CYA Level Too High After Refilling Pool Halfway — Please Help

snetwork

Member
Jul 7, 2017
11
Canada
Hi guys, we could really use your help! Thanks in advance for any help you can offer us.

- We have an indoor saltwater pool that had a high level of Cyanuric acid
- The pool company recommended we do a partial re-fill so we drained the pool halfway and refilled it (approx. 12,000 gallons of water) with well water using a combination of filters and polyfill.
- After the pool was filled, we turned on the pump / filter while the water was brown / green
- We added 2 bottles of metal free sequestrant
- Once it started to clear, we added a shock, primer, 2 bottles of liquid chlorine and a half a bag of salt which turned it back to brown / green
- We then added 2 more bottles of sequestrant Aquarius clear and the water went from brown to greenish colour but was looking clear 3 days later
- Then we added 2 bottles of Aquarius clarifier and the water went somewhat cloudy again
- Added 1 more bottle of sequestrant Aquarius clear today to see if the cloudiness would go away
- Additionally, each day we have been adding 2L of acid enhance to get our alkalinity back down which is 12L so far

Before we drained pool 3 weeks ago:
CYA = 189
Alkalinity = 308
Calcium = 410
pH = 8
Free Chlorine = 0.6
Total Chlorine = 0.9
Salt = 3800 ppm

After we drained pool:
CYA = 94
Alkalinity = 371
Calcium = 469
pH = 7.6
Free Chlorine = 0.3
Total Chlorine = 0.3
Salt = 1600 ppm

Yesterday:
CYA = 223
Alkalinity = 223
Calcium = 388
pH = 7.4
Free Chlorine = 0.1
Total Chlorine = 0.1
Salt = 2600 ppm

Today:
CYA = 171
Alkalinity = 265
Calcium = 428
pH = 7.3
Free Chlorine = 0.2
Total Chlorine = 0.2
Salt = 2700 ppm

All of these readings and instructions are coming from the pool company but they can't seem to tell us why CYA went from 94 back up to 223 yesterday and then down to 171 today. None of the products have CYA in them so we are not sure why the CYA level would be rising?

For reference, the total alkalinity in our well water is 532 mg/litre, calcium is 222 mg/litre and iron is 3.6 mg/litre. High sulfates, dissolved sulfates, total hardness, dissolved solids, manganese

QUESTION:
1. What could be contributing to the high CYA reading? When we test ourselves, it appears high. Do we need to drain again?

thank you for your help.
 
Last edited:
It looks like your CYA was higher then you were told.

For CYA > 90ppm, repeat the test adjusting the procedure as follows:
  1. Fill the mixing bottle to the lower mark (15 ml line) with pool water.
  2. Continue filling the mixing bottle to the upper mark (30 ml line) with tap water.
  3. Shake briefly to mix.
  4. Pour off half of the contents of the mixing bottle, so it is again filled to the lower mark (15 ml line).
  5. Continue the test normally from adding R-0013, but multiply the final result by two.
If you need to dilute the pool water further then apply these ratios:[8]

Pool waterTap or distilled waterMultiply result by
112
123
 
Calcium in the 400s is fine.

Put some crushed up Vitamin C as a paste in a sock and rub it on the stains. It should lift if it is iron.

You can add chlorine now.
 
Thank you. We are going to drain the entire pool this time. Is there any issue with filling the entire pool with the well water based on the well water having 532 mg/litre, calcium is 222 mg/litre and iron is 3.6 mg/litre? High sulfates, dissolved sulfates, total hardness, dissolved solids, manganese
 
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