Almost no CYA - - Can I close ?

[ATLjp]

I've been an on-again / off-again BBB user believer....summer before last I was on the road and had the "pool guy" back to take care of things. Long story short - when he took the cover off my liner had some really bad wrinkles - - some on the sides and a couple on the bottom. Good bye pool guy. This summer I was back to hauling out my Taylor test kit and transporting Clorox from COSTCO. The last few weeks however I have been on the road and the spousal unit is only going to handle so much of the home front when I'm gone.

This past weekend I thought I would try and prepare for closing - - I slammed it Saturday and today here are my readings (courtesy of the pool store since I was headed to the airport at 4:30 a.m.) They seem pretty close to what I tested on Sunday afternoon.

FC - 7.8
Alkalinity - 100
Ph - 7.6
CYA - 5
Hardness - 141 - - I don't test for this but spousal unit said the pool people wanted to add something for this...??

I couldn't read the CYA on my test kit (clear in this past test but was previously 30)....

What do you recommend ? I'm home again tonight - - late - - and have to leave again on Thursday and would really like to get this thing buttoned up (or looped up with the cover) on Wednesday since it may be 3 or more weeks before I'm home again.

 

[Catanzaro]

Please advise what State your are in and what the temperature of the water is? Also, the loop loc cover, is it mesh or solid? Do you close and add Poly-Quat 60 (which some members use), and we recommend?

If you had very little CYA in your pool, the amount of chlorine consumption would be higher than normal. If you close with a CYA of 20 or higher, that is fine. You will need to add when opening the pool. If lower, I would recommend adding some stabilizer as well. If you have a chlorinator, you could add the 3" tablets and dissolve them quickly on the maximum setting. Be careful as your PH will drop considerably and you will have to keep an eye on it.

Your CYA states 5, but then you have 30. Entirely up to you. IMO, the PolyQuat does help. Each late September, I close with a FC reading of about 6 and add the PolyQuat. Each spring I open with a FC reading of 2-3. The cover is solid and it becomes pretty cold in a fast here in NJ. So, I believe it is the PolyQuat that is picking up the slack through the winter months. Usually only time we recommend the algaecide and that is upon closing and really not needed during the months pool is opened. I always open up to a clear pool (at least after 4 hours of running the pump)

 

[ATLjp]

Thanks for the input. I'm in Atlanta GA....or my pool is �� I had been getting a 30 CYA up until a few weeks ago when I vacuumed and back washed...a lot. Didn't test until Saturday when my test was clear...pool store said 5. Wasn't sure if it would be OK to put the polyquat in and throw on the cover with such low CYA and then add in spring. The loop lock is solid with a couple of mesh panels for rain.

 

[Catanzaro]

Go ahead and close the pool. In the spring, add CYA to the pool. The solid cover does help, but open up early. Will you be adding the stabilizer hanging from a sock, in the chlorinator through 3" tablets, or the liquid conditioner?

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You will probably have no CYA in the pool when you open up, so I would recommend you have enough to bring the level up to 40-50, especially if you backwash a lot, etc.