CYA already high?

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rustyshakelford

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May 6, 2016
76
Navasota, Tx
Our pool is about 15 months old. We have been thru 1.5 of those big tubs of tabs while trying to get everything figured out with the pool. I'm gone a lot and my wife works nights so the tabs were easy until we got used to the pool. I tested my cya a few weeks ago and it was in the 60-70 range with the tf-100 kit. It's a 16,500 gallon gunite with a two speed pump. How in the world did the cya get so high? Never added any additional.

Weve fought algea for months and I'm getting sick of it. Switched to bleach a couple months ago and still fighting it. Went out of town and put a couple pounds of cal hypo hoping to hold it over and come back to dark green spots everywhere and green walls. Currently trying to slam it but getting frustrated.

Didnt think tabs would elevate the cya so fast. Was using almost 1/2 gallon a day or every other day of 12.5% bleach and it was holding its own. Also can't keep ph in range. Seem to be using a gallon of ma every other week and it's still on the high end. Don't have full test results but I'll work on that in a bit. Just tired of this thing already.

Brett
 
For every 10ppm FC added by a tab it also adds 6ppm CYA. It adds up quickly.

Your pH has always been rising, but the tabs you were using are very acidic, so they took the place of the MA you are now using. The bleach is about pH neutral whe all is said an done.

Are you following the SLAM Process process, point for point?
 
What do you mean you'll be getting full test results? To me that makes it sound like you were planning on having a pool store test your water and devising a plan based on that. This is just not going to work. Trust your own test kits results ;)
 
Finally was able to get the test results. Cya showing zero which is a huge surprise. Where did it go? Makes me wonder if my chemicals are bad. Going to get a buddy to test it with his kit before adding stabilizer. TA was 240 and CH is 200. That explains why I'm going thru so much acid. Guess I'm going to add a couple gallons and turn on the hot tub bubbles and bubblers for a few days to try and get it back down.

FC 5
TA 240
CH 200
CYA never got cloudy. Did test twice.

On the bright side, pool is looking great and getting the algea knocked out quick including the little spots everywhere. Brushing twice a day and hammering it with 12.5% bleach is doing the trick and now it makes sense why I've been going thru so much chlorine with the cya possibly being gone

brett
 
rustyshakelford said:
Cya showing zero which is a huge surprise. Where did it go?
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How long had it been since you last tested CYA? Do you have a DE or sand filter? How often do you backwash?
There is a chance you started with ammonia if you had an algae outbreak and then no CYA. Not typical in the summer but just had one is another part of the country.

You are past that now if FC is at least holding for awhile.

Good luck.
 
mknauss said:
How long had it been since you last tested CYA? Do you have a DE or sand filter? How often do you backwash?
There is a chance you started with ammonia if you had an algae outbreak and then no CYA. Not typical in the summer but just had one is another part of the country.

You are past that now if FC is at least holding for awhile.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

It has been a few months now that I think about it. I work (around 80-100) hrs per week and messing with the pool isn't as high on my priority list as it should be. Myself or my wife will add chlorine or acid as needed usually by just using the little kit to keep us going. Coming home and scrubbing the thing or messing with it needs to become more frequent. I know we can't keep a couple of our dogs out of it and I know that's not helping anything. Her and my son wanted the pool, I was against it because of the time they require and was assured i wouldn't have to mess with it. Well, that hasn't happened exactly so we both work on it just not as diligently as most on here.

Brett
 
Food for thought after you have finished you SLAM. How about switch over to a SWG? It will add the chlorine you need. The pool water will still need to be tested and the pool will still need to be brushed/vacuumed, but at least the chlorine production will be something less stressful. SWG need to be 2 to 3 times the size of your pool.
 
rustyshakelford said:
It has been a few months now that I think about it.
Click to expand...

CYA also naturally degrades 3-5 ppm per month. And you cannot test it below 20 ppm with the TF100 or 30 ppm with the Taylor K2006 test kit.

