maybe a crazy question

[302harrison]

I accidentally drained most of my pool and have refilled it. I am rebalancing the chemicals. The pool contractor I spoke with (who is going to help me with my liner issues in the spring--as draining the pool caused wrinkles and pulling away of the vinyl liner) said to be sure I get the TA back in line and the conditioner. She recommended I add at least 4 pounds of conditioner, which would bring my CYA level up to around 40 or 50.

My question is, does the conditioner do anything other than protect the chlorine from sunlight? If so, I was thinking about very gradually adding the CYA back by using the chlorine pucks my husband and I had stocked up on before we started using pool school and found out they were adding too much CYA to our pool. (We now use only straight bleach and had to drain part of our pool to get the CYA lower this summer.) Anyway, is there a reason I would need to bring the CYA up more quickly? Should I go ahead and add the conditioner? Also, shouldn't I shoot for a CYA level of 30 or so instead of 40 or 50?

I was chicken to ask the pool lady these questions for fear she would chastise me for using this method or confuse me about it, when it has worked great and kept our pool super clear ever since we switched from pool stores to Pool School.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Richard320]

I'd shoot for 25-30 with plain CYA just to get some UV protection. And then chlorinate and stabilize with the pucks from thereon. Use calc.html, down at the bottom where it says effects of adding chemicals, to figure out how many 8 oz pucks you can add, so you don't overdo it. You also won't need to burn up a lot of CYA reagent that way. Be aware that pucks are acidic, and they will lower pH and TA over time.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Does your pool have a tablet feeder? Not to disagree with Richard but, if so, given the time of year and your location, I would use the pucks exclusively until the CYA got to about 40 and then switch back.

As Richard said, use Poolmath to figure out how many pucks you can use to get there and then just keep up with how many you use until you use up that many.

P.S. Keep an eye on the pH because as Rich also mentioned, pucks will drive your pH down.

 

[302harrison]

Yes, we have a tablet feeder. According to the pool calculator, each puck will add 3 to the CYA, so we'll need to add a dozen or so to get the CYA up to around 40. Is this what you recommend doing?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Yeah, just maintain the FC with them until you've used up the dozen and then test the CYA to see exactly where you're at.

 

[Butterfly]

If the water is cold when you need to test the CYA, be sure to bring the water to room temp before testing.

 

[302harrison]

did not know to bring to room temp. Thanks!