Are there any other possible reasons for CYA loss besides draining/splash out? My CYA has dropped over the last month despite adding CYA in efforts to bring it up 20 ppm. The pool is getting heavy use and it has been very hot and sunny here in Houston. Salt has not dropped a proportional amount so I don't think its all attributable to splashout. I am using TFTestKit for testing and all other numbers are in good range.... I am adding acid daily for .2-.3 daily pH rise.
CYA Loss
- Thread starter lnorris
- Start date
Why do you only have the CYA at 20 ppm? Is this an indoor pool? Please post a full set of test results. It might tell us something. Also, if you can post the test results from when the CYA level was higher thatn would be helpful.
Also, your pH rise is not acceptable, IMHO, unless you have new plaster. I suspect there might be some water balance issues.
Also, your pH rise is not acceptable, IMHO, unless you have new plaster. I suspect there might be some water balance issues.
CYA is at 60 ppm today. I had it up to 75ppm 2-3 weeks ago and now its back to 60 after adding 5ppm last Monday. Pebbletec is new as of early March. Acid demand is high and its been hard to bring down TA any lower since the pH rises so fast.
TA 80
CH 450
pH 7.6
Salt ~3200
Borate ~40
Temp 87
FC 3.5
TA 80
CH 450
pH 7.6
Salt ~3200
Borate ~40
Temp 87
FC 3.5
How often are you getting pH spikes and how high to they go before you catch them? I KNOW that your pH does not stay at 7.6! 
I assumme these are today's numbers. If you have the numbers from when the CYA was higher I would be very interested in seeing them particularly TA, CH, and borates (and the water temp).lnorris said:
Also, has the FC been constant at 3.5 or has it been fluctuating and if so how much (particularly, now high has it gone?)
No major changes. CH was around 425 a month ago. It started around 275 after the fill, but the rise has slowed over the last 2 months. TA has been in 80-90 range for the last 2 months and has never been higher than 90. I added the borates around 2.5 months ago as well... I'm guessing on the borates since I find it hard to read the strips between 30-50... it was probably a little higher 2-3 weeks ago. So do I have something interesting going on here? I'm planning on putting in ~15 ppm of CYA tomorrow unless there are some other ideas. I did recently buy additional taylor CYA reagent from the pool store. Could there be an issue with the reagent? Today was the first time I used something other than what came with the TFT kit. The pH rise is beginning to be quite a pain as well. It wasn't this quick until the temp went up and I raised the SWG percentage.
FC has always been in the 3-6 range. The pool builder started the CYA at 100, but it came down to 80 after heavy rains in April.
FC has always been in the 3-6 range. The pool builder started the CYA at 100, but it came down to 80 after heavy rains in April.
Have you been getting a lot of rain in the past few weeks? Or have you had to top off the pool (or does it have an autofill or autolevelor?) The fact that you said the borates have probably dropped a bit confirms what I was thinking, you have lost some water somehow and replaced it. How have you been testing salt since this should have gone down also.lnorris said:
How are you testing borates? If you have Aquachek strips get the LaMotte ones. If you have LaMotte strips only try to read them in direct sunlight after abut 15-20 seconds by your watch! (I am not being anal here
, it does make a difference! )The Taylor reagent from the pool store is exactly the same stuff that you got in the TF100. Maybe the pool store is watering it down
(that's a joke btw!)Exactly! This is why CYA of 80 will help with the pH rise, you will be able to lower the output pecentage.lnorris said:
Zero rain in the last 2 months. I have been filling with tap once a week. No other loss except for splashout. Testing with Lamotte for Borate. Added a little salt last week although I suspect my salt strips read high. CYA loss seem disproportionate to other losses.
I know I need to get my CYA back to 80, but any thought on my original question? Are there any other reasons that the CYA would drop? I've never had any algae. FC always above 3 with only the SWG.
I know I need to get my CYA back to 80, but any thought on my original question? Are there any other reasons that the CYA would drop? I've never had any algae. FC always above 3 with only the SWG.
I would have to say splashout or a slow leak. Have you been monitoring the salt as much as the CYA ( be honest here! )
The point is you have seen more than just the CYA drop.
)The point is you have seen more than just the CYA drop.
I know it sounds wrong, but the salt loss has been minimal (according to the one bottle of strips and the SWG). I just checked it again since you called me on it. Its been hot 95-98F for 2+ weeks straight so evaporation loss has been expected.... fairly confident I don't have a leak. I'm going to go buy some new tests if you still think its not possible... or even worse, get a pool store test.
If it's not a leak or splashout I would have to say it's testing error. Get your levels back in line, monitor them weekly for a while, and keep a record of the results. That way we can see if it happens again and have better data to try and isolate why.