout]

I converted my pool over to a SWCG this year and can't seem to get it sparkly clear as it was last year. I also can't keep the CYA up, we have had some rain this year but not that much, even a little dry around here. Test results from this morning were FC=4.5, PH=7.2, TA=170, CYA=20, CH=125.
About a month ago my CYA was around 40. I have added about 6 lbs. of stabilizer since then and I am now down to 20????? I'm confused here. I even went out and bought an ammonia test kit and that came back 0. Not sure what is going on.

On a side note, I have the Hayward SWCG with the T15 cell, I have it set at 70% and run it and the pump 12 hours a day and it seems to just keep up, and I keep my pool covered during the week as it only gets used on the weekends.

Things just seem out of control.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Griswald]

At a CYA of 20, your SWG simply wont bw able to keep up. Get it over 50 even higher.

 

[duraleigh]

Disregard the ammonia kit. It has nothing to do with your lack of CYA. As Griswald says, get your CYA up to 50-70 and you can turn down your SWG.

 

[onestout]

I've added about 6 lbs. of it in the last month and it has gone down from 40 to 20, this has left me scratching my head.

 

[Griswald]

Testing error?

 

[onestout]

No ,not likely. I am thinking the CYA I have been adding may be from a bad batch or something. Added the last 2 pounds and then will switch to a different brand to give that a try.

 

[mgmoore7]

On a side note, I have the Hayward SWCG with the T15 cell, I have it set at 70% and run it and the pump 12 hours a day and it seems to just keep up, and I keep my pool covered during the week as it only gets used on the weekends.

Things just seem out of control.

Thanks for the help.

Do you know your daily FC PPM loss?

At 70%, 12 hours will replace 2.6 PPM per day in the best case scenario. So even with a correct CYA, your 12 hours a day at 70% may or may not be enough. You need to know your daily FC PPM loss. In any case, your CYA should be much higher as already stated. A minimum of 60 as stated here: Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

See this post to calculate the run time needed but this does assume a much higher CYA as already discussed.
Formula for SWG / Pump Runtime?

 

[onestout]

That's a great chart/calculator. I don't lose much FC each day during the week, the pool is covered all week. On the weekends when we use it I add bleach as needed. I will update with my CYA issues as I find more out. Thanks

 

[onestout]

Follow up: It looks like I got a bad batch of CYA. I switched brands and it started coming up like it should. The cloudiness I think was the bad CYA, it went away in a couple weeks on its own, or it was filtered out. My CYA is up to 50 and things are balancing out really nicely now, this will be good for the rest of the year, which is like 4 more weeks around here.