High CYA question

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J

josemary9

0
May 5, 2010
58
Tests from Pla-Mor Pools
FC-0
Total C-.1
TA--29
pH-6.5
CH-71
CYA-88
Copper-0
Iron-0
Did recommended Alk Inc. in 2 doses (20lbs 4 hrs between)
Added 3 lbs turboshock and 12 ounces AlgaePhosAlgicide

Halfway tested chlorine at 5-6ppm (acceptable told to be 1-4)
pH was 6.8 before second treatment

They also recommend 24 lbs of poolLife Calcium PLus in increments of 8lbs 6 hours apart...will do tomorrow.

They have me on a nonstabilized chlorine tablet...will this lower the CYA or do I need to drain water? They tell me these tabs will lower it over time, is this ok to swim wuth high CYA??

If I switch to BBB....after use these chemicals I just spent a ton of $ on...how do you manage CYA?

Pool is 16,000 gallons, fiberglass, only 3 years old and clean filter, clear water...looks good!
 
As one who has lived through higher CYA than that, if you stop using stabilized chlorine/pucks immediately you should be able to bring that number down via backwashing, splash out, etc. I wouldn't recommend draining since your water is clear and no reports from you of algae problems.

Read up on CYA/Chlorine level guidelines in poolschool. With a CYA of 88, your free chlorine needs to be higher: minimum of 6 max of 8. Keeping it that high will be a challenge if you switch to bleach.

Good that your are raising the pH. It's very low...pucks will do that. Bleach tends to be more neutral pH and some pool owners claim their pH will rise.

Good luck!
 
josemary9 said:
Tests from Pla-Mor Pools
FC-0
Total C-.1
TA--29
pH-6.5
CH-71
CYA-88
Copper-0
Iron-0
Did recommended Alk Inc. in 2 doses (20lbs 4 hrs between)
Added 3 lbs turboshock and 12 ounces AlgaePhosAlgicide

Halfway tested chlorine at 5-6ppm (acceptable told to be 1-4)
pH was 6.8 before second treatment

They also recommend 24 lbs of poolLife Calcium PLus in increments of 8lbs 6 hours apart...will do tomorrow.

They have me on a nonstabilized chlorine tablet...will this lower the CYA or do I need to drain water? They tell me these tabs will lower it over time, is this ok to swim wuth high CYA??

If I switch to BBB....after use these chemicals I just spent a ton of $ on...how do you manage CYA?

Pool is 16,000 gallons, fiberglass, only 3 years old and clean filter, clear water...looks good!
Click to expand...


You have some adjustments to make.

1. You should raise your pH up to 7.4 with 20 Mule Team Borax. Get it at the grocery store and use the pool calculator to tell you how much. The alkalinity increaser will not raise it much

2. Please post the ingredients for the non-stabilized tabs.

3. Return the Calcium....you do not need it.

Can you do your own testing? Some of the things they are telling you are correct and some are not.

Post back, espicially about the tabs and we'll go from there.

Don't delay #1 and #2.
 
You have a fiberglass pool, therefore you do not have the calcium demand that a plaster finished pool requires. Unless you have a heater, you can wait on the calcium. Also, the turbo shock is calcium hypochlorite, which will also raise your calcium levels. I'm sure the non-stabilized chlorine tablet is also calcium hypochlorite. The test numbers are a little suspicious. CH, TA, and pH are really low and it would be difficult to measure CYA that accurately. Usually CYA is expressed ending in "0" or "5" (100ppm, 55ppm ect...). The most practical way to lower CYA is to drain the pool. There is not a chemical you can buy and add to the water that will lower CYA. The best thing you can invest in right now is a TF-100 or equivalent testing kit. It is money well spent and you will be better able to manage your pool chemistry. If you haven't opened the Calcium Plus see if you can return it and any other unopened product to the pool store. Read through pool school a couple of times and post any questions you may have.

In other words, what those guys said!
 
Calculator says to add 133oz of borax...thats alot!! I am so mad I spent this money at the pool store! I will retest pH tomorrow, since I used the rest of the Alkalinity stuff..see if it up at all...

The ingredients arent listed..looked online too..just says 68% calcium hypochlorite and 32% other... POOLIFE Active Cleaning Caplets.."will not cause overstabilization"

Why dont I need the calcium? Why would they recommend it...all for the $ right?

I have the OTO tester but tht just for pH and chlorine...have to look into the testers on this site...just a money issue at this point!! Being new to this, I just feel good having their "expertise"..if I start bringing things back, they may say BBB is not good!! Oh well!

SO.assuming I take these steps...how will I get the CYA down to be able to reasonably switch to bleach? How much would I backwash?? I need to do a good vaccum..some clumps of dirt on bottom..I could vaccuum to waste and refill?

Thanks to all!! Feeling overwhelmed!
 
CYA: Pla-mor looks like it's in Virginia. At that latitude, CYA 60 seems like a reasonable target (still on the high side, but not terrible). To get there from about 90, you need to replace about 1/3 of your water. If you are going to drain a lot of water all at once, do that first because otherwise you are literally throwing chems down the drain. Or take it slower; vac to waste sounds like a plan... with agressive periodic vaccuuming for a while, it will come down.

