What happend to my CYA!!!!!!!!

[passionsrlz]

I got pool store numbers and I don't trust them. I know to get a better test kit but havent as of yet. Two weeks ago my stabalizer was 0 now the pool store says it is 100....... here are my numbers
alk 120
cal 150
stab 100
ph 7.8
chl 2
they didnt say cya was high or low and said I need to put 8oz. of ph down in my pool.
in two weeks my Ph went from 7.1 to 7.8
my cya went from 0 to 100 all I have put in my pool in that time frame was bleach and four pounds of stabalizer. I was told that four pounds would bring me up to around 40 cya.....I am unsure if I should start draining my pool or just not trust their test! I am in mini panic mode.

 

[JasonLion]

Don't trust their test results. One or both of the tests are clearly wrong. You need to get some more reliable test results. By far the best way to do that would be to buy your own top quality test kit. I recommend the TF100 from TFTestKits.net. The Taylor K-2006 is also good.

 

[passionsrlz]

you are right. I am just going to have to buy one but until then what do you suggest that i do??

 

[JasonLion]

Assume CYA is around 70 for now. That will be alright until you can get a real test kit.

 

[passionsrlz]

okay. thanks for your advice. Getting a hight cya level stresses me out.

 

[HouTex]

Don't trust their test results. One or both of the tests are clearly wrong. You need to get some more reliable test results. By far the best way to do that would be to buy your own top quality test kit. I recommend the TF100 from TFTestKits.net. The Taylor K-2006 is also good.

+1 I'm convinced that the pool store's CYA tests on my water were never accurate. They had me at 100 after using about 9 3" trichlor tablets from initial start up in December 2010. My TF-100 and a stand alone CYA test I previously bought at the pool store (it has Pentair's name on it) are fairly consistent at around 60-70 (after adding the appropriate amount of CYA) whereas the pool store was giving me 40, 80, 100, etc. on any given day.

 

[passionsrlz]

so having a cya level of 0 and me adding 4 pounds of stabalizer should put me around 40 or 50 not 100 like the pool store said?

 

[passionsrlz]

also if my cya is this high, lets go with 70, should I keep my chlorine level higher than normal? maybe 5ppm instead of 3ppm?

 

[JasonLion]

4 lbs of CYA in 15,000 gallons will raise the CYA level by 32. You aren't even remotely close to having gone from 0 to 100, even if your pool is smaller than you think, even if you actually added 8 lbs by accident, there is no way you went from 0 to 100. Absolutely for certain at least one of those test results is wildly wrong, and most likely both of them are wrong.

Assuming CYA is 70, your day to day FC level is 5 to 8.