CYA granules sitting in deep end of plaster pool

[RobHudson]

Should I panic?

I screwed up when I put the CYA granules in. I dumped 6lbs of the powder in my 22k gallon plaster pool which had zero CYA. I realize now that I should have used the sock method.

All the granules are now sitting on the floor in the deep end. Do I need to vacuum ASAP? I’ve read conflicting things on whether it causes damage to plaster.

Or, do I just keep brushing my heart out?

 

[Dirk]

Yes, panic. It definitely can, probably already has, stained your plaster. I can show you my stain. Two years old and still fresh as a daisy. Mine happened in seconds. Vacuum immediately. That will trap them in the filter, where they will eventually safely dissolve. Brushing will potentially just spread the damage.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Hi there Rob- Yes, those acidic granules do have a risk of discoloring your plaster. If you could vacuum them up into the filter (and NOT backwash for a week) you could let them dissolve there. That's assuming you have a sand filter- I don't know about other type of filters. Alternatively you could vac them out to waste and start again.

Maddie

 

[RobHudson]

I have a DE filter.

 

[Dirk]

Beat'cha Maddie! Hopefully he hears us soon...

 

[Dirk]

I have a DE filter.

Sorry, I got a little carried away, 'cause I was panicking with ya. My stain came from liquid CYA, which is more "lethal." Granules won't be as bad, but get'em up fast just the same and you could be OK.

 

[RobHudson]

Thanks guys. I forgot to respond. I ended up using my little electric pool vac to get most of it out. I figured that is the piece of equipment that I was least afraid of doing any long term damage too, since They break every couple years anyway.

Potentially dumb question, as I’m only a couple weeks away from attempting to close, is it even worth trying to balance the CYA at this point?

 

[Dirk]

Glad it worked out. Any stains? Gotta leave the closing question to the northerners...

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Don't close until the water temp is <60 degrees. This means you take care of the pool in the meantime. What's your CYA level now? If you can keep chlorine (FC) in the pool now day to day without it disappearing you should be okay.