Bio-Active CYA Reducer Test

Jump to latest Follow Reply
F

fnyman66

0
Jun 30, 2015
12
Southlake, TX
I am new to the site, but have been lurking for a few weeks. I just bought a house that has a pool, despite not wanting that kind of responsibility. This pool has been a bit of a crapshoot and tough for me to get a handle on. All that being said, I have come to understand that I have much too much CYA. I have drained and refilled more than 60% of the pool, but the CYA is only down to 100ppm. I cannot sustain another refill so I have resorted to trying the new Bio-Active CYA Reducer. I have my levels in the right place and wanted to walk you guys through what is happening. One thing I didn't know beforehand was that you have to keep your FC levels at 2-3ppm in order for the enzymes to work.

I started the enzymes tonight at 7pm and the pump has to run for 4 hrs. I will update as time progresses, but has anyone else tried this product with success?

My Levels:
FC: 3
PH:7.6
TA:110
CH: 400
CYA: 100

I really hope this works.
 
Welcome to TFP! :wave:

Actually, the FC stops the enzymes and bacteria so if you are going to err, you want to be on the low side for FC. Also, you might drop your pH a little bit (perhaps to 7.4).

We've had terrible results for this product -- only a few people saw any drop in CYA at all and most people saw no change. If you can't return the product and want to try it out anyway, then yes please let us know what happens. Do you have one of our recommended test kits? If not, you should get that before doing the test so that you'll know your results are accurate.
 
So do you think i should lower my FC further? I have a simpler test kit with test strips but i have a TF-100 in the mail. My first readings were from the pool store. I just couldn't wait any longer after fighting this pool for 2 months and feeling like I'm losing.

I wonder how the company got the "test" results they claim on the package?

Thanks for the warm welcome. This site has been valuable so far and I only wish I had found it before buying tablets from the pool store. I think I will try and garage sale the rest of them so it isn't a total loss.
 
Welcome fnymann. I'm in Keller, down the road from you.

When you get the TF-100 you should recheck your CYA as it may be well over 100ppm (the test can't read over 100 accurately, and pool store testing will report it as 100, even if it's well over 100).

You can dilute a sample of pool water with an equal amount of tap water or distilled water (1:1 dilution), then multiply your CYA test results by 2.

FYI, my CYA dropped from 80 last year to 50 this year due to rainfall dilution, backwashing etc. With our hot sunny weather 50ppm CYA is OK as it helps reduce daily FC loss.

I would just keep the tablets. If you go on vacation for a few days it is a way to keep the FC up while you are gone.
 
So the moment we have all been waiting for...the update. On July 1st, i put the CYA reducer in the pool. The next day i check the FC and PH to be sure.

Day #1
FC: 1
PH: 7.6

I took the advice of epro05 and decided to let the pool go full green and not add any chlorine, but did add a bit of muriatic acid to slightly reduce the PH.

Day #2 - I spent 4 hours cutting the yard and didn't care to check FC or PH b/c i figured i would let the pool do its own thing.

Day #3 - Since i didn't have my TF-100 kit yet, i let the pool store tell me what's what
FC: 0
CYA: 90
TA: 110
PH: 7.6

I was bummed at this point b/c i read from other that the biggest change happened in the first 48 hrs, but i figured it was my luck. The weirdest thing thus far was the pool was still clear and algae free at this point.

Day #4 - Did other stuff around the house and figured i'd wait until monday to check the levels again. The pool started to have a green tint with just the slightest bit of algae.

Day#5: TF-100
FC: 0
PH: 7.8
TA: 120
CYA: 60ish

The pool is becoming much more green and the filter pressure has gone up 15 even though i backwashed 2 weeks ago. I was very happy to see the CYA significantly lower, but i am a bit skeptical about my pool chemistry skills. I plan to take a sample to the pool store for a double check and then i will slam the pool to clean it up. I do have a question about that process though...how do i handle the increase filter pressure with the slam? Do i need to backwash first, then slam? Will I have to backwash again after it is all done?

Thanks for listening
 
fnyman66 said:
The pool is becoming much more green and the filter pressure has gone up 15 even though i backwashed 2 weeks ago. I was very happy to see the CYA significantly lower, but i am a bit skeptical about my pool chemistry skills. I plan to take a sample to the pool store for a double check and then i will slam the pool to clean it up. I do have a question about that process though...how do i handle the increase filter pressure with the slam? Do i need to backwash first, then slam? Will I have to backwash again after it is all done?

Thanks for listening
Click to expand...
I trust you r numbers more than the pool store as long as you are using a quality test kit. During a SLAM you may have to clean the filter multiple times. The filteris designed to capture the junk suspended nt he water and as you SLAM there will be a lot of that. Just backwash when the pressure rises 25% over clean pressure.
 
I agree with Tim. Unfortunately, given the that pool store testing, especially for CYA, has proven in the past to be entirely unreliable and inaccurate and not repeatable, I would not feel comfortable drawing any conclusions from these results.

Was the CYA really 90ppm after a day? There are posts where the pool store has provided CYA levels of 40ppm for tap water where we know it is 0ppm. And others that would report 40ppm CYA when the TF-100 found it to be in the 100s. For all we know, the TF-100 may have given you a result of 60ppm at the start as well.

Happy that you have a reasonable CYA level. But, I would not classify this as a success for the BioActive product given the mixing of testing methods.
 
My thought with taking the water sample to the pool store was if their CYA test came in below 90, i would trust that my test was accurate. I am thankful I got some good advice at the beginning of the process and it seems to have been the difference.

The only trouble I had with my new TF-100 was 1 or 2 of the solutions were not making normal size drops. They were itty bitty and throwing me off. It was for CH and TA that I had this problem.
 
That is a known problem with the TA reagent because it is so fresh, there is still a static build up. That is why the instructions say to wipe the tip between drops. This will go away after a few tests.

I have not heard of this for the CH though. But, I know the purple dye reagent drops always seem to be smaller. This does not matter and you can add more drops for a deeper color if you want.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply