CYA 200+ Where do I get reverse osmosis service?

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borjis

borjis

LifeTime Supporter
Aug 19, 2014
3,611
Pacific NW
Hi.

Been learning a ton here the last 2 months (thank you all!)

New home owner. Pool looked sparkling, pretty clear the day we first looked at it.

Read a paper report from July the cya was only 50. Hooray!

Not so fast!

Former owner had used the pucks (of course) I took them out after moving in 1 month ago.

Managed to get PH to 7.2 which was nothing when I first tested with TF100 kit.

Got the TA to a fair level.

But oh boy is the CYA off the charts. I even did the 50/50 dillution test.
I still can't get the beaker filled to 100 before it becomes impossible to see
through (have it on a magnetic stirrer with back lighting)

So I was thinking of a 45% drain next spring, but heard about reverse osmosis.

Is it worth it? I can't seem to find any places locally searching google.

any advice appreciated.

all hail tfp! :)
 
Welcome to TFP!

Reverse osmosis is available only in an extremely limited area in the SW US.

There is a good chance you will lose a significant amount of CYA over the winter, so I'd just wait until spring and address it then.
 
Is there some reason for you not to just drain and refill? My water is fairly expensive and it only cost me $80 for my pool which is about the same size as yours.

Like JohnT suggested waiting till spring might be your best option.
 
Do you know what your current water temp is? What does your water look like? Do you have current test results that may be at least close to what one of our recommended test kits may say? CC being one of the important ones to help us know if you have any problems going on in your pool.
I see you have a tf-100. 45% replacement isn't going to result in what you probably need. If it is only 200, that will need at least a 75%. It could be much more since you haven't come up with a close estimate.
 
Drain and refill on my pool cost me less than $100 for water, even adding in the salt and other chemicals, it's still well under $200. The quote I got for RO treatment was $350-450 depending on whether it took one day or two.
 
Wow, had no idea it would be that cheap to drain & refill. A friend of mine's dad has a 30,000 gallon pool and
told me this past summer when he did a drain and refill, his water/sewer bill was $ 3,000. Maybe he added
an extra zero in his old age.

Water temp today is 62 degrees.

FC: 14.5
CC: 0.5
PH: 7.2
TA: 110 (a bit high, should have added only half that 4 lb box of baking soda grr)
Calcium: 375

As a result of the high cya (I think) I have been getting some light green algae growth
in 2 areas of the pool side wall out where the return jets don't quite reach.
Today it's a bit cloudy, can barely see bottom.

Haven't run the pump a few days due to plumbing maintenance. The former owner
had used rubber hoses to and from the pump assembly to the pvc main plumbing.
2 of the 3 were bulged out badly and I feared a burst so I had them replace
with all pvc then the union to the pump leaked, but it's all good now.
 
How are you doing the CYA test with the magnetic stir? You're supposed to use the little bottle with red cap, and squirt that into the CYA test tube with your back to the sun.

Check with your water company- let them know you need to fill your pool in the spring. My company gives me a sheet to fill out with a meter reading before and after, then they don't charge sewer on that portion of the water (which accounts for 3/4 of the cost of the water). Don't mention the "drain" part.
 
When I had to lower my cya over a year ago, I had to drain and refill 8,000 gals 5 times (40,000gals) the total cost including my normal household usage was just over $200. Our wastewater charge is level regardless of how much is used.
 
In the Pacific NW, unless you are on the desert side of a mountain, you should get significant winter rains with which you can dilute your pool water by at least 50%. The rest you can do partial drain/refill over the months and not incur high water charges.
 
zimm said:
How are you doing the CYA test with the magnetic stir? You're supposed to use the little bottle with red cap, and squirt that into the CYA test tube with your back to the sun.
Click to expand...

I use my Speedstir to make sure the water and reagent are mixed thoroughly when testing CYA.
 

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borjis said:
Wow, had no idea it would be that cheap to drain & refill. A friend of mine's dad has a 30,000 gallon pool and
told me this past summer when he did a drain and refill, his water/sewer bill was $ 3,000. Maybe he added
an extra zero in his old age.
Click to expand...

