Chlorine for Winter with SWG

[djpool21]

Our pool water temperature last winter was below 55 degrees roughly from early November to mid March. This will be the first winter with the Pentair SWG. I have the Pentair bypass so I plan on replacing the SWG with the bypass once the SWG shuts off regularly.

With the high price of chlorine what method will you use to chlorinate the pool over the winter months? I have plenty of trichlor pucks purchased prior to my manual dosing then later SWG days so I'm thinking of using those over winter. I realize CYA rise could be a problem but with a drop in CYA over winter and the little amount of tabs needed maybe it's not a big concern. CYA is roughly 80 now.

If I use tabs I'm also thinking of draining & replacing some water to intentionally lower the CYA prior to winter. What would be a good level to lower it to?
Thanks.

 

[Mdragger88]

Many use a combination of liquid chlorine & pucks throughout the winter. The pucks are acidic so take that into consideration.
Currently your cya is high enough so do liquid chlorine for a while. I wouldn’t exchange water just so I could use pucks unless I was going away for a while or something.
Here’s how each dissolved puck will effect your water

Let your testing be your guide & give the pool what it needs when it needs it.
With the cold water & low uv, fc demand will be quite low anyhow. Lots of folks are able to just add liquid chlorine to a bit above target every few days or even less frequently as the weather gets colder.

 

[djpool21]

Thanks Mdragger88. I prefer to just use my supply of trichlor over winter so I can slowly begin to use it up but I understand how quickly CYA can become too high. Maybe I'll first start with the Trichlor pucks and when CYA becomes too high switch to liquid chlorine.