Trying to lower my CYA and it turned to a green swamp today

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J

JimTMich

0
Jun 28, 2012
48
Kalamazoo, MI
Pool Size
22000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Was battling with pink bacterium a few weeks ago.
Using dichlor for the last two years almost exclusively.

got rid of the pink bacterium I thought, then it started to come back, had the pool store test the CYA....you guessed it 100+.
So I ordered the big test kit from tft. Started reading and noticed I was doing it all wrong.

So I drained water until I had about 1 foot in the shallow end and refilled. CYA test at the pool store 100+.
pool is starting to get a green ting to it and gray stuff is starting to accumulate
Drained water again to try to get the CYA down so I cold treat it.
Re filling this morning and the green explodes. Threw in a bunch of cal-hypo
Test kit came in!
CYA 100+
diluted the pool water with drinking water 50% and CYA test of 60. So I still have 120 CYA.
Calculator says to shock at 28, I'm at 31 FC and it seems to be holding well.
Still green, hasn't flipped to aqua.

I was going to close next weekend. Do I continue the slam or wait for the water to get cold and try to kill it off in the winter?
 
Re: Trying to lower my CYA and it turned to a green swamp to

I think your biggest obstacle is your CYA. Anything above 100 is just a guess (precision is lost in the dilution method), and we generally don't recommend SLAMing at those kind of levels even if they are accurate. I'd certainly like to hear what others have to say, but if your swim season is over and you drain at all to close, I would just wait til spring. Open it up early and take care of it next April.
 
Re: Trying to lower my CYA and it turned to a green swamp to

Hard to believe you've drained that rascal twice and STILL have cya at 120? Why aren't you SLAMming with plain old beach instead of cal-hypo?
 
Re: Trying to lower my CYA and it turned to a green swamp to

I'm confused on the CYA being so high still.....

I need to find a good local source of liquid bleach. Last time I brought plain old bleach there was a leak and it bleached the carpet in the van....
 
Re: Trying to lower my CYA and it turned to a green swamp to

Firstly, a belated welcome to TFP :wave:
JimTMich said:
I'm confused on the CYA being so high still.....
Click to expand...
If you have been using dichlor exclusively for two years I would think that the initial test result of 120 would have been way low.

Are you following the test procedures exactly? Watch this video and make sure you are doing it just like that (sunny day, back to the sun, pour back in bottle and retest a couple times to confirm). If you are, then I'm stumped except that apparently you need to keep working to bring it down before you try fighting the green. If your water temperature is above 60 you might as well work on clearing this before you close, it will only be worse in the spring. If your water temp is below 60 then it will probably be about the same work then as it is now so either way really.
 
Re: Trying to lower my CYA and it turned to a green swamp to

Donldson said:
Firstly, a belated welcome to TFP :wave:
JimTMich said:
I'm confused on the CYA being so high still.....
Click to expand...
If you have been using dichlor exclusively for two years I would think that the initial test result of 120 would have been way low.

Are you following the test procedures exactly? Watch this video and make sure you are doing it just like that (sunny day, back to the sun, pour back in bottle and retest a couple times to confirm). If you are, then I'm stumped except that apparently you need to keep working to bring it down before you try fighting the green. If your water temperature is above 60 you might as well work on clearing this before you close, it will only be worse in the spring. If your water temp is below 60 then it will probably be about the same work then as it is now so either way really.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the video link! I'll do that today. Does it take a day or two for the CYA to re-distribute itself when drain/refill? I did the test only hours after refill was complete?
 
Re: Trying to lower my CYA and it turned to a green swamp to

Welcome Jim. If you want to carry a little less, the easiest place to get 10% chlorine is meijers in the 4pack boxes. Stronger than laundry bleach but in the end given the added strength not really that much more expensive. Cheapest source of bleach for me in Michigan is Aldis but I got sick of carting it around and the "murder scene clean up" jokes :)

My favorite source of 12% chlorine was a pool store that used to recycle the bottes and have them in 4packs in a plastic container for no leaks, but their hours got really erratic so. Gave up on them last month...easier to just pick up the 10% while doing groceries :) (I'm on the west side of the state, so that place wouldn't have helped you anyway.)

I wanted to share a few observations since you're a fellow Michigander. First off, its going back up to the 80s next week...are you sure you want to close this soon? To get my chlorine to hold over winter here, I don't close til almost the end of October (despite the leaves). Granted, part of that is because I will still heat the pool and use it on any day its above 70 outside, especially after a workout in am.

But the consensus is that its best to close when the water is consistently down to 50. If you're closing yourself -- eg on your own schedule -- I'd say no rush. If you have a service co closing you, you could reschedule.

In your shoes, I'd continue the slam if my goal were to open clean in the spring. Once you're using liquid chlorine to maintain and fully "pool schooled" you're not likely to have to worry about this sort of thing again, so its a matter of when you want to start. You can also just call it quits, take it to high shock level, cover it up, and attack the problem in early spring when the water's cold and you get more bang for your chlorine buck. The high cya might help hold your chlorine longer that way. But if you have time to get your water where you want it now
in terms of cya and sanitation, and you hold off closing til the temps are more consistently low, you'll likely have a nicer season next year and you might even get a few "Indian summer" swims in!

Best wishes whichever way you go. Just remember that if you slam, be sure to maintain the slam level to outpace the algae.
 
Re: Trying to lower my CYA and it turned to a green swamp to

Thanks guys, draining the pool now to take another crack at lowering the cya. After watching th video on cya testing i tried again and get 90 to 100. so hopefully can get i down to 50 with this drain. Then slam and finish out the year.
 

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Re: Trying to lower my CYA and it turned to a green swamp to

Drained and shocked till dead, now re-filling. We'll see if it stays dead and how far the CYA comes down.
I'll call the pool store tomorrow about liquid.
Menards has closed out all their pool liquid and the laundry liquid area looked pretty beat up.......
I May scout Meijers or Walmart. Where do you find it at Meijers, in the laundry soap area I suppose?
I'm in West Michigan as well. Kazoo
 
Re: Trying to lower my CYA and it turned to a green swamp to

It's actually in seasonal with the pool stuff AND in the center aisle at my meijer...on sale today for $9-something a case, which means it should be on special all week. I'm in Grand Rapids...assume Kzoo stores will be the same :)

(ps, if you're up in GR this week for any reason, the Knapps Corners meijer still has it as of today.)
 
Re: Trying to lower my CYA and it turned to a green swamp to

CYA 60, FC 32 (cover off). The water has definitely taken on that white/green appearance. pH 8.2? I don't have a broad range test. TA 220.
 
Re: Trying to lower my CYA and it turned to a green swamp to

JimTMich said:
I'm confused on the CYA being so high still.....

I need to find a good local source of liquid bleach. Last time I brought plain old bleach there was a leak and it bleached the carpet in the van....
Click to expand...

You have to keep the bottles upright. The lids have a vent in them. Try taking a milk crate if you have one.
 

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