Thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

[heugeneo]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

Just received the Bio-Active CYA reducer in the mail. Opening our pool on Monday so I will have some results to share with everyone in a week or so.

 

[Divin Dave]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

Good luck! I hope it works!

 

[JamesW]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

Can you post the instructions?

 

[laprjns]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

Post Deleted as it added no value to the discussion

 

[JasonLion]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

laprjns, I take that to be marketing material, and assume something additional actually ships with the product. I'm certain JamesW is also assuming the same thing when he asked about the instructions included with the product.

 

[heugeneo]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

No other instructions other than what's on the back of package, only shipped with an invoice.

Without typing verbatim the instructions are:
Pour into skimmer with pump running @ least 4 hours.
Run pump at least 4 hours per day for next week.
If no skimmer, dissolve in 5 gal bucket and distribute.
Will operate for 10 days.
1 package will treat up to 25,000 gal of water or for every 150 ppm cya.

Precautions:
All the usual stuff plus keep Chlorine below 5ppm with 2-3ppm ideal at time of application and one week following. Water temp between 65-105.

Recommended for outdoor pools only.

Keep in mind they weren't planning on and won't continue to ship direct to consumer, I don't know if it will include any further info at the retail level.

 

[JasonLion]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

heugeneo, thanks!

 

[tim5055]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

Thanks for testing! Keepus posted.

I wonder if a SLAM and then letting FC drift to 5 before you started this would provide "insurance" on the pool not,going green during treatment?

 

[chem geek]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

If you have higher CYA, you may need to use a supplemental algaecide to prevent algae growth during the lower FC, but I don't know if Polyquat 60 would harm the bacteria they use for the degradation. In fact, I don't know how they prevent the bacteria from getting killed quickly by the chlorine in the first place but still let CYA through to the bacteria for them to degrade it.

I'm also not certain that a higher FC in the presence of higher CYA would necessarily kill their bacteria faster. It all depends on the mechanism they are using to prevent the bacteria from getting killed quickly by the chlorine (perhaps they are behind biofilm layers that slow down chlorine penetration but let CYA through). If they are using a barrier that reacts with chlorine so slows down its penetration, then I would think that such reaction would be dependent on the FC/CYA level in terms of rate. On the other hand, if such rate were fast, then they may be dependent on slow diffusion in which case the FC level would be more relevant since what would mostly be diffusing would be chlorine attached to CYA.

I could imagine that they may be shielding their bacteria with a membrane layer that essentially has reducing agents or other chemicals that react with chlorine so that any CYA-Cl passing through becomes only CYA on the other side (i.e. where the bacteria are located). This barrier layer would have a limited capacity in terms of how much chlorine it could reduce or react with. If such a barrier prevented Polyquat-60 from getting in, then you could lower your FC even lower and their product may last longer.

 

[JamesW]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

I would suggest doing a daily cyanuric acid test to chart the change. This would also help to reduce test error and average out variability. This might not be practical if you don't have enough reagent.

 

[heugeneo]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

Is there a way to estimate CYA over 100 with the K2006? I tested the water today just for sag and the black dot disappeared by the raised 1.8 mark on the side of the tube. That wasn't even close to the 100 mark as the highest reading for cya listed on the kit. I know I'll need to retest it once water actually starts circulating. I've got enough reagent for probably 5 or 6 cya tests.

My plan was to have the water tested at the pool store every other day once I start since they have the fancy pants digital testing that will give me a cya number over the 100 if needed. Also planning to post everything in this thread unless you guys want me start a separate one once I start.

 

[jblizzle]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

Start with a 50/50 mix of pool and tap water, then add the reagent, then double the reading.

Pool store testing is really bad, I would trust the digital outputs even less.

 

[tim5055]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

Pool store testing is really bad, I would trust the digital outputs even less.

yup, I had mine tested several times with the fancy digital, buy they always told me it was 80-100. Once I got my own kit I found that it was over 200.

 

[Leebo]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

heugeneo,

I'd really like to thank you for all the information you're giving us with this product. TFP is VERY excited to get any data we can on this, as it's a new option that could help a TON of new members in the future. Seeing that you currently only have enough reagent for around 5-6 tests could you please PM me your Name and Address as I'd like to send you a refill for the R-0013. We trust your personal testing FAR more than any pool school, and I'd like to help you out some in your process.

Thanks again!

 

[carpainterinaz]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

I stumbled across this thread on google. Just joined the forum to follow this thread. Very interested to hear the results of trying this product.

Please post your results after a week. Looking forward to this product being available for sale.

 

[heugeneo]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

heugeneo,

I'd really like to thank you for all the information you're giving us with this product. TFP is VERY excited to get any data we can on this, as it's a new option that could help a TON of new members in the future. Seeing that you currently only have enough reagent for around 5-6 tests could you please PM me your Name and Address as I'd like to send you a refill for the R-0013. We trust your personal testing FAR more than any pool school, and I'd like to help you out some in your process.

Thanks again!

Glad to help. Hopefully this works because it will be a lot easier doing a bunch of partial drain and refills. I called my local store and they have the large bottles of r-0013 so I will pick one up this week. I plan on testing at least once if not 2x day. Thank you for the offer to send me more reagent but everyone on the forum has been extremely helpful already and this is the least I can do to try and give back.

Local forecast is calling for rain storms for the next four days so I might have to delay until that's over but we'll see. The forecast normally changes everyday anyway so I will keep you all updated with daily posts once I begin.

Also if anyone with high CYA wants to try it I'm sure they can. I just called the company and they sold directly to me, which they said they will do until it is available retail.

 

[Patrick_B]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

I'd like to say thanks too. This is potentially something very good for a lot of people.

 

[CGSteve]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

Whew! Glad I found this thread...the LPS that I have used was so excited to tell me about this new product. I was thinking they might be using melamine or some derivative, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Not sure why any of my google searches didn't land me here, but who cares now?

Anyhow, if this works, it could be a huge deal for those of us in areas suffering drought conditions where refilling isn't an option.


Edit: Just had a thought...my parents are moving back to CA from Indiana and will be in their new house by the end of the month, maybe I'll buy some in the event it's needed for their pool since they're beyond the timeline for doing a drain & fill.

 

[carpainterinaz]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

I called the manufacturer of the product today. They told me it was delivered to the lps distributor warehouse today and should be in the stores by next week. Stopped at the lps close to my shop after work and the sales person confirmed it.

 

[heugeneo]

Re: thoughts on bio-active cya reducer

Alright gents I need some help getting a baseline for my current cya level. Each time I attempt a test the black dot disappears before it gets to the 100 mark. I've taken several different water samples for the last three days, have diluted from a 1:1 up to a 1:4 with tap or bottled water and it is still too cloudy. I have tried outside, in direct sun, back to sun, inside with fluorescent lights, halogen, it doesn't seem to make a difference. I've almost gone through a large bottle of reagent and would like to figure out what I'm doing wrong before I go through another one. I've read several posts on here about diluting as well as the Taylor website has a section on diluting to no avail.

The pool store digital readout showed cya at 158, my test strips show between 100-150, but I can't get a result with the drops. Water temp in the pool is 55, but I have been letting it warm up to room temperature before testing.

There must be something completely simple or obvious I'm not doing correctly so any help would be appreciated. Are there some basic rules for testing cya I need to know other than on the instructions in the test kit? Chlorine should be low enough tomorrow to add the bioactive.