CYA is consistently zero for the last 10 days

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J

jptech250

Member
Jul 10, 2021
10
Toronto, Canada
Pool Size
16000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hi everyone,

New pool owner here.

After reading this forum, I'm going to try and get my hands on one of the TF testing kits; I've reached out to the manufacturer to find out who their Canadian distributor is as they don't ship to Canada.

For now, I'm using the aquachek 7 strips. Results from today's test below.
  • Total hardness: 100
  • TC: 5
  • FC: 5
  • Ph: 6.8
  • TA: 40
  • CYA: 0
CYA has been consistently 0 for the last 10 days.

To improve it, I added 300 g of Stabilizer and pour into the skimmer slowly (as it read on the bottle's instructions). Pic added of the product I'm using.

I saw in quite a few forums that I should be a sock over the return to get it into the pool slowly. Would this apply in my case? Advice is appreciated.
 

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We do recommend using the sock method to add granular CYA. It dissolves quicker that way and you can see when it’s fully dissolved.

The way you added it can work, but right now it’s sitting in the sand in your filter. There’s no way to know when it’s fully dissolved, so the recommendation is to wait a week before backwashing. If you backwash too soon, the CYA you added (that hasn’t yet dissolved) will just go right out with the backwash water.

Here’s a tip on how you can hopefully get a decent test kit in Canada:

Test Kits To Canada (How To Guide)

Hi Eveyone, For all you Canadians trying not to get ripped off by high prices for Test kits in Canada or for some that don’t ship to Canada, this is how you do it. 1)Setup an account at www.crossborderpickups.ca 2)Have the company ship to your Buffalo address 3) When it arrives have them...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
That is hard for us to recommend as we do not know how much CYA you have in the pool water.
1 pound of dry stabilizer will add 7.5 ppm of CYA to your pool.
 
jptech250 said:
Perfect. Thanks for the link re: test kits.

Makes sense and, yup, totally good to try out the sock method. For my pool size though, any recos on much CYA I should add? Thank you!
Click to expand...
300g in a 16000 gallon pool will only add about 5ppm. In your climate using LC you’re going to want to be around 30-40.

Have you added any stabilizer to the water previously, either directly or through the use of chlorinating tablets (trichlor) or powder shock (dichlor)? Fill water will start with 0 CYA. The important part is understanding where you are right now — and we don’t trust test strips to give that answer.
 
jptech250 said:
No other stabilizer was added to the pool previously. This is the 1st time since I bought the house and opened the pool last month.

I will work on getting a test kit. Thanks again for that link earlier.
Click to expand...
Did the pool come with the house, and was their water already in it from the prior owners? If so they may have added CYA previously.

If you’re absolutely confident there was no CYA in the water, adding another 1500g would get you to 30ppm.

The reason why we are so cautious with the recommendation to add is that CYA degrades very, very slowly in the water. So from a practical standpoint if you add too much, the only way to get it back down is to drain and replace water.
 
Got it. Answers below!
  • Yes, pool came with the house
  • Yes, water was already in it, though quite low. So we filled the majority when we opened the pool last month
So, no, I'm not 100% confident that there wasn't CYA in the pool previously. I would have said it's been zero for the last couple of days, but I also understand the strips are not the way to test it.

Is it a bad idea to put a sock in an empty dispenser (similar to the one I used for Chlorine) and let that float around the pool for a week or so? I'm thinking of adding 1500g, but after I get the test kit!
 
jptech250 said:
Got it. Answers below!
  • Yes, pool came with the house
  • Yes, water was already in it, though quite low. So we filled the majority when we opened the pool last month
So, no, I'm not 100% confident that there wasn't CYA in the pool previously. I would have said it's been zero for the last couple of days, but I also understand the strips are not the way to test it.

Is it a bad idea to put a sock in an empty dispenser (similar to the one I used for Chlorine) and let that float around the pool for a week or so? I'm thinking of adding 1500g, but after I get the test kit!
Click to expand...
The hard part about testing low amounts is that most tests (even good ones) can’t test below 20ppm. Some can’t measure below 30. So “0” could be anywhere from actual 0 to 30. And with strips, who knows it could be even higher. When testing below detectable levels but not positive the actual number, I’d recommend adding about 10ppm worth at a time, and re-test the day after it’s fully dissolved. Then repeat until you hit 30 or 40 and stop.

@ajw22 gives you the best way to add using a sock. The benefit of it being in front of the return is it will help it dissolve faster. With the sock, once it’s saturated with water, the more you squeeze the sock, the faster it will dissolve. I can add a full sock worth in a few hours with frequent squeezing/massaging of the sock.
 

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magiteck said:
The hard part about testing low amounts is that most tests (even good ones) can’t test below 20ppm. Some can’t measure below 30. So “0” could be anywhere from actual 0 to 30. And with strips, who knows it could be even higher. When testing below detectable levels but not positive the actual number, I’d recommend adding about 10ppm worth at a time, and re-test the day after it’s fully dissolved. Then repeat until you hit 30 or 40 and stop.
Click to expand...

Ah, I was wondering why the strips are considered that unreliable. I tried the Canadian shipping thread you sent and that crossborderpickups seems to redirect me to quickbase instead, which doesn't seem to have anything to do with... well... crossborder pickups. I found another route, which is signing up with a Lewiston-based UPS store that will then ship the received package to a Canadian address. If this route ends up working, how do I contribute to this forum? (Should I email an admin or update the link you sent earlier?)

Also, I bought the TF-100 kit from TFTestKits. If all goes well, hoping to get it here by the end of the week. I'm not going to add any further CYA until I get an accurate reading of the current amount in the pool.

Appreciate the help, @magiteck. -JP
 
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