Newbie

[missabby]

SO, Ive owned and maintained our pool the way the pool store has told me for 6 years..I know
I took a sample to the pool store a few weeks ago when my water was "milky" and they had me put in 5 bags of 73% calcium hypo-chlorite...2 days later another 5 bags, and then 3 days later another 3. I was then advised to put in 5lbs of stabelizer/conditioner. Since then my PH has been drifting down, ive been adding borax or washing soda to keep it up. My FC was through the roof for weeks until I finally added 2.5lbs of Sodium thiosulfate to bring it down. I wasnt adding any chlorine at all from the time they had me shock with 13 bags of cal hypo. SO glad i found this site to get away from the pool place. I have now invested in the Taylor K 2006 and got my first set of results. I am concerned about my CYA being so high, and why they would have had me add the stabelizer....

FC-2.5
CC.5
PH 7.2
TA-110
CH400
CYA 100 (I believe it is even higher then this)

Vinyl Splash superpool
10,000gal regtangle
Cartridge 1.5HP

 

[joenypd]

Those are not bad numbers. You can do a partial water change if you want to get the CYA down. check out the pool school for the proper FC level for your CYA level, which you really have to narrow down a proper reading on. Then you can either maintain the proper FC level for your CYA level or do the water change to bring it down.

 

[PSW]

Hello and welcome to TFP! Although your experience with the pool store was not the best route...at least you found us sooner than later!

You are correct in your analysis of your CYA..its WAY too high! And, like you said, it may actually be higher than that. Unfortunately, the way you lower CYA is by water replacement. It is not recommended that you drain the entire pool at one time. Rather, drain 1/4 or so an re-fill..then re-test levels. You will likely need to do this 3+ times to get to your desired CYA level (30-50).

For some reason, pool stores seem to ignore the effects of high CYA. Perhaps because the higher your CYA, the more bleach you need to put in your pool. Or perhaps it's just ignorance. Regardless, trust what you read on this forum and your OWN test results more than the pool store...

 

[Richard320]

That CYA is why you had such a hard time killing off the algae that was clouding the water.

If you're serious about taking control, you need your own test kit. There ain't no other way. I'm confident that the initial expense will repay you in two or three trips to the pool store. Save some time, click this link and order a TF100 right now.

You probably will want to dilute your pool water 50-50 with tap water, then use that with the CYA test reagent. Double the result and you'll have a better idea what CYA level is. Then you'll know how much to drain.

 

[techguy]

I asked the same question about CYA and basically the answer I got was it was because they needed to sell you something. I was recently in a local place and the tester in the store was selling her a large bucket if CYA... as it was only 90 and could stand to be a little higher.

So... that out of the way, you know we should do the CYA test again with 50% clean water and 50% pool water to see if you are closer to 100 or 200 ppm CYA. The 50/50 test value will show half the CYA value, it needs to be doubled , ie 50= 100ppm 75=150...

You can do this while you are draining off the water, how much will depend on how high your CYA really is. I hope your fill water is cheap and plentiful. Managing a pool with CYA that hig is very difficult.

Can you add your pool details to your signature in your profile.

Wow... fast typers.

 

[PSW]

If you're serious about taking control, you need your own test kit. There ain't no other way. I'm confident that the initial expense will repay you in two or three trips to the pool store.

Haha I promise I don't mean to call you out (again) Rich, but the initial post indicates she has a K-2006 (which is how she got those test results)

 

[Richard320]

If you're serious about taking control, you need your own test kit. There ain't no other way. I'm confident that the initial expense will repay you in two or three trips to the pool store.

Haha I promise I don't mean to call you out (again) Rich, but the initial post indicates she has a K-2006 (which is how she got those test results)

Oops again.

 

[joenypd]

oh- and no more hypo-chlorite, just use bleach to shock and maintain FC. Again refer to pool school and pool calculator for how much.

 

[missabby]

Checked the CYA diluting with 50% tap water and its at about 70..so 140 CYA. Could it go down at all at this point? Or is it all to late and just drain some off

 

[missabby]

Yes Ive read all of pool school. Ive already stocked up on the 3 Bs!

 

[joenypd]

you really have to do a partial water change. try doing about 1.25 of the pool a day maintaining proper FC level re-test after day 2 to see if you need a day 3 and 4. when you get down to 30-50 begin the shock process

 

[supertune]

Hi missabby and welcome to TFP!
I don't think you can manage at 140 CYA very successfully.
Drain and refill is needed to get at least to 60ppm, 30ppm would be better if you have to go through shock process.

Chuck

 

[missabby]

Ok. So I plan to drain quite a bit out. My next question is what is the easiest way to do this with a cartridge filter? We just converted last month from a sand filter...and have never had to really drain much more then a good backwash would take care of. Up until now weve just used a hose to siphon..this seems awfully tedious if I plan to replace atleast 5000 gallons.

 

[techguy]

Two garden hoses doing a good siphon would take probably 8 hours, overnight is what I have done in the past with my 10,000 gallon above ground. A rental trash pump will do it in less time than the minimum rental, four hours, from my HomeDepot, including setup, pumping, clean-up and drive time (15 minutes each way).

I have forgotten and I cannot see your sig, what type of pool do you have?