adding CYA

[keithk]

I'm going to try and get the pool going this week. My sand filter came in last week while on vacation. The place I normally go and get my CYA sold me Bioguard Stabilizer last year. After adding it to the pool (intex 15' x 48") through a sock, I got a white residue in the water, so I'm not doing that Crud again. Same results when I drained the pool and added it it second time. Maybe it was because of the crappy filter I had?

This year I'm going to try Dichlor and use the technique in the pool schools beginners guide. The pool does have a plastic skimmer, should I put it in a sock and in the skimmer, or in the sock on the return?

 

[madwil]

either one; the sock is the gadget that works, so you don't worry about flushing it out.
Most will put in return flow, then you can massage it every once in a while to increase spead of dissolving!

 

[Butterfly]

This year I'm going to try Dichlor and use the technique in the pool schools beginners guide. The pool does have a plastic skimmer, should I put it in a sock and in the skimmer, or in the sock on the return?

Dichlor has your chlorine and your CYA combined. Mix it in a bucket of pool water and pour it in front of a return. Here's the quote from Step #5 of the Beginners/Seasonal Guide: (I bolded & underlined your answer

Step 5 - the first four days
The first few days will be spent using dichlor to add chlorine while also raising your CYA level to help protect the chlorine from the degrading effects of sunlight. If you want to be able to jump into the pool as soon as it's full, use the Pool Calculator to determine the amount of bleach needed to raise your chlorine level to 6 ppm. Add that amount of bleach while the pump is running. Wait an hour to let it circulate before you use the pool.

The first four days, you will use dichlor to both chlorinate your pool and raise the level of CYA (chlorine stabilizer). The first evening, after you're finished swimming, turn the pump back on, test and make any adjustments to pH. Let the pump circulate any chemicals added to adjust pH (30 minutes or so) and then add one ounce of dichlor for every 500 gallons of water. To add the dichlor, add it first to a bucket of pool water and let it dissolve, and then dump that into your pool. Let the pump run overnight. This dichlor addition will raise the chlorine level to about 8 (assuming no chlorine was added prior . . . if it was, the chlorine level will be a little higher, which is fine), and the CYA level to 8.

Repeat the above procedure each evening for four nights total. At the end of four nights, your CYA level should be around 30, right where it should be. After four evenings of adding dichlor, STOP USING THE DICHLOR. This is really important, even if you have extra left over. There is a complex relationship between chlorine and CYA, and too much CYA is absolutely not a good thing.

Each evening, continue to test your pH and chlorine, and make adjustments as necessary to maintain both.

 

[keithk]

Thanks. Guess I just needed encouragement that I was on the right track.