Algae problem finally solved but no CYA is showing

[rdelisa]

My CYA was about 30ppm before I closed the pool for winter. I had about 6 Trichlor pucks disolve in the pool over the winter and I even added a 12oz trichlor shock treatment a couple of days ago. I figured that would be enough to maintain a reasonable CYA level. I guess not. I used the Taylor K2006 test kit and no CYA is showing. The solution is completely clear so I assume that means my CYA is close to zero? I used mostly cal-hypo to shock and liquid bleach to shock my pool during my aglae fight. Could this have diminished the CYA?

I have never had to buy or use stabilizer before. Can I buy this anywhere besides a pool store and how much should I add?

I had a huge problem with super high CYA readings before I went to the BBB method and eventually went to SWG, so I am not familiar with having to add stabilizer. I have avoided stabilizer like the plague these last few years since recovering from very bad pool maintenance from the pool guy prior to me taking over.

Thanks for your help.

 

[zea3]

Had the water been circulating at least 15 minutes before you took the water sample? Have you tested FC and CC and if so what are the results? How long ago was the algae fight?

 

[rdelisa]

Yes, this has been a few days now of the water circulating. FC has been rapidly dropping over the last few days, but it is finally becoming stable again. Right now it's around 6PPM. The CC is less than .5PPM. The algae fight began about 2 weeks ago.

Had the water been circulating at least 15 minutes before you took the water sample? Have you tested FC and CC and if so what are the results? How long ago was the algae fight?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

You probably had ammonia develop over the winter. Soil bacteria enters the pool via rainwater runoff, the bacteria combines with the CYA and converts to ammonia. There is an extreme chlorine demand upon opening, and CYA is usually zero or close to it. The "rapidly" decreasing FC is a very common symptom of ammonia. Every Inground Pool Owner should purchase an ammonia kit to supplement their test kit, they are only about $10 and can be found at Pet Supply Stores in the fish tank area.

HTH brand Stabilizer is a good brand and reasonably priced. You can usually find it at Walmart, garden centers (some, not all), Farm and Fleet/Big R type stores, or order online.

In the "further reading" section there are articles about extreme chlorine demand and fighting ammonia. Or put Ammonia in the "Advanced Search" section, upper right of your screen.

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To kill the ammonia its a 10:1 ratio of chlorine to ammonia. Algae won't start to die off until most if not all ammonia has be oxidized.

 

[zea3]

CYA does degrade but it is usually a pretty slow process. If you tested before the slam and had CYA then my best guess is that you replaced enough water backwashing to drop the CYA to near 0, or you have a testing error. You can always re-test to make sure. If it is 0 then you will need to add CYA to reach 60-70 ppm for the SWG.

 

[rdelisa]

Dejavu. I think You've nailed it. This happened to me a few years ago. I cannot believe I forgot all about this. I do have an ammonia test kit from the last time I had this very same problem. And I got it at the pet store. I solved the problem eventually with massive amounts of chlorine spread out over several days. This is the same thing, but I will have to get some CYA. Thanks for the suggestion and jogging my memory!

You probably had ammonia develop over the winter. Soil bacteria enters the pool via rainwater runoff, the bacteria combines with the CYA and converts to ammonia. There is an extreme chlorine demand upon opening, and CYA is usually zero or close to it. The "rapidly" decreasing FC is a very common symptom of ammonia. Every Inground Pool Owner should purchase an ammonia kit to supplement their test kit, they are only about $10 and can be found at Pet Supply Stores in the fish tank area.

HTH brand Stabilizer is a good brand and reasonably priced. You can usually find it at Walmart, garden centers (some, not all), Farm and Fleet/Big R type stores, or order online.

In the "further reading" section there are articles about extreme chlorine demand and fighting ammonia. Or put Ammonia in the "Advanced Search" section, upper right of your screen.

- - - Updated - - -

To kill the ammonia its a 10:1 ratio of chlorine to ammonia. Algae won't start to die off until most if not all ammonia has be oxidized.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Dejavu. I think You've nailed it. This happened to me a few years ago. I cannot believe I forgot all about this. I do have an ammonia test kit from the last time I had this very same problem. And I got it at the pet store. I solved the problem eventually with massive amounts of chlorine spread out over several days. This is the same thing, but I will have to get some CYA. Thanks for the suggestion and jogging my memory!

"spread out over several days" I have not had to do this with my clients. I have learned through years of this process that the chlorine can be added in 1 day, in 1 dose. The ammonia consumes the chlorine instantly. So as long as you are calculating your dosage correctly, no harm will come to your pool. On occasion I have had a client's pool with ammonia so high it was off the comparator chart (8ppm) so rather than guess, I dosed to 80ppm and then the next day it was 4ppm so I dosed to 40ppm, and that did the trick. So that pool was in the range of 12ppm... which means the CYA before they bought the house was extremely high!

Needless to say the pool was opened on Monday, cloudy, live algae and ammonia, and they were swimming by Friday.