CYA seems waaaaaay too low.

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JustinSummerlin

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Apr 25, 2012
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I have the Taylor K-2006 test kit (I think it's one of the recommended ones on here). When I test my CYA, I'm supposed to poor some water into a tube until a black dot at the bottom disappears.... well, I've filled the tube up and the black dot never disappears... the water is not cloudy enough. Is that a huge problem? Do I need to worry about it immediately?

Also, secondary question, my TA is 140ppm. Is that something I should worry about immediately?


EDIT:
Actually, let me just give you all my chemical measures and you can tell me what's good or bad.

Vinyl, in-ground, ~14,000 gallon pool.

FC = 7 (Just put a lot of bleach in last night.. didn't know it would go up that much... But I think it needs a shock anyway.)
CC = .2
pH = 7.5
TA = 150
CH = 150
CYA = .....maybe 10? Not sure? The test tube only goes to thirty and that's below the top of the tube and I got all the way to the top of the tube and could stil see the black dot.

Thanks, all.
 
Re: CYA seems waaaaaay to low.

Nothing bad will happen right now (lack of CYA will mostly mean that your chlorine will get used up by sunlight a lot faster than it otherwise would), your FC is a bit high, your CC implies you probably don't need to shock, why do you think you need to shock? In a well managed pool shocking should be a very rare event, some people here pride themselves on not shocking for years, personally I find it easier to shock when it looks like things may be starting to get bad (like when the pump motor breaks and there is no circulation for 3 or 4 days while waiting on the replacement pump to arrive), still a rare event, maybe once or twice a year at most. One thing to remember when you do add the CYA stabilizer is that it can take a week or more to show up on the test.

Ike
 
Re: CYA seems waaaaaay to low.

The reason I kinda wanted to shock, was because we just moved into this house and just got the pool fixed a few weeks ago. During that time, though, we were dealing with leaking pipes, a leaky pool pump, and a broken filter. I was unable to filter the pool that often with those problems... And I also didn't really get a chance to put much in there in the way of chemicals. I don't know what algae looks like in a pool, but I think I might have a little bit of it. I was kinda doing a half-hearted shock because, honestly, I don't really know what I'm doing.

Also, I just realized I used "to" instead of "too" in my thread title. I feel so dirty. I had to correct it.
 
Have you performed an overnight chlorine test yet? If not try it see if it passes. Does the water look crystal clear? Do you have any CC? I suggest reading Pool School.
 
I've read through a lot of pool school... I'll try to read the rest of it.

I've not done an overnight chlorine test. The water does NOT look crystal clear. I have .2ppm CC according to tests... this was the afternoon after I added 6.5ppm of chlorine at night.
 
You need to get your CYA up to 20-30 and then shocking my be in order. With no CYA your FC is getting eaten up by the sun and algae. At 20-30 CYA level shocking will be at a lower number so you can save on bleach usage. After the pool looks crystal clear then you can let your FC drift down and raise your CYA up to 50.
 
Also, I just realized I used "to" instead of "too" in my thread title. I feel so dirty. I had to correct it.
Click to expand...
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I know just what you mean. That brings up a good point to everyone on the forum that "neatness counts".

You are far more likely to get a thoughtful, reasoned response when you check your posts for grammar, spelling and clear thinking that when you simply post some unproofed questions. If I or others can't understand, we cannot respond. :lol:
 
Ok, I ran the overnight loss test last night. I tested at like 12:00-12:30 or something. Then, I woke up this morning early and tested again at 6:15am.

Last night = 2.5ppm FC
Today = 2.0ppm FC

It rained a bit last night if that makes a difference.

What does this mean? Pool school says that I should only worry about shocking if the drop is greater than 1 in the loss test, but I feel like I should shock just because it went for a little while without chlorine after we filled the pool up, it's cloudy, and there always seems to be some scum on top of the water.

Oh, also, when I got in it a few days ago (for maintenance purposes), the sides were a bit slippery.
 

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I think bama is refering the three finished shocking criteria: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool(they are also in my sig).

It sounds like you need to do the shocking process, since you stated you water is not clear.

As for your 2.5 to 2 ppm drop overnight, since your FC level was pretty low you may want to redo the test tonight with the FC closer to a shock level of 11 ppm (from poolcalculator.com and a cya level of 0). Make sure you add no more chlorine after you dose to 11 ppm, and that includes any chlorinators...turn them off.
 
Ok, so I dosed my pool up to shock levels yesterday afternoon (due to my schedule, I couldn't wait until night time). But, I didn't test until I got home that night. It was 12.4ppm late that night. Then, I woke up this morning late, so it was already light outside, but it was overcast and rainy, so no direct sunlight on the pool. Tested again and it was 12ppm. Looks like I don't have an algae problem.

I'm still glad I had a chance to shock my pool. It makes me feel better even if it didn't need it. Now I can get it down to regular chlorine levels and maintain it hopefully.

I also bought some stabilizer, so I'm going to be adding that once the chlorine levels go down a bit more.

Thanks for all your help, everyone.
 
JustinSummerlin said:
Ok, so I dosed my pool up to shock levels yesterday afternoon (due to my schedule, I couldn't wait until night time). But, I didn't test until I got home that night. It was 12.4ppm late that night. Then, I woke up this morning late, so it was already light outside, but it was overcast and rainy, so no direct sunlight on the pool. Tested again and it was 12ppm. Looks like I don't have an algae problem.
Click to expand...
Just to check, what is your CC level? What does your water look like, is it still cloudy? If CC is above 0.5 ppm or your water is still cloudy, I would suggest you need to do the shocking process until we eliminate that it is organics even with a passing OCLT.

What is your water temperature?
 
Haven't checked my water temp in a day or two, but it was around 76-78 last time I checked.

Not sure what my CC is. I forgot to test it. :/ I'll test it tonight when I get home.

The water looks pretty clear, but it doesn't appear to be "sparkling" yet. I'll give it a day or two to let the filter work on it.
 

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