High CYA, Leslies says to drain pool?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
E

Eserna

0
May 13, 2014
11
Castroville, tx
I have a 12,500 gl fiberglass in ground pool. I was having clouding and stain issues. Used AA and removed stain but water is still cloudy after several days. Tested water at Leslie's and they said no other option than to drain pool. I have been told to not drain a fiberglass pool so not sure what to do. I live in South Texas and we have been in a major drought however we did receive about 2" of rain 3 days ago. I assume our water table is quite low but don't know for sure. I am kind of at a loss of what to do and am looking for help. Here are my test results:
FAC 2
TAC 2
CH 200
CYA 300 (said it might be higher but can only test up to 300)
TA 30
pH 7.2
Copper 0
Iron 0
TDS 600
Pho 200
 
Was the testing at Leslie's using a drop based test or strips? Drops are more reliable, strip color based tests are terrible.

IF you trust the results, you have to drain your pool. Do it in steps. Drain below the skimmer or to the returns is usually safe. Then refill. Repeat. You'll have to do this ALOT. Since you need to replace about 83% of your water to hit 50 CYA.
 
For what it's worth, Leslies nor anyone else can reliably test CYA over 100.

I would personally drain and refill 1/3 to 1/2 of your pool each cycle until. You don't tell us your chlorinating method so keep draining until your CYA if 50 ppm.
 
I am using floaters with 3" trichlor tabs. I usually keep two full floaters with 4 tabs each in them at the same time as that is what Leslies told me to do. I shock using dichlor once a week and fresh n clear (every other week) as that is what I was told to do by leslies. I am beginning to get the feeling that their advice/instruction is not all that great.
 
Eserna said:
I am using floaters with 3" trichlor tabs. I usually keep two full floaters with 4 tabs each in them at the same time as that is what Leslies told me to do. I shock using dichlor once a week and fresh n clear (every other week) as that is what I was told to do by leslies. I am beginning to get the feeling that their advice/instruction is not all that great.
Click to expand...

Understanding the relationship between CYA and free chlorine is an eye opener. Then when you see that doing what Leslie's has been telling you to do got your CYA up over 300...
 
First order of business after ordering your tf-100 testkit-- stop with the trichlor tabs and dichlor shock!!! They are only adding to your cya problem! Buy a stockpile of at least 8.25% bleach. Your local Walmart's Great Value bleach is generally a pretty good buy.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You've spent way more money than you needed to following Leslie's self serving advice.

You absolutely NEED to order the TF - 100 test kit if you haven't already.

Once you've done that, start reading pool school.

In the meantime, you need to partially drain and refill your pool, several times.
 
There is no real "conversion". You are already using a stabilized form of chlorine, you just need to use sodium hypochlorite (bleach) instead.

At the top of every page here there is a link to PoolMath. Using that, you can determine how much bleach to use for each dose.
 
Still not clear on what is the best method of applying the liquid chlorine into the pool. Do I pour straight from the jug? I plan on starting the drain/fill process tonight. Should I take the floaters out and not put chlorine in until after I am done with the drain/fill process or will that promote algae? Am I safe to wait until the process is over and then add chlorine?

Thanks for all of your help.
 
Eserna said:
Still not clear on what is the best method of applying the liquid chlorine into the pool. Do I pour straight from the jug? I plan on starting the drain/fill process tonight. Should I take the floaters out and not put chlorine in until after I am done with the drain/fill process or will that promote algae? Am I safe to wait until the process is over and then add chlorine?

Thanks for all of your help.
Click to expand...

It should be clear that your CYA levels are astronimical because you keep adding it in the form of trichlor and dichlor. The CYA builds up and your forced to drain to lower the levels. That wont happen with liquid chlorine/bleach.

Please read the following information that I read myself a while back. I bookmarked it because the information is so clear and concise and it makes you wonder why the h' anyone uses "pucks" at all. Hope it helps you realize the harm of using those forms of chlorine.

The high CYA is completely understandable because the Dichlor increases both chlorine and CYA. In fact, Trichlor tabs/pucks (such as those that are probably used in your inline chlorinator) also increase CYA, though a little more slowly. The following are chemical facts that are independent of concentration of product or of pool size:

For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Dichlor, it also increases CYA by 9 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Cal-Hypo, it also increases Calcium Hardness (CH) by at least 7 ppm.

So even with a 2 ppm FC per day chlorine usage, if you use only Trichlor pucks/tabs your CYA will increase by 36 ppm per month if there is no water dilution. Dichlor increases the CYA 50% faster. This is why you should use mostly unstabilized chlorine, usually chlorinating liquid or bleach, as your primary chlorine source. The downside is that you need to add it every day or two which is why most pool services don't use it (though some do by adding a lot and then come back a week later to add a lot again).

Higher CYA levels will lower the active chlorine level unless you proportionately raise the FC level. The active chlorine level that kills bacteria and prevents algae growth is roughly proportional to the FC/CYA ratio. So in many pools when the CYA level gets high and the FC target isn't changed, algae can grow faster than chlorine can kill it and the water turns dull then cloudy and then a full-fledged algae bloom, or it just shows algae right away, depending on species. If you don't want to prevent this by managing the CYA level using unstabilized chlorine or massively diluting the water, then you can use an algaecide or phosphate remover at extra cost.

In my 16,000 gallon pool, I use only 12.5% chlorinating liquid and some acid and it costs me only $15 per month though my chlorine usage is low at around 1 ppm FC per day due to a mostly opqaue electric safety cover (the pool is used every day for an hour or so).

Author: chem geek
from here:
http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=37401&hl=fact#entry156441
 
Eserna said:
OK, that is making sense now. How much liquid bleach do I add during the drain/fill process?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't even know what to answer on this one...

Other than with that high of CYA (if that's what it actually is) there's no way to add enough chlorine to bring up to maintenance level, much less a shock/SLAM level.

1. Get a proper test kit ordered. Most people around here including me recommend the TF-100 from tftestkits.com, direct link in my signature. "Free" testing from the pool is only going to confuse and is inaccurate.
2. While you're waiting, I would partial drain and refill a few times. I'm not sure any amount of chlorine is going to help until that CYA is below 100.
3. You won't truly know what your CYA is until you get a proper test kit.

If any experts disagree and have a recommendation for adding any bleach at this point... please chime in.
 
I had the same problem last week with they high CYA (>100). I got the Taylor test kit and verified the results. I drained over 1/2 my pool and re-filled (this was hard to swallow due to all the problem we had with our pool build). I had to empty and re-fill the pool 5 other times due to builder issues.
I have the chlorine tabs and shock that the pool store sold me but that is a loss for me too. In the long run I will be better off. Maybe I can sell the rest to someone who insists on using them.

Now that it is re-filled my CYA is 35 and I am dialed in.
It is a big relief now that it is done. There is no other way around it.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply