Where did my cya go?

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R

R&S

0
Apr 22, 2016
38
Hamilton, Ohio
I havent done a full check of pool since 07-12-16:
fc = 10
cc = 1
ph = 7.6
TA = 90
CYA =40 (checked 07/07/16 & cya was 35. I added two 3" trichlor pucks) I thought it would help with daytime chlorine consumption) (Pool store checked and said 30 cya on 07/10/16)

Todays 07-19-16
7:31am 11.5 ppm fc
11:15 am 10ppm fc
3:00 pm 5.5 ppm fc
6:29pm 7.5 ppm fc
8:15 pm 10.5 ppm fc

My pool has not been passing oclt so I am slamming. I've been aiming at 16ppm and been slamming since 07/08/16. The pool looks great. The only flaw is there are wrinkles in the liner and they appear a little dark. I can not brush it away though. I am checking and adding liquid shock 4 to 5 times a day. My chlorine loss is very high during the day 24 - 31 ppm during the day. OCLT is between 2-4. I decided to use my last test to see where my CYA was and I could see the black dot the entire time.

Do I assume my cya is around 20? Do I have ammonia. I only had a couple swims where kids splashed out water. We did have a steady drip for 3 weeks next to pump. It is fixed now.

This year I added two 3" trichlor to pool around 07-12-16 and I added two 3" trichlor to pool tonight. I do have a 3 day trip coming up in a week and a 6 day trip coming up by Aug 10. To simplify my guests staying here I was thinking of putting a couple trichlor in the feeders for each trip and have them add Liquid chlorine to water twice a day, so I dont want to overshoot.

How do I go about this cya thing? I need to get more reagent or trust pool store reading. I don't want to do that.

Thanks
 
Bacteria must have consumed your CYA It is pretty rare for that to happen and it usually only occurs with very low to no FC. You don't have ammonia, if you did your FC would drop to 0 in less than 15 minutes. I wouldn't trust pool store testing. If the CYA test was slightly cloudy assume 10 if it wasn't cloudy at all assume 0. And add 20 or 30 ppm of CYA to the pool. TFTestkits.net can ship you some more reagent pronto.
 
Thanks Pooldv and PAGirl. Wow, bacteria ate my CYA? The leak was one drip every second off of the connector between the pump and the filter housing. I think last season I messed up that part when I forgot to turn my valve to open when I was cleaning the skimmer basket. Then I ran the pump for a while before I noticed. I replaced the lid to the skimmer basket. The pressure was too much. I wish there was some sort of sensor/shut off for pressure from a closed valve or when the skimmer basket gets too full. I was filling about 1 to 1.5 inches every 10-12 days in my pool. When I checked my CYA yesterday it was not cloudy at all. I have kept my pool at 14 to 16 for almost a month, but only running the pump 24/7 since 07/08/16. When I opened this season, I shocked it and then I kept it at 4 - 10 when I did not know I had a problem. The water always has look good. From now on, I'm starting my season with a CYA check and an overnight oclt. I never did that unless I saw a problem. I did not realize I could have a problem and the water look good. Since I have the 3" pucks, can I add the 20- 30 stabilizer that way or is it too slow? If I do that, how many total should I add? 2.5 ppm per puck. I have 3 in there now. I positioned my chlorine feeder to the 1/2 setting to have more get to my pool faster. Once I get 20- 30 will the slam process be easier since it wont be such an uphill battle to keep chlorine in my pool? I have the large wedding cake like stairs in there with pvc cement filled weights and steps drilled to deck. Not the easiest thing to detect if there is a problem w algae. I put them in about 3 weeks after opening of pool. The bottom is open and there is a round hole in the front of one stair and back of stairs. We took out the sand and are using the weights to assist us getting those heavy awkward steps out at season end.

Should I take the pucks out once or twice a week at night and do an oclt? I'm not sure how to properly do it. I usually check the pool for fc after sun sets, input the fc into pool calculator, add liquid chlorine and recheck in morning by 6:30 or 7 am. Sometimes I recheck to see if calculator hit the shock mark. Should I do that every time? When I do recheck, I noticed it is a little less than the 16 I was aiming for, but usually it was like 2 hours later.
 
Using pucks to raise CYA almost always ends in failure. It is not fast enough. Raise you CYA with CYA. It is available in nearly every pool place including WalMart, Home Depot, etc.

You have not been SLAMming the pool. The SLam requires your FC to be at 16 ppm. You are playing pattycake with the organics in your pool by dabbling the chlorine in. Use PoolMath and dose your pool to 16 ppm. Check it again in four hours or so and dosae it again back up to 16 ppm. Keep testing and addingt back chlorine to 16 ppm.Todays 07-19-16
7:31am 11.5 ppm fc
11:15 am 10ppm fc
3:00 pm 5.5 ppm fc
6:29pm 7.5 ppm fc
8:15 pm 10.5 ppm fc
Click to expand...
You never once got to 16 ppm. Follow the SLAM directions without exception.
 
duraleigh said:
Using pucks to raise CYA almost always ends in failure. It is not fast enough. Raise you CYA with CYA. It is available in nearly every pool place including WalMart, Home Depot, etc.

