Trichlor tabs raise CYA too much... but what else?

[jellyfish]

I understand from the consensus here that using Trichor tabs in an automatic feeder will eventually raise CYA too much.
But what is the alternative?

I work long hours during the week and tend to the pool on the weekends, so I can't be manually measuring chlorine levels and adding bleach daily. When CYA gets high, what else can I do to keep the pool chlorinated? (I'm not ready to buy a salt-water chlorine generator yet)

 

[JohnT]

Bleach. Either hand added or in a Liquidator.

But no matter what method you use, you need to test the water more often than just weekends, and adding bleach doesn't take as long as testing.

 

[JasonLion]

Or rethink getting a SWG. At this time a SWG is the simplest way to take care of a pool.

 

[Swimgirl]

I have a fairly long day, too. My system is to take the daily walk out to the pool with a gallon of bleach and a measuring cup along with my test kit. Check the chlorine and Ph, add usually a cup of bleach (10%) and ba-bing! done until tomorrow! Just takes a minute to do this. Normally I do not have to add anything to adjust the Ph; with bleach the Ph will tend to creep up, but it's pretty slow. I add a cup or so of acid maybe once a week.

 

[h2oando]

First, Trichlor won't necessarily raise your CYA to much. If you are in a climate where you have to winterize the pool, you are probably taking 2-3 feet of water out of the pool to winterize and probably another 2-3 feet in the spring when you open. In a 6 month swimming
season (like the one here in Chicago!) you'll never add to much CYA to the pool through Trichlor.
Second, why can't you check the pool once a week? It all depends on how you use the pool. If you have 20 kids in the pool every day; than you better be checking it every day. However, if you have an autocover and only use the pool on the weekends; than you might be able to get away with once a week. Every situation/pool is different.
Despite my ramblings; the fact remains that more is better!

Andy

 

[chem geek]

jellyfish,

If you get a pool cover, then you can slow down the rate of chlorine loss from sunlight such that you can add chlorine twice a week instead of every day -- that's the situation in my own pool. Of course, then you'll have the labor of removing and replacing the pool cover -- ours is an electric safety cover so is no hassle.

Andy,

A smaller pool and shorter swim season help, but also having a sand filter with regular weekly backwashing helps dilute the water. Otherwise, you'd be surprised with how quickly Trichlor increases CYA. In my own pool, I started out (5 years ago) using Trichlor, but I have a 7-month swim season, a 16,000 gallon pool, and a cartridge filter (so no backwashing) and no dilution over the winter. After one and a half seasons, my CYA climbed from 30 ppm to 150 ppm. This was with an FC usage of less than 1 ppm per day! The problems that ensued are what got me looking into pool water chemistry.

For every 10 ppm FC added by Trichlor, it also adds 6 ppm to CYA. So even with a low 1 ppm FC per day usage, that's an increase in CYA of 18 ppm per month or 108 ppm in one 6-month season. Weekly backwashing in a smaller pool helps reduce this increase.

Richard

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

First, Trichlor won't necessarily raise your CYA to much. If you are in a climate where you have to winterize the pool, you are probably taking 2-3 feet of water out of the pool to winterize and probably another 2-3 feet in the spring when you open. In a 6 month swimming
season (like the one here in Chicago!) you'll never add to much CYA to the pool through Trichlor.
Second, why can't you check the pool once a week? It all depends on how you use the pool. If you have 20 kids in the pool every day; than you better be checking it every day. However, if you have an autocover and only use the pool on the weekends; than you might be able to get away with once a week. Every situation/pool is different.
Despite my ramblings; the fact remains that more is better!

Andy

Never say never. As a suburban Chicago resident who has survived a CYA level of over 100, and lived to tell the tale, I can attest that you can have those conditions you described and still get CYA too high from the use of tri-chlor. Happened to me. That being said, it doesn't mean it's an all or nothing, there are ways to use tri-chlor and minimize the impact on your pool. But for me when you factor in expense, bleach is simple to do and cheaper than tri-chlor.

 

[AnnaK]

I maintain my pool with a combination of trichlor and liquid chlorine. I get a 20 ppm increase of CYA over a period of about 6 months. My FC loss in a 24 hour period is 1 - 1.5 ppm. My feeder is set to 1/8 of full capacity and I add about 60 oz liquid chlorine over a week's period, approximately 20 oz every other day. I test pH daily, FC/CC twice a week.

I arrived at this scheme after two full seasons of testing the water daily and logging the results. I also kept, and still keep, a daily log of weather (especially heavy rains), backwashing, refilling. Given an adequate data set and knowing how your water behaves you will eventually develop a feel for your pool without having to do a daily care and feeding routine.