CYA rising in pool, Leslie's Pool Supply says to drain?!

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twoolley

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Jun 20, 2011
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My name is Tom and I just bought a house with a pool 3 weeks ago. I've been working hard at learning the ins and outs of pool care but I am running into a snag.

The pool is clear right now, and I just added acid to bring the PH down to 7.5. Here's the problem:

My first trip to Leslie's Pool Supply the guy tests my water. The results are "good news, your pool is in balance but there's no chlorine in it". My pool has a chlorine tablet tower. Per his advice I buy a giant bucket of 3" tablets, go home, fill said tower and turn it on full.

Fast forward to this weekend and now my CYA is 100 and my pool is good in every other respect. My research here has taught me that those tablets have Chlorine and CYA in them so I asked her if I should keep using the chlorine tower because while it's adding chlorine it's also dissolving more CYA into my pool!

She assures me that Leslie's is the leader in pools and if there were a way to control and/or remove CYA from pools they would be aware of it and sell it since they're at the top of the swimming pool research. The only way to do this is to do a partial drain and then add water. In the meantime I apparently am going to have to shock my pool more often to compensate for the CYA levels not allowing my chlorine to be effective.

Now I am here because i'm not really sold on what i'm being told. There's to much CYA in the pool but I think the tablets are going to keep adding more! Draining the pool isn't a sustainable method and it's going to cost me a fortune in the middle of a drought.

I will post a full set of test results when I get home tonight. If there's any advice you guys can give me i'm listening!!!

-Tom
 
CYA levels, etc. have nothing to do with frequency of shock. CYA level dictates the amount of chlorine you have to keep in your pool. Also, it's very likely your CYA is over 100, as testing over 100 is almost never accurate.

Shocking is something you should rarely, if ever HAVE to do! :)

You are correct, the tablets are continuing to add CYA to your pool. Leslie's is correct in that the only way to lower CYA is to partially drain your pool. For now, I suggest switching to liquid chlorine (standard bleach) until you get a plan together in regards to whether you are going to live with your CYA level or partially drain.

Can you post whatever test numbers you have?
 
In some areas you can get a reverse osmosis treatment instead of draining and refilling. Right now that is only offered in a few areas, most of Arizona, parts of Texas, and parts of southern California.
 
They told me I will have to shock weekly because the chlorine in the pool isn't effective. I guess to overcome the CYA levels i'm just blasting the pool with chlorine?

The question on my mind is if the CYA doesn't go away and the only way of getting rid of it is draining the pool why is it in the tablets? If I continue to add liquid chlorine only will the CYA level fall on it's own?

I'm at work right now, I will post test numbers as soon as I get home.
 
Tablets can be used when your CYA level is low, or when you are going to be out of town and your CYA level is already manageable. I use them for this purpose only.

Some people have temporary pools that don't stay up year round, so they might just use the tablets through the year then start over next year.

I wonder what they were going to send you home to shock with, Dichlor granules? :)

CYA acts as a buffer to your free chlorine. This means you have to keep your FC level higher so that some of the chlorine is available to act as sanitizer. It doesn't mean you have to shock weekly.

You do have to typically check and add chlorine on a daily (or at least every other day) basis anyway. As long as you keep your FC within the target for your CYA level, you will not need to shock.
 
As Robbie said, post the numbers you have. Then consider getting a good test kit.

I agree that the drain/refill scenario isn't something I'd want to do and water where I live is cheap. Switching to liquid is your best advice at this point. Once we have good numbers on your CYA you can look at the chlorine/CYA chart and you'll know where your FC should be.

If you add nothing but Liquid then the CYA level will drop over time but it takes a very long time, even years depending on your splashout/refill frequency.

Here's what you can do until you get a good test kit. Take a sample of pool water and add an equal amountof tap water. Then take that and have Leslies test it. Don't pay any attention to anything but the CYA number. Once you have it then double it and post what it is. That should give us an idea (however inaccurate) of whether your CYA is over 100 or not.
 
Thanks for all the replies already! I bought a testing kit while at Leslie's because I was tired of going in there. The Kit on here everyone recommends is in the mail. And yes the shock was Dichlor granuals.... I added 4 bags of them after the first visit to the store. :(

A guy here at work has a service for his pool and she tests/adds chemicals once a week. Eventually will I get to that point?
 
That's what I figured. Dichlor will drive your CYA up even further. They could have at least sent you home with Cal-hypo.

