Rookie Chemist...CYA

[RollTideRoll]

Okay, got a few questions that I need someone smarter and more experienced than I am to answer please. Recently put up a 16x48 Intex Ultra with SWG. I've read pool school a few times and each time it begins to make more sense to me. My test levels are right where my intex guide says they should be, except for FC & stabilizer but I'll get to that next, but they differ from the pool school suggestions. Which should I follow...owner's manual numbers or pool school numbers?

Next the whole stabilizer/FC issue. Our pool is in full sun with no shade what so ever, unless there is a passing cloud, so I know the sun is eating up a Ton if not all of my FC. Here's my question, do I use shock packets to up the stabilizer and FC level or simply add CYA? Everything else is checking out, just not FC and CYA. I know the chlorine is being used up just as fast as the SWG can produce it due to lack of CYA. If I add CYA, pool school suggest using a sock in the skimmer or tying it close to the return, however the canister of 100% CYA I purchased instructs me to add it slowly and directly into the skimmer with continous water circulation. Again, which to follow, pool school or printed label?

Sorry for the long read and thanks for all the help that I've been given in just my first few weeks as a member of this site.

 

[wetchem]

Have you actually gone thru the "Shock" process?
From what I have been reading here, until that is done, you'll have a hard time with the SWG.
-wc

 

[lightingguy]

The typical FC recommendation of 1-3ppm FC is based on EPA drinking water standards and does not take CYA into account at all. The science on CYA and it's affects on the available FC level in the water are not contested - but for numerous reasons manufacturer recommendations tend not to reflect this science. The FC numbers you find recommended here do take that CYA relationship into account and are therefore higher.

Running your pool at the lower FC levels will have enough active sanitizer to eliminate most forms of bacteria and bather to bather transmission of most pathogens - but you may find you struggle to keep the algae at bay. Long story short - I'd go with the numbers here.

As for CYA addition - CYA can take awhile to dissolve. So if you dump it in the skimmer all of it will lodge in the filter. If you then backwash the filter (even a few days later) you will be throwing away an unknown amount of product.

The sock thing eliminates this potential problem - and is good generic advice. But I dumped some CYA granuals in my skimmer this morning with no sock - just cause I'm a rebel (and wont be cleaning my filter any time soon)

 

[jblizzle]

Follow recommendations from here. It is least confusing to add CYA and FC separately, but dichlor could be used for both.

If it is a new fill you may not need to go through the shock process. You can so an OCLT to confirm your water is clean.

Posted with Tapatalk ... sorry if I sound short ... hate typing on phone

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

While on this subject I have a question for those In The Know!

I have read and read and read on here about the best way to add the CYA, and I fully get that it takes a long time to dissolve, so my question is this:

Has anyone thought of or tried putting CYA in like a 5 gallon bucket with a nice tight lid and letting it dissolve in there and then pouring the water from the bucket into the pool, (not all at once of course, but adding a little at a time until you reach the proper level)?

Is there a down side to doing this? Would the CYA maybe go bad from sitting in a bucket of water?

Example, when we get our pool on order I know it will take 10 days or so just to get it, then most likely another few days to a week to actually put it up and get it filled, so if I put the recommended amount of CYA, (for my pool), in a 5 gallon bucket of water the day I order my pool, I would think it should be pretty much dissolved by the time I am ready to put it in the pool, so would this method speed the process any?

Good idea? Bad Idea? Pros/Cons

 

[duraleigh]

Is there a down side to doing this?

Only your time. It will likely not dissolve completely anyway. Many members have tried several methods and all seem very unwieldy.

Seems simple enough to calculate the dosage accurately, put it in the pool and, after 24 hours, you are safe to assume that is the amount that is in your pool, even though the test may not yet give you that result

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Thanks Dave

 

[techguy]

One trick I read in another posting was to buy one of those "bra washing bags" (polyester mesh with zipper) and add the CYA solid to it and place it in your skimmer. The incoming water will dissolve it and you won't have any granules in the pump or any kids playing with the sock. You can see when it is all dissolved. My CYA container said it may take up to a week to completely dissolve.