You do need to find a way to manage the pool water chemistry. As stated above - a SWCG might be of assistance. You do still need to test and especially manage pH, CH, and TA. That typically requires adding acid once a week or so, as I believe you might have hard water in your part of Texas.
 

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If you aren't interested in doing a SWG. You may want to consider finding a time of the day (first thing, last thing - whatever) to add your bleach. Make it your daily thing. It'll take about a week to figure out your rough needs on a daily basis, but it's pretty simple to then just a deep testing once a week. If you are seeing 2-3 ppm loss a day (fairly normal) then you'll be somewhere around a 1/2 gallon of 10% every 2 days (use pool math to validate). I just dump 1/2 a gallon in every morning and my FC is stable as a rock - in my pool. It's of course dependent on your pool and how it behaves, but making it a part of your routine makes it really easy.

Of course, it sounds like you need to get a legit SLAM happening right now. Hopefully you are holding FC, otherwise it sounds like you may have ammonia, and you'll need to be ready for some serious bleach additions!
 
Last edited:
kcindc said:
Food for thought after you have finished you SLAM. How about switch over to a SWG? It will add the chlorine you need. The pool water will still need to be tested and the pool will still need to be brushed/vacuumed, but at least the chlorine production will be something less stressful. SWG need to be 2 to 3 times the size of your pool.
Click to expand...

I would love to do that but we have close friends with a swg and they have flag stone and dogs like we do. They flag stone is ruined and the pool is 8 years old or less. We also went to some friends this weekend that have a salt water pool also and everything around it is rusted and the area just looks very bad. This is a 10 year old pool but on multi million dollar property that has two full time guys to keep up with it.

I see the benefits but don't know if that's the right fit for our situation currently.

Brett
 
All of the issues with flagstone or rust around SWCG pools have tended to be shown that the pool water chemistry was not managed correctly. Flagstone in your part of the country flakes whether it is near a pool or not. A number of members of this forum are from Texas and have flagstone.

The rust is due to poor control of pH if it is tied to the pool water. SE Texas tends to be a bit damp and thus corrosive, no matter what your pool water is

Remember, a 'chlorine' pool contains salt. All forms of chlorine, liquid, solid, etc add salt to your water.

Take care.
 
ryan-california said:
If you aren't interested in doing a SWG. You may want to consider finding a time of the day (first thing, last thing - waterier) to add your bleach. Make it your daily thing. It'll take about a week to figure out your rough needs on a daily basis, but it's pretty simple to then just a deep testing once a week. If you are seeing 2-3 ppm loss a day (fairly normal) then you'll be somewhere around a 1/2 gallon of 10% every 2 days (use pool math to validate). I just dump 1/2 a gallon in every morning and my FC is stable as a rock - in my pool. It's of course dependent on your pool and how it behaves, but making it a part of your routine makes it really easy.

Of course, it sounds like you need to get a legit SLAM happening right now. Hopefully you are holding FC, otherwise it sounds like you may have ammonia, and you'll need to be ready for some serious bleach additions!
Click to expand...

I think we're in the home stretch. Having this low of cya has made a slamm very easy to maintain I guess. my wife has added a timer to her phone to remember to add chemicals. She works nights too so it's lots of obstacles to overcome.

mknauss said:
All of the issues with flagstone or rust around SWCG pools have tended to be shown that the pool water chemistry was not managed correctly. Flagstone in your part of the country flakes whether it is near a pool or not. A number of members of this forum are from Texas and have flagstone.

The rust is due to poor control of pH if it is tied to the pool water. SE Texas tends to be a bit damp and thus corrosive, no matter what your pool water is

Remember, a 'chlorine' pool contains salt. All forms of chlorine, liquid, solid, etc add salt to your water.

Take care.
Click to expand...