$3000 would be insane, however in my neck of the woods, your sewer part of the bill goes up at a rate much higher than the water part for increased water consumption (i.e. sewer bill is determined by how much water you use). So if your water bill doubles, the sewer triples or quadruples. I can imagine that if you used 20 times your normal monthly water, combined water and sewer billing in some parts of the Country could be crazy high. Plus we also have a penalty (conservation fee) for using more than the 24 month rolling average. When I filled my pool, I was able to negotiate away the conservation penalty fee, but I had to provide a document from the pool remodeler. They would not budge on the increase for the sewer, however, but there is a cap or maximum sewer fee they can charge in our area

Try calling your water company to get the straight scoop.... and if you are not connected to the sewer system (i.e. septic-finger system) your water bill may only increase a couple of hundred dollars. Just be sure to drain and refill in steps so you don't pop the pool out of the ground. Obviously that will take more water to get the CYA down.
 
I am a little confused. Please clarify these comments:

Read a paper report from July the cya was only 50. Hooray!

Was this from a Pool Store? If so, how did your CYA in July go from 50 to 200 in a few months.

Managed to get PH to 7.2 which was nothing when I first tested with TF100 kit.

Does this mean you have Algae?

What exactly happened with the chemicals during the time lapse from July to October? Which chemicals did you add? Unless I missed something? Maybe something went wrong with the testing?
 
Catanzaro said:
I am a little confused. Please clarify these comments:

Read a paper reporpreviouslyt from July the cya was only 50. Hooray!

Was this from a Pool Store? If so, how did your CYA in July go from 50 to 200 in a few months.

Managed to get PH to 7.2 which was nothing when I first tested with TF100 kit.

Does this mean you have Algae?

What exactly happened with the chemicals during the time lapse from July to October? Which chemicals did you add? Unless I missed something? Maybe something went wrong with the testing?
Click to expand...
1: I'd bet that was a listing report that probably had no relationship to the reality.
2: Probably, and why that's closer to the reality. You'd be surprised at what an owner will do to make his pool pretty blue including dosing multiple lbs of dichlor to hide what was a likely green algae water.
3: pH Was certainly not zero. That was probably a gross exaggeration. Only meaning he had to dose substantially to get it up to 7.2
I'd doubt the the low pH has anything to do with algae. Low FC of course, but not low pH.
They only moved in about a month ago. Had nothing to do with the chemicals before then. He removed the tabs at about the time he moved in, so it appears.
 
If I notify the city that I'm filling my pool and tell them how many gallons, they waive the sewer fees as the water is not going into the sewer at any point. That's the most expensive part of water for me: the per 1000 gallon sewer charge.

Sent from mobile device. Beware of brevity and spelling errors!
 
CYA will react with melamine, and reaction product is a prcipitate. Some people have done it, but it is a messy process if you do it in the pool. I think it is better to try to add a little in the skimmer and see what happens (add a little and measure later), then add a little more and measure again, etc. Melamine is not an expensive product.
 
zimm said:
How are you doing the CYA test with the magnetic stir? You're supposed to use the little bottle with red cap, and squirt that into the CYA test tube with your back to the sun.
Click to expand...

Yes that's what I did, but it was dark outside, so I only used the light on the magnetic stir as a way to back light the test tube with the black dot at bottom. (not mix it)
 
Catanzaro said:
I am a little confused. Please clarify these comments:

Read a paper report from July the cya was only 50. Hooray!

Was this from a Pool Store? If so, how did your CYA in July go from 50 to 200 in a few months.

Managed to get PH to 7.2 which was nothing when I first tested with TF100 kit.

Does this mean you have Algae?

What exactly happened with the chemicals during the time lapse from July to October? Which chemicals did you add? Unless I missed something? Maybe something went wrong with the testing?
Click to expand...


Yep "pool company" printed a report of levels in July. CYA was listed as 50, I was Thrilled, until TF100 indicated much higher.


The PH might not have been zero but it was yellow and not any where near what it needed to be. It took almost 45 lb's of sodium carbonate
over a 3 week period to get it to register 7.2

The previous owner relied on the pool company for his knowledge....enough said. :)


My water supply is billed with the local water bureau.

My sewer billing is done through a major city bureau. Both seperate.
 

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