So back to my pool's currently high CYA. Is draining half of my mammoth of a pool the best solution?
When to Begin Preparing Pool for AZ Summer
- Thread starter asusundevil
- Start date
It's the only way to lower CYA other than RO. lowering your CYA to a recommended level or close to it is what I suggest as your best solution.
Yes. What is the rate in your locale for new water? Nationally, it seems to average around 5-7/1k gallons.
It seems you may be better off going that route, if you continue with trichlor pucks. As others have said RO is an option. Calsaway phoenix would be your option for RO. Good luck.
Yes, it's the only way as mentioned above. Drain and refill, or RO treat are your only options.
This thread has wandered around a bit but it points out how we probably emphasize R/O too much.
When you consider it is very limited in availability and the price is NEVER as cheap as drain and replace, I don't think it is much of a solution.
When you consider it is very limited in availability and the price is NEVER as cheap as drain and replace, I don't think it is much of a solution.
I agree. The only time RO would make sense in my mind would be when there are water restrictions in place. Unfortunately, RO does not seem to be an option in locations that actually have regular water restrictions
Although even with the RO treatment, there is still a water loss. I think I recall around 10% still.
- Jun 12, 2011
- 3,767
- Pool Size
- 19500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pureline Crystal Pure 60,000
I have been using SWG here in Arizona for ten years. Once I learned how to keep my water properly balanced, it has worked like a dream. The key to avoiding problems with scale both in the pool and in the cell, is carefully balancing your Calcium Saturation Index (CSI). I have been successful in managing my pool with CH levels as high as 1,000, but it does require regular testing and a good understanding of how the water chemistry works.
Some of the measures I use include,
lowering my TA to control pH rise,
adding 50 ppm borate to the water to buffer pH changes
connecting my auto fill to a water softner
and regular testing with constant very careful monitoring the CSI.
During pool season I check CL and pH, daily, and do a full t-100 test (except CYA and CH, which change slowly) weekly. A A complete battery of tests once a month. Testing takes very little time and is very important. Daily test takes a couple minutes, weekly test about 8 min. and the full battery of t-100 tests takes all of 12 minutes.
Some of the measures I use include,
lowering my TA to control pH rise,
adding 50 ppm borate to the water to buffer pH changes
connecting my auto fill to a water softner
and regular testing with constant very careful monitoring the CSI.
During pool season I check CL and pH, daily, and do a full t-100 test (except CYA and CH, which change slowly) weekly. A A complete battery of tests once a month. Testing takes very little time and is very important. Daily test takes a couple minutes, weekly test about 8 min. and the full battery of t-100 tests takes all of 12 minutes.
Well, it appears the consensus is to drain half my pool. Not sure if I'll be able to do it this weekend or not. I'll keep you all updated on my progress.
Any thought as to how this suddenly developed? My CYA was perfect all of last year - drained my pool just before summer, as it hadn't been in almost 5 years. Winter arrived and admittedly I ignored regularly testing for a few months while keeping on average 3 trichor tablets floating, of which I maintained approximately 6 to 8 during the summer. Summer will be here in a couple months, I begin testing weekly and everything is balanced aside from CYA.
Any thought as to how this suddenly developed? My CYA was perfect all of last year - drained my pool just before summer, as it hadn't been in almost 5 years. Winter arrived and admittedly I ignored regularly testing for a few months while keeping on average 3 trichor tablets floating, of which I maintained approximately 6 to 8 during the summer. Summer will be here in a couple months, I begin testing weekly and everything is balanced aside from CYA.
For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm. No mystery here. If you have 2 ppm FC per day chlorine usage, then using only Trichlor would increase the CYA by 36 ppm per month.
So as opposed to using trichlor tablets, which seem to be in every pool store, Home Depot, and Lowe's, what is recommended to maintain a pool's chemical balance? I use liquid chlorine - 10% - but found myself obsessing 24x7 over my pool out of fear the AZ heat would dissipate it quickly while I'm at work and the next day BAM, a bloom is born. I understand that testing is important but I can't be outside performing it multiple times a day. And I'll never forget the brutal bloom I had last year. I've never seen such green water in my life.
Manually dosing with liquid chlorine is fine. Perfect.
If you had zero CYA in your water then the sun would burn up all your chlorine. The CYA is the sunscreen for your chlorine. Get your CYA level down to 60 for the AZ sun and you'll be fine manually dosing with liquid chlorine. For a CYA level of 60 you would then target your FC at 9 and never let it fall below 5. That gives you 4 ppm of FC to lose before you drop below 5. Not going to happen from the sun alone. You would have to have some organics helping to consume it, algae. As a rule of thumb if you lose more than 3 ppm of FC to the sun alone them it's time to bump the CYA level up.
