Seems like I'm always chasing the CYA

[egadds]

Seems like I'm always low on CYA. Maybe just because this is my 1st season testing this way.
My current readings
CYA-20 (adding Cynauric acid as I type this)
FC- 2
CC - 1
CH-250
TA-120
My PH is alittle high between 7.8-8.2
Kinda hard to tell by color. But that usually comes down when I get my CYA around 40-50.
Any thoughts. Am I over analyzing or is this normal to bring CYA up allot during the season?
My pool gets allot of use. Usually 5-8 people every day.

 

[JasonLion]

You should only be losing CYA if there is water replacement, a leak or lots of backwashing, or lots of splashing. Normally CYA goes down 10 to 20 points over the course of an entire swim season. If you are seeing way more CYA loss then something is wrong.

 

[egadds]

Yeah I've had to bring it up like 3-4 times since May.
There is allot of splashing and I do have to put water in it every other week or so. I also have a slide so there is allot of water loss from that. What else could it be?

 

[Richard320]

Yeah I've had to bring it up like 3-4 times since May.
There is allot of splashing and I do have to put water in it every other week or so. I also have a slide so there is allot of water loss from that. What else could it be?

How much rain do you get?

 

[egadds]

Yeah we have had some rain I live in Louisvlle,Ky. I backwash/rinse once a week when I clean out the pump basket. I have had allot of kid parties this year also. They tend to be hard on keeping water in the pool... I can tell a difference tho in my water refilling this year. When I was using the clorinator and bags of shock weekly in years past I was filling byweekly and sometimes weekly. I think someone told me on my first post on here when I said how I was chemicaling my pool that I probaly use allot of water with the all the powders I'm using. But the pool has stayed relatively clear when I stay on top of it using the TFP method.
I've just had to buy the chlorine and cynauric acid. So my costs have been allot better so far this season. The past 3yrs I've had the pool I had my costs down to about $250 a season buying the stuff I use to use in bulk on sale. Which was allooooot cheaper than most of the other pool owners I know. But this site ROCKS!!!
I put the pool in 2011 and I've never changed my filter sand. I was gonna try and get thru this season and do it during next years opening.

 

[Butterfly]

I put the pool in 2011 and I've never changed my filter sand. I was gonna try and get thru this season and do it during next years opening.

You do not need to change the filter sand. You can just clean it.

 

[egadds]

Seems I had something going on in my pool after all. I was out of town last week and it got bad. Plus my aquabot had to be sent out for a tuneup. So I have been manually vacuuming...which sucks...
I did a Slam today. But do I do the overnite test after the pool is clear. It is still very cloudy. I thought I would vacuum again tomorrow then test FC. Slam again and do overnite test.

 

[tim5055]

Seems I had something going on in my pool after all. I was out of town last week and it got bad. Plus my aquabot had to be sent out for a tuneup. So I have been manually vacuuming...which sucks...
I did a Slam today. But do I do the overnite test after the pool is clear. It is still very cloudy. I thought I would vacuum again tomorrow then test FC. Slam again and do overnite test.

I think you are confusing a "pool store" shock with the SLAM. A SLAM is a continuous process, not a one time addition/increase of chlorine.

You should read the directions on SLAMing your pool in the How To section of Pool School and follow that procedure completely to the end of it is very cloudy and you have CC=1.

Yes, the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT) would be done after you get the CC down and the water is clear.

 

[egadds]

I did the slam yesterday evening. I brought my FC up to 12 twice since my CYA was 30. But it was getting dark and my pool was still cloudy. So I wasnt ready to do the overnite. I am going to vacuum today then bring the FC up again. Then if it is clear and CC is 1 or lower I will do the overnite. Is this correct?

 

[tim5055]

I did the slam yesterday evening. I brought my FC up to 12 twice since my CYA was 30. But it was getting dark and my pool was still cloudy. So I wasnt ready to do the overnite. I am going to vacuum today then bring the FC up again. Then if it is clear and CC is 1 or lower I will do the overnite. Is this correct?

Maybe I'm misunderstandding what you are saying, but I still think you are confusing it some. The SLAM is a continuous process. If you started the SLAM yesterday evening you would continue to test FC and keep adding chlorine to keep it at the SLAM level. You keep doing that continuously until all three criteria are met. You should check and add chlorine a minimum of twice a day, but the more (no more than once an hour) times makes the SLAM go quicker. This continues 24/7 until you are done with it.

This is what it looks like...

So, bring it up to SLAM level
wait at least one hour
Check FC
Add chlorine to bring it back up to SLAM level
wait at least one hour
Check FC
Add chlorine to bring it back up to SLAM level
wait at least one hour
Check FC
Add chlorine to bring it back up to SLAM level
keep repeating until pool is clear, CC is less than 0.5 and you pass the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)

 

[egadds]

Gotcha thanks

 

[tim5055]

I guess I should have said that you can sleep and go to work in there...

The minimum is two times a day, so if you check and adjust morning and evening it works, but maybe just not as fast if you did it multiple times spread out over the day. After a few of the check/adjust times you will see that the amount of chlorine you need to add starts to go down. When the amount added gets minimal then you know you are getting close.

 

[egadds]

My pool is still cloudy. I have slammed it several times a day this week. Like 16 times to be exact is this normal? Should I keep slamming it. My cya was 30 so I kept bringing it up to 12. It was cloudy last nite so I checked FC it 13 at 9pm I put alittle to much of bleach in the last time this was after an hour then went to bed. Got up at 2am for work checked to see overnite test FC was 12 and CC .5
I got my aquabot back today and put it in for several hours I had been manually vacuuming every day. The filter bag was clean no algae. I did a full test at 5pm
FC-6, CC-.5, CH-300,TA-120, CYA-30.
Also there is little bubbles all over the pool walls which I've never noticed before.
So should I keep slamming or do I have something else going on???
I'm at a loss at this point. I have some clarifier should I put that in it?

 

[Smykowski]

Reread tim's post (#10) above. It is a process, and it will take time.

 

[egadds]

Ok. Just wanted to make sure. I'm a newbie...be patient with me.
Just thought dam I've put many gallons of bleach in this week. I have people coming to swim tomorrow afternoon. Should I go ahead and bring it up to slam level tonite?

 

[Abigail K]

Yes, definitely.
Bring it to SLAM level as often as possible, but not more than once per hour.

 

[egadds]

Gotcha thx