I don't hours of research when we built the pool. I know it's 10% the salinity of the ocean and all the good stuff. I've studied up on the sealers etc. I'd be fine trying it but she's dead set against it and seeing the flagstone that was destroyed by the salt is hard to argue with. When I was here looking for reasons to not go against it nobody could account a first hand issue with it. While I'm not first hand, it happened to my close friends pool and we have seen the degradation. The dogs doing in and out all day compound the issue and since we live in the country and don't have a fence nor will put up one around the pool we will continue to have that issue. The pool with rusted stuff around it isn't the only case I've seen of rust due to salt pools. I don't believe it was the Ph as the pool is professionally maintained and no expense is spared. tabs would be so much easier if someone could make one that doesn't have all the extra stuff in it.

I didn't know that I could loose 3-5ppm of cya a month. Though it was there for good once you get it. Good info

brett
 
Something else you may want to consider is a Stenner pump to supply the pool with liquid chlorine. You could even stick with the tabs as long as you know you would have to test the CYA monthly and do a partial drain/refill when it gets too high.
 
All chlorine pools contain salt, added with all types of chlorine, muriatic acid, body sweat, etc. When I made the switch to a SWG, I already had 1200ppm of salt in the pool after 2-1/2 years, over 1/3" of my required salt for the SWG.

So, while I cannot argue the fact that salt will accelerate the corrosion of metals, to apply a blanket statement that only pools with a SWG cause salt related corrosion is incorrect and misleading.
 
zea3 said:
Something else you may want to consider is a Stenner pump to supply the pool with liquid chlorine. You could even stick with the tabs as long as you know you would have to test the CYA monthly and do a partial drain/refill when it gets too high.
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For sure. I'll look into them again. Anything would be better than what we are doing currently.

domct203 said:
All chlorine pools contain salt, added with all types of chlorine, muriatic acid, body sweat, etc. When I made the switch to a SWG, I already had 1200ppm of salt in the pool after 2-1/2 years, over 1/3" of my required salt for the SWG.

So, while I cannot argue the fact that salt will accelerate the corrosion of metals, to apply a blanket statement that only pools with a SWG cause salt related corrosion is incorrect and misleading.
Click to expand...

For you to zero in on that tells me your a huge supporter and defender of salt water pools. Trust me, I'd love to go to one. My PB and I went round and round about them. He hates them but also loves single speed pumps. I know the technology is changing and there are different ways to do things. I would like a salt water pool as I don't see the issues it would cause creating to much of a headache in the time I plan on keeping this house before building again further out. However, my wife would be harder to convince and I keep the "I'm the man of the house and what I say goes" card in my back pocket for matters larger than this.

Brett
 
I absolutely love the convenience of my SWG, and in my logic, my chemical / mineral content is now static as the salt will now remain at a (theoretical) constant level, and there are no additional 'other' ingredient content from the bleach (lye etc). I've only used muriatic acid twice, and that once was at my first opening, and again for my one SLAM.

But, I made that statement as an educational tidbit, a 'buyer beware' warning that a SWG pool is not exclusive to salt content nor salt accelerated corrosion regardless of what pool builders/retailers would lead you to believe. All chlorine pools contain salt, and my guess is that some older pools that do not drain seasonally may even exceed the salt content of some SWG pools, although there may be a point of equilibrium where the salt saturates the water and no longer rises, probably on some isotopic level that I will never truly understand LOL.

I won't try to push a SWG on anyone, for I would be no better than those who push other forms of sanitation. If bleach works for you, great. If tablets work for you and you understand how to manage high CYA levels so be it. I just honestly love the lazy convenience of the SWG.
 
I brought my buddy a bottle of our water to test this morning. He sent me the results once he got home with his k2006 kit.

FC 1.5
CC 0
PH >8
TA 220
CH 160
CYA 0

so looks like my results were pretty close to his. Wife added a bunch of MA this morning and will continue with the slam until all the algea spots are gone then I'll be bringing the cya up and hopefully be able to maintain. Have the bubblers and spa blower going to aerate the water in hopes of getting the TA under control

brett
 

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