You have not been SLAMming the pool. The SLam requires your FC to be at 16 ppm. You are playing pattycake with the organics in your pool by dabbling the chlorine in. Use PoolMath and dose your pool to 16 ppm. Check it again in four hours or so and dosae it again back up to 16 ppm. Keep testing and addingt back chlorine to 16 ppm.Todays 07-19-16
You never once got to 16 ppm. Follow the SLAM directions without exception.
Click to expand...

Duraleigh,

I was basing my slam ppm with my current 35 cya and it said to do 14ppm. I had been adding that 4 to 5 times a day initially. Then someone suggested 16 ppm since they thought perhaps my cya was actually 40 ppm cya. So, since 7/8/16 i have been slamming 16ppm with 12.5 or 10% liquid shock 4 to 5 times a day. Now that I am closer to 0 - 20 cya, pool calculator says slam at 10, 11 or 12ppm?

Are you saying ignore cya and pool calculator and just use 16ppm for slam?
I only used pucks two days to get my cya up a tiny. Now I need to get it up a lot :(
I thought I understood most of this. I don't feel like I am playing pattycake. I feel like I am feeding a newborn with regular feedings of 16ppm.;)

yesterday:
7:31 am I added 59 oz of 12.5%
11:15 am I added 70 oz of 12.5%
3:00 pm I added 131 oz 12.5 %
6:29 pm I added 112 oz of 12.5%
8:15 pm I added 20 oz of 12.5%

Those numbers are from one day and it was 98 degrees and the incredible amount of chlorine demand made me take a second look at my cya reading. I was checking every 3 to 4 hours and dosing 16ppm. After 4 hours the ppm had dropped.
I will get my cya up and try to check more often. My son is a type one diabetic and we were up all night with awful numbers, over 600 bg. He has a sensor to tell me when his numbers are out of whack. I wish my pool had that:( Sometimes doing your best is not good enough, but you don't give up.

How much CYA to add to my 24 round ag pool to get to 20ppm? or 30ppm?
Thanks for your expertise, I need encouragement and guidance :)
 
R&S said:
So, I need to get 30 cya level in my pool and make sure I am slamming at the recommended 13 ppm per pool calculator??
I just wanted to know how much of the cya (packet), (container) granuals to add to my pool to get the 30 ppm cya level for my pool size.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes. Use PoolMath, link at top of page, to calculate how much CYA to add. Use a sock or knee high to add it. More here, Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals
 

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My pool was reading 0 CYA and eating chlorine like crazy. On Thursday I added 20 ppm of conditioner to pool in a sock and it all dissolved in a couple hours from massaging. I also had added 3 3" tabs to the chlorine feeder a week ago and 2 3" tabs a week before that. I ordered new CYA test. It wont be here until Aug 2. So I am thinking I have at least 32.5 and maybe 40. I am now targeting 16ppm for my slam just in case. I did not want to overshoot adding condiitioner since I have a couple vacations coming up and need to put 3 3" tabs in chlorine feeder. My chlorine is holding great now. It is like night and day. It looks like I am holding OCLT but I am going to check tomorrow and be very careful about it to make sure. My water is very clear still but my cc went from 1 cc to 2 cc. I'm still checking every 4 hours. Is it normal to go up in cc? I am losing 1 - 4 ppm every 4 hours instead of 4 -12 pmm. With OCLT, do I check, look at pool calculator, add liquid bleach to reach 16 ppm after sun sets, and then recheck to see if I hit 16? in 15 min? Then retest before sun comes up in Morning. 1 or less is passing OCLT? Thanks all.
 
I can tell you are working this hard. That's great.

No need to do an OCLT test yet because you haven't reached the point where you can stop slamming. You have CC above 0.5, so keep slamming. You're done slamming when

1. Your water is crystal clear,
2. Your cc are < 0.5
3. You pass the OCLT

You're getting close. Personally, I have trouble sleeping when I do an OCLT, so I wouldn't do one when the results don't matter yet.
 
Deb04 said:
I can tell you are working this hard. That's great.

No need to do an OCLT test yet because you haven't reached the point where you can stop slamming. You have CC above 0.5, so keep slamming. You're done slamming when

1. Your water is crystal clear,
2. Your cc are < 0.5
3. You pass the OCLT

You're getting close. Personally, I have trouble sleeping when I do an OCLT, so I wouldn't do one when the results don't matter yet.
Click to expand...

Deb04,
Thanks for the response. I am working hard on this pool thing. Good thing I'm a persistent person. Now to help my poor thirsty flowers.
 
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