Source of Stabilizer, should I raise CYA level from 30?

[rjg202]

After years of fighting High CYA levels, my CYA is 30 and FC is 3 when I tested, PH 7.6. Pool is crystal clear. I have the test and refills but have not ran a full set other than chlorine and PH, and cya today. Trying to keep it simple.
Other than buying Chlorine and O-rings for valves I have not been to pool store this year nor have I done anything other than chlorine to the pool since opening. I can chlorine for less but I choose to support the local business with chlorine purchase because they are there for me when I need them.

I was thinking of raising my CYA to 40. Would that be advisable? What is a valid source of stabilizer? Is liquid stabilizer better?
Honestly I have not added since I opened my pool years ago and it was over 100 for years. I don't remember other than adding it to skimmer. I no longer use pucks, which also allowed me to drop the cya over time as I dumped water.

Also, I don't use Shock packs, last time I did my water turned green before my eyes, it was like a reaction to metals or something. I have city water. So I shock with liquid chlorine or use the non chlorine shock occasionally.


The reason I was thinking this was to maybe prolong the life of the chlorine? When I go to pool store and test water they push for CYA to get to 100. When CYA was that high I was fighting algae constantly and tinted water. Plus I ran the chlorine high.

I have been adding 36 oz 12.5% daily and my FC is usually 2-2.5 when I check at dusk. I have not tried an overnight test, I assume the dissipation is normal as we have had lots of sun. Also heavy rains.

In a way I kinda don't want to do much. Folks that come over cannot believe I use bleach basically.

 

[chem geek]

Your daily FC usage is 3.3 ppm FC per day (assuming the chlorinating liquid is really 12.5%) so that is on the high side most likely because your CYA is low. It's up to you if you want to improve that, but if you were to raise your CYA to 40 or 50 ppm you should notice that you use somewhat less chlorine in spite of the higher FC target for the higher CYA level. I'd guess that at 50 ppm CYA you might lose only 2.5 ppm FC per day.

The best source of stabilizer, mostly because it's the most economical, is pure CYA which you can get at your pool store. It's granular and you can put it in a sock, panty hose, or T-shirt in your skimmer with the pump running or hang it over a return flow. If you had Trichlor pucks, you could use those up, but since you don't then buying CYA from your pool store is the thing to do.

If you are consistently maintaining a proper FC/CYA level, then you should not need to shock your pool.

 

[rjg202]

I do have a bucket of pucks left over. Hopefully, they don't go bad. Maybe I will buy a floater and leave them in there for a while. I took my chlorinator out when I hardpiped it 2 years back.
Thanks

 

[chem geek]

The pucks are likely to be fine. Trichlor lasts quite a long time, especially if kept dry in their container.

For every 10 ppm FC added by Trichlor, it will increase CYA by 6 ppm and lower TA by 7 ppm. Trichlor pucks are acidic so watch your pH. The pH might settle in at around 7.2 in which case that's OK if you don't want to bother with it until you're done with using Trichlor to raise the CYA. After adding around 20 ppm CYA your TA will be lower by a little more than 20 ppm so at that point you can use some baking soda to raise it if you want, though that is not really necessary unless it's quite low (if it's 60 ppm, it's fine). I presume your AGP is vinyl lined so you don't need to saturate your water with calcium carbonate so a low CH and TA is fine.

 

[rjg202]

It is probably a little conservative but I bought a floater and threw one 3" puck into it. I probably have 20 pucks leftover from when I hard-piped and pulled out my chlorinator. I am still adding liquid chlorine 12.5%. Hopefully no issue with mixing liquid and having a floater. This is my first floater and I am worried about it getting stuck. It can move behind my ladder, where do they usually get stuck?

Also, any advice if I take the floater out, how long it can stay out and how should I store it? My primary source of sanitizer is liquid chlorine, I am just trying to bump up my CYA. Pool store insists it needs to be 100. Enough said lesson learned, took me years to get it down to under 50.