Did complete drain/fill & CYA is over 200.....

[tomfinch]

We did a complete drain/fill this weekend (refilled pool on Monday) and my wife says the pool guy that helped me out dumped a bucket of CYA into the Filter Cartridge housing and sealed it up. This was a 5 gallon bucket of detergent looking CYA. I wasn't home during this to stop him. It's only been 4 days since the fill and I have checked the CYA levels daily and they are completely off the charts and over 200. Could this be because I am checking the level way too soon? I am completely obsessed with my chemical levels since finding this site a couple weeks ago I WANT IT RIGHT NOW!!! haha. I just really need to know if it's too soon to tell or should I take the filters apart and get the CYA out of the cartridge housing he dumped in. The pressure seems fine but I worry because I read that this doesn't dissolve property. I'm in a small panic!!! I have a SWG that is currently off and I put liquid chlorine in because the pool was filled from a hydrant and water was green. My CYA is over 200 it seems and my FC is 18, PH is 7.5, TA is 175, CH 200. Water looks fine.

 

[jblizzle]

If you can remove any of the CYA from the filter I would do it ASAP. Sounds like you may have to do another partial drain due to his "help"

Even if it somehow turns out your CYA ends up low, at least then you can dose it correctly.

 

[Bama Rambler]

I call them and ask exactly how much they added and why. Then I'd inform them that I expected them to reimburse you for the water it's going to take to fix his mistake.

 

[tomfinch]

Well as soon as I received the first reply I went and pulled the filters out and gave them a good wash. The conditioner he put into the housing had already been dissolved into the water but I still hosed the filters off anyhow. My water is 62 degrees at the moment so Im not sure how accurate the test is but I have to use half tap water and half pool water in order to get close since my test kit is the FAS DPD and only goes to 100. As of right now I really think my CYA is around 300. Could this be correct or could the temp of the water be throwing the test off perhaps? I called the guy and haven't heard back but my wife says he definitely put a 5 gallon bucket into the cartridge before clamping it back on and starting the pump.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Nope, if anything the colder water would make the test read lower. That guy screwed up big time!

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, tomfinch

As of right now I really think my CYA is around 300. Could this be correct or could the temp of the water be throwing the test off perhaps? I called the guy and haven't heard back but my wife says he definitely put a 5 gallon bucket into the cartridge before clamping it back on and starting the pump.

Wow thats a bummer , definitely get some resolution quick form that pool guy. His "help" made your pool drain and refill useless. It is likely that you can't run algae free for long at those CYA values. What was the original reason for the drain?

 

[tomfinch]

I had to drain it to seal off the top of the bar. We have have a sunk in BBQ and swim up bar as you can see from this photo taken 5 years ago when my kids were small. The left side is the wall where the water was starting to show calcium buildup and such. Once I did some research and found this site I decided to look further and realized that even though the water looked good I had a bunch of other stuff going on with the pool like CH that was thru the roof. Drained it, repaired it and did an acid wash to get rid of the calcium build up. I have always had a pool person to take care of the pool until recently when I became obsessed with watching this site and excited to do this myself. I honestly believe I'm a chemist now... hahaha.... driving my wife crazy. I even asked her to pick me up a "Speed Stir" this morning. I will let you know if she actually does it.

 

[ajones02]

great pool and BBQ area!

good luck on the CYA thing and i'm with the others on trying to get him to pay for the water when you have to re-fill.....

is this the same guy that has always taken care of your pool for you?

 

[linen]

Yes, that is an great looking pool (and kids too)!

 

[tomfinch]

Nope not the guy who always took care of it. This was actually my daughter's coach who cleans pools. He offered to do the acid wash if I would host the end of the year party for the softball team. Oh well... Well since I will be draining again I suppose I will have a new coat of Epoxy put on the slide. Found some cracks that should have been repaired prior to this fill.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Bummer, but at least all it'll cost you is the water and a few chems to get it back balanced.

If he put 25 lbs in, it would have raised your CYA by 190 ppm and lowered your pH by 3.47.

Did you check your pH after the stuff was added?
Are you sure it was CYA he added?

 

[tomfinch]

I spoke with him last night and yep it was conditioner/cya. I'm not sure what the weight was on it but it was a 5 gallon bucket full. He added it prior to putting any water into the pool by placing in with the filter cartridge. I didn't have a chance to check the chemicals until the pool was filled and running for 24 hours. The PH was around 7 and the CYA was crazy high. Lesson learned.

 

[Bama Rambler]

25 lbs is a standard quantity and it's about a 5 gallon bucket size. That's a lot of money and CYA.