Can too much CYA cause physical damage to a pool?

[abake]

I was reading something today that mentioned too much CYA could cause etching?

I painted my pool because it had been painted previously but was in need of repairs and I couldn't have it refinished currently.

So it was new paint or have a spotty pool with already chalky paint.

That was about a year ago and the paint is already chalking a lot. I used a cheaper paint and figured that was about the lifespan of it. Recently I discovered my cya was very high and I just drained a lot of the pool to get rid of it.

Could really high CYA cause premature chalking? I was around 120-130 ppm CYA.

 

[needsajet]

Low pH and/or high chlorine (in the absence of CYA) are the things to avoid in terms of comfort and making the pool last. CYA laying undissolved on the floor can cause problems (localized low pH), but once dissolved in the water, it's not an issue. Many people arrive here with sanitation problems caused by high CYA, and levels are often up around 180-300 ppm CYA. Paint doesn't tend to last very long in any water though, so it could just be paint quality or painting quality related.

 

[cfherrman]

High cya starts adding to your ta number, so it could raise your csi number and make your water prone to build up, but this is uncommon as it's a small push on csi and high cya pools get drained or are already out of balance from ch that it's going to build anyway.

 

[BattleOfYakima]

Haven't heard that one before! Could you share a link or a picture or information about where you found that so we can look into it better please? I'd be especially interested if they had a study or chemistry concept backing that claim.

From my point of view - CYA, when kept in ratio with FC according to [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA], would honestly be my lowest concern. I'd be far more concerned about keeping my water balanced and my water gently but effectively circulating so that I had to brush as little as possible and elevate FC as little as possible and add acid as infrequently as possible.

Paint is so tempting - but just so dang delicate and short lived. That being said, I totally understand it as a stopgap measure and temporary tool.