Calcium: It's not that you don't need the calcium; it's just not really that critical. The CH could stand to be up in the 200 range. You have two options there. One is to go ahead and use the Calcium Plus you already have; if it is calcium chloride, that should get you to about the right ballpark. Or... you can take it back, and plan to use calcium hypochlorite as your chlorine source, after a few months you'd be there as well. (For every 10ppm FC added by cal-hypo, you also get 7ppm CH.)
--paulr
 
Thanks to all!! Feeling overwhelmed!
Click to expand...
Of course.....your trying to solve too many things at once.

If you want your pool to clear, and you want to save some money, you will have to get very systematic and either follow the advice on this forum or the advice of the pool store.....whichever you think is best. You will not be able to do both because the advice conflicts.

You are resisting a good kit because of the money but you have already spent that much or more buying chems you don't need because your water was tested by someone other than you.

So, I'm sorry to be so blunt but you have w-a-a-a-y too many things about pool care going on in your head and you have to separate them into smaller tasks. I'll assume you are going to follow the forum's advise.

1. Get your pH up to around 7.4 ASAP Use 20 Mule Team Borax. It'll probably cost you $4.00 or so.

2. The tabs you have are ok for use if you can't take them back. They will put chlorine in your water which you MUST have. They will also add calcium and will eventually add too much but they are OK for now if not returnable. I'd put 3-4 in the skimmer and start running the pump 24/76 for now.

3. Next, using your OTO test block, report back your pH result and you Cl result. YOu'll get advice from the forum on where to adjust from there.

Again, sorry to be blunt, but you must chose a source of information (pool store or us) and stick with it.....you cannot blend the two together because we will not say the same things.

Lastly, read Pool School in the upper right hand corner. Read it again after you read it the first time. It is essential in you taking charge of your pool and not letting someone else dictate how you spend your money.
 
Thanks Dave...I need someone to blunt!
Ok...I will get the borax today and put the chlorine tabs in (will use bleach after they are gone)...can they be in a floater?

As far as CYA....should I drain or just keep chlorine high until it goes up...or vaccuum on waste some to help?

The guy who posted before you said if I use the calcium (was $30)...can I just use it and leave it alone to have it raised or is it bad to use and should take it back? I read up on calcium and some say they keep it a bit in fiberglass just in case.
 
You do need the calcium for the fiberglass. 200 is a fine number. Since you already have it go ahead and use it.

The tablets - how much do you have? Can you return them? They dissolve very messy - not cleanly like trichlor. You can try them in a floater.

It will be hard to maintain proper FC levels with tablets - because your CYA is high the FC level must be kept above your "min" and the tablets alone may not be able to do that. A partial drain might be your best option, and then backwashing/vacume to waste will lower it too.

I resisted the idea of a test kit at first too - I had spent sooo much money on pool store chems. But once I did it I understood all the fuss - your own kit allows you to take total control of your pool and then you aren't subjected to bad pool store advice or pressure to use their expensive treatments that are often unneccessary.

The kit will last several seasons - it pays for itself with the money you'll save. :)
 

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After a box of borax today pH is about 7.3..
Cl is about 5

I vaccuumed on waste some and adding water now.
Oredered test kit!

Already opened the shock and chlorine caps...my Chlorine is high now right? Dont need shock , just maintain a cap in the floater?

It's so clean a nice looking and HOT outside, I want to jump in!!

Thank you so much for your support..I will be sticking with forum after all this Crud is used up!
 
Sorry about asking so many questions....have been reading the forum and pool school alot!

So assuming my CYA is still 88 (I did vaccuum to waste and added more water today though..maybe helped a little...will test as soon as I get the kit I ordered...or could take to the pool store again!)...if my chlorine is at 5 (which is as high as my OTO tests for) than really that is not enough right (being maintained by the tablets in the floater)? The minimum for that high CYA is more like 6.5...but the other chart said 5 is the minimum....until I get the CYA down should I add shock and/or bleach along with these tablets...how long after I add shock or bleach can you swim?

Thanks!!
 
If the OTO looks at least as dark as the "5" color block, preferably a little darker, then that's good enough until your test kit arrives.

If you add powder or bleach, give it a half hour to mix before you swim.
--paulr
 
Another thing you can do till your test kit gets there is to dilute your pool sample with half distilled water and test that, then multiply the result by 2. It hurts the accuracy a bit but it allows you to test to 10ppm FC. This only works for chlorine. You still need to test a full strength sample for pH.
 
Pool store results today
TC:10
Alk:126
pH:7.8
CH:185
CYA:58

So..they recommend 3lbs Moriatic Acid to reduce the pH
Now Chlorine is high right...and my CYA is down ALOT!!! Good but seems it could not have been so high to begin with!?

Please send recommendations from this point!

THANKS
 
Don't put too much stock in those pool store numbers. They're good for what they are; better than nothing. Also keep in mind that they may not be able to test FC higher than 10ppm so it may be higher than that. Keep in mind too that your pH may not be that high as a high FC affects some pH tests, driving the number to read higher than it actually is.
 
They use an automated machine thing to test CYA and the rest...my OTO pH test did not seem too high....sooo....use the acid stuff to lower pH? What does the forum recommend to use to lower pH?

She mentioned the test wont go over 10ppm for TC but would have signaled if too high somehow....prob because I threw a bag of shock in thinking the CYA was high...
 

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