Weekly service might work for some, but my pool burns through too much chlorine to hold my FC in the safe range for a week. I have a friend that pays $120 a month for his pool service for a 16,000 gallon pool. The pool guy comes by and throws two 3" trichlor pucks into his skimmer once a week (and pucks in your skimmer is a no-no unless your pump is running 24/7) and that's it. It MIGHT be ok on his pool (I recently tested his pool, his CYA is at 40 and I told him to stop...) but it won't be OK for everyone. I honestly don't believe someone coming by and throwing some pucks in, not testing or anything, once a week is enough. If your FC drops down and you get algae you have to shock. Shouldn't be necessary. And if your pool guy has been coming by for a solid year throwing pucks in your pool and you get algae when your CYA is over 100, 120, or even higher; well, good luck you are going to need to buy stock in Clorox. :)
 
Ok just did my tests with the Taylor kit I got from Leslie's (I know, I ordered the better on and it's on it's way) and here's the results:

FC 5+
TBr 5+
pH 7.5
CYA 110
CH 400
TA 120
TDS 900
Phosphates 300

These readings are almost exactly what LPS got when I went there to have ti tested. That was 3 days ago. I'm adding water to the pool right now and overflowing it into the sewer to try to lower the CYA levels.

My son's birthday party is in 2 weeks and the pool is clear and comfortable right now. I'm hoping to keep it that way while also getting the kinks ironed out with the chemical balance. I have quite a few "floaties" in the water that are visible at night in front of the lights, but the woman at LPS said that is going to be the norm since I have a cartridge filter.

Thanks guys,
 
There are always small particles in the water when viewed at night with an underwater light. A DE filter will get more of them, but there will still be some left.

With CYA over 100, it is definitely time to replace some water to get CYA down. CH is also a little bit high and while that isn't a big deal, replacing water will help that also.
 

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You're going to be able to see some floaters in front of the light no matter what type filter you have. DE filters the finest so there won't be as many of them as your cartridge will have, buut you'll have less of them than if you had a sand filter.

Your CH and TA is high so you need to keep your pH down to prevent scaling.

Keep your FC at the top of the recommended level and you won't have a problem keeping your pool clear for the big day.
 
I have a chlorine tower feeding the tablets that I got from LPS into the system. Should I go turn that off and add liquid chlorine only until I get my CYA down?

Also, my filter's manual says I should add DE to it? I just cleaned out the cartridges this past weekend and there's no DE in there at all.
 
Twoolley,
I had the exact same problem, with almost the exact #s you are showing! I gave in and drained the pool by 50%. I took the opportunity and scrubbed the tiles with 100% bleach and a scrub brush while the pool water line was lowered. (why not?)
It helped tremendously with my algae fight and I have been shocking my pool for a week now and am finally seeing a smaller and smaller loss of FC day by day.
I too was a new home/pool owner and no one at Leslie's told me about the Chlorine puck/CYA correlation until my CYA levels were close to 150!!!! And I scratched my head every day trying to figure out why my chlorine was disappearing so quickly, until I found pool school and realize my CYA levels were crippling chlorine's ability to do its job.
I'm still not down to the CYA levels I'd like to be at (60-80 for the South Florida sun) but I can work with 90-100 ....I'm just using a little more chlorine and keeping it at 12 ppm like the Chlorine/CYA chart and the pool calculator suggest!!
Hang in there....it's a daunting process, but it can be done!!!!
Good luck!
 
The Pentair Clean and Clear series of filters say to add a little DE exactly once when the cartridge is new. You wouldn't be able to see it if it was there as the DE becomes embedded in the filter fabric and never comes out. It really doesn't matter if you do that or not. Adding DE makes the filter just a little less efficient but helps it catch smaller particles.
 
Okay JasonLion... for now I am going to just skip that, I have enough on my plate :)

csigirl - Thanks for the response!! If there's a way to actually drain half my pool into the sewer I haven't figured it out yet. So I put a water hose into the water at one end and I'm just filling it past the relief drain at the top of the pool.

Hopefully that will help out some. I am going to put water in it for the next 3 hours and see how it tests tomorrow.

How are you testing 12 ppm? My test only goes up to 5. Is the TF Test Kit what you're using to go higher? I can't wait to get it in :(

My assumption at this point is that since the chlorinator has dissolved all those pucks into the pool, the FC number is going to drop fast at which point i'll need to start dumping in liquid chlorine.
 
twoolley said:
''''If there's a way to actually drain half my pool into the sewer I haven't figured it out yet. So I put a water hose into the water at one end and I'm just filling it past the relief drain at the top of the pool....
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Buy or rent a sump pump. Or use the pump you have, use the backflush hose. Give the lawn a good soaking!

You're really going to like the FAS-DPD chlorine test. It's even better with a speedstir.
 
Your comment just made me realize that the water hose nozzle on my equipment is for draining!! I am going to need it because the drain near the top of my pool for overflow isn't working!

I just went out to check it and the water is above my tile and right under the patio so tomorrow I am going to water the back yard with the pool to get those CYA levels down.

Should I wait until after my son's birthday next month to shock or should I do it now??
 
twoolley said:
Your comment just made me realize that the water hose nozzle on my equipment is for draining!! I am going to need it because the drain near the top of my pool for overflow isn't working!

I just went out to check it and the water is above my tile and right under the patio so tomorrow I am going to water the back yard with the pool to get those CYA levels down.

Should I wait until after my son's birthday next month to shock or should I do it now??
Click to expand...
Is your pool green? Cloudy? CC is >.5?

With your own test kit and diligence, you may never need to shock your pool.
 

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