Drain all or partial?

[sggg]

Hi there,

The CYA is very high and hardness is high also. The sales of pool store had asked me to drain my pool. I'm living in San Jose, CA. Should I drain all my water or just a part of it? Will it cause any problem if I drain all the water?



Thanks!

 

[cfherrman]

Welcome to tfp!

I would pick up a tf100 or Taylor 2006c test kit and test the cya and ch, then drain the pool to get the right numbers, also stop using solid forms of clorine and pool stores that got you in this mess.

Test strips and pool store testing are not acceptable forms of testing.

 

[needsajet]

Welcome to TFP and good to have you here

Take it slow with respect to draining. There are significant risks associated with draining. You can add a 'signature' to your posts which will help people here help you. See instructions from the link in my signature 'read before posting' to get the best possible advice and answers here.

Good advice above - order one of these and leave the pool stores behind: TF-100 Test Kit â„¢ You'll save what that kit costs before summer!

 

[Jimrahbe]

sg,

Welcome to TFP... A great place to find the answers to all your "draining" questions...

The reason that you are here is because, like all the rest of us, you believe that the Pool $tore has all the answers.. Well, it turns out the answers they have are only related to how well they can take your money..

Unfortunately, the "Guess Strips" you are using are just not accurate enough to make any major decisions.. Although in this case, they are a pretty good indication that your CYA is sky high.

We recommend that you be able to test you own water, as it is the only real way to get accurate results. But the pool store testing is free, you say... Is it??? Does it seem logical to you to have your water tested at a place who's only goal is to sell you something?

I suggest you read through our Pool School and see what we are all about... The Pool Store got you into this mess, but we can get you out..

Read this first... Pool School - What is TFPC?

Then this... Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Then come back and start asking more questions....

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[ar26pt2]

Agree with all above. I inherited a mess of a pool managed by tabs and pool stores for years. There testing is worse than useless. Do the pool school reading and get the Taylor test kits. When cya is very high the cya tests are usually not accurate in my experience. Good luck!

 

[DeanP66]

Hey neighbor,

I agree with everyone above, get your own quality kit first. Either the TF-100 or Taylor K2006C. They're not cheap, but they'll give you the piece of mind that you won't be getting taken for a ride at a pool store. Or as we like to call it, getting "pool stored". Unfortunately, those "guess strips" are not very accurate, so you can't make any informed decisions from them.

If your CYA is really 80 or above, your best bet is to drain 50% of the water and refill. I was in a similar situation. My pool guy used nothing but chlorine tablets and did very little else. I bought a Taylor K2006C (before finding this site) and ran all the tests. To my shagrin, my CYA was 200, CH was 1100 and and TA was 220. I fired him the next day and took over the pool myself. I did a complete drain and refill and now maintain CYA at 50, TA at 70 and my CH was 300 after refill. It has climbed in 12 months to around 500. But still very manageable.

 

[kabutotx]

Another vote for getting a good test kit. But I will explain why. There are usually two main reasons to drain. High Calcium Hardness (CH) and high Cyanuric Acid (CYA). The test strips aren't accurate enough. In your example the color is somewhere between 150 and 250. So the strip is good of at least telling you it is high. Now if it is closer to 150 a partial drain should be fine. If closer to 250 you will probably need a full drain. A good test like the Taylor K2006c or TF-100 will get you closer to 10 point increments.

High CH and CYA is why TFP doesn't recommend chlorine pucks or "shock". Both add one of the other along with the chlorine and the only way to get rid of it is to drain.