You only have to test FC once a day. Test it at night after the sun is off the pool and then dose the amount needed to bring your FC back up to the target level. When you dose after the sun is off the pool then you'll have all the FC you need for the next day as long as nothing is consuming your FC, like organics in the water.
This is how I operate my pool only I use bleach.
Take a look at this if you need a refresher. ABC'S Of Pool Water Chemistry
If you had zero CYA in your water then the sun would burn up all your chlorine. The CYA is the sunscreen for your chlorine. Get your CYA level down to 60 for the AZ sun and you'll be fine manually dosing with liquid chlorine. For a CYA level of 60 you would then target your FC at 9 and never let it fall below 5. That gives you 4 ppm of FC to lose before you drop below 5. Not going to happen from the sun alone. You would have to have some organics helping to consume it, algae. As a rule of thumb if you lose more than 3 ppm of FC to the sun alone them it's time to bump the CYA level up.
You only have to test FC once a day. Test it at night after the sun is off the pool and then dose the amount needed to bring your FC back up to the target level. When you dose after the sun is off the pool then you'll have all the FC you need for the next day as long as nothing is consuming your FC, like organics in the water.
This is how I operate my pool only I use bleach.
Take a look at this if you need a refresher. ABC'S Of Pool Water Chemistry
It isnt necessary to test multiple times a day for regular maintenance.
The FC and pool will be just fine as long as the FC is in proper ratio to the CYA.
This ratio is what most pool owners do not understand and this includes the Pool Stores in particular.
If you use liquid chlorine, you will need to test and use Pool Math every day until you learn your pool personality for fC consumption. After you get the hang of whats happening, then you can consider adjusting your testing regimen.
http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock
Keeping a log with your test results will also help in lerning your pools apetite for FC. Noted weather conditions in the log also help.
The FC and pool will be just fine as long as the FC is in proper ratio to the CYA.
This ratio is what most pool owners do not understand and this includes the Pool Stores in particular.
If you use liquid chlorine, you will need to test and use Pool Math every day until you learn your pool personality for fC consumption. After you get the hang of whats happening, then you can consider adjusting your testing regimen.
http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock
Keeping a log with your test results will also help in lerning your pools apetite for FC. Noted weather conditions in the log also help.
Dave and Jeff covered you well as always.
Follow what we teach, you'll never see a green pool again. You may be adding a dose of bleach Daily in the summer, but you'll get to where you can estimate accurately what you need. Testing FC DAILY at first will help you learn this as Dave said. Doing this, you'll have no problems. You'll also look back and not believe you ever thought it was hard. There is no mystery to what we teach, but people with typical experience don't believe it can be this easy until they try it.
Follow what we teach, you'll never see a green pool again. You may be adding a dose of bleach Daily in the summer, but you'll get to where you can estimate accurately what you need. Testing FC DAILY at first will help you learn this as Dave said. Doing this, you'll have no problems. You'll also look back and not believe you ever thought it was hard. There is no mystery to what we teach, but people with typical experience don't believe it can be this easy until they try it.
elwood58
LifeTime Supporter
As for drawing and refilling over a weekend, rent a submersible pump and 4" hoses from Lowes. $40 per day, and less if you only want it for 6 hours. I pretty much emptied my pool (14,100 gallons) in 6 hours.
You definitely want to get this done before the weather heats up too much. Not much risk to your finish at this time of year.
You definitely want to get this done before the weather heats up too much. Not much risk to your finish at this time of year.
Here is a hint ... rent the pump from Home Depot for 6 hours, but pick it up < 6 hours before they close ... then you do not have to return it until 9 AM the next morning. 
I drained mine from about 6PM to 12AM and then started filling it back up overnight.
I drained mine from about 6PM to 12AM and then started filling it back up overnight.
So can I get by with draining less than half my pool? I ask because ****, that's 14,000 galllons!
I tested again yesterday and here are my readings:
FC - 3.5
PH - 7.6
Alkalinity - 100
CC -0
CYA - 100
I tested again yesterday and here are my readings:
FC - 3.5
PH - 7.6
Alkalinity - 100
CC -0
CYA - 100
- Jun 12, 2011
- 3,767
- Pool Size
- 19500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pureline Crystal Pure 60,000
To determine how much you must drain, you need to know how high your CYA is. 100 is the upper limit of the test, so it could be much higher. You need to do a test using half pool water and half tap water, then double the result.
Like chief said, you have to know how high your CYA really is to know how much to drain. See the Extended Test Instructions
BTW, if is likely that your water is around $5/1000 gallons ... so you are looking at less than $150 to full drain the pool.
BTW, if is likely that your water is around $5/1000 gallons ... so you are looking at less than $150 to full drain the pool.