CYA overload !

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M

mepot101

Well-known member
May 25, 2019
58
Orlando, Fl
I'm new here, and have not quite figured out the pool math site, but I think I know my first step.
My pool is older, I have owned the house and pool for about 2 years. I finally figured out the 'big box' pool stores are making a living off me, figured I better get this pool testing figured out on my own.

My cya is over 120, probably at ~150. I thought the 3" pucks were the way to go, I guess I know better now. CH is also high, 500. TA120 , PH7.6. I have been eating chlorine, currently using dry, today it is 0. Probably why I am having a recurring green algae issue,(duh). Pool store says buy more algae eliminator, at $70.00 a bottle.

OK, where to start? How much water should I drain, and can I water my lawn with the old water? We haven't seen rain in 17 days , even my weeds are dying.
Thanks for any insight you can offer,

Mike
 
100 is the limit of the CYA test, so you have to do a diluted test. Mix 50% pool water with 50% tap water. Use this mixed sample as your test water. Multiply the result by 2 for your CYA level.
Once you do that you will want to get to 40 ppm or so CYA.

Then, can you safely drain? Do you have shallow water table?
There is an exchange process if draining is risky.
 
Hi Mike,
welcome to TFP.
well at least you know you're on the right track now. If you have algae, you;ll need to drain your water enough to get you down to about 30. Its much easier and cheaper to eliminate algae with a low CYA level.

You'll probably need to drain 2/3 or so of the pool water. That will also bring down your CH.

You can use the water on the grass. No problem.

Mike, if you're gonna maintain your pool yourself and make sure to keep it algae free, then you'll need a good test kit. We here at TFP pretty much have learned to trust only the Taylor K2006C, and the TF100. Dont consider a good test kit an expense, its an investment and can pay for itself many times over in no time. Theres a link in my sig to TF Testkits.
 
Thanks for the replies, and yes I bought the taylor 2006 kit after my first visit to this site.
I also bought a Pentair cya test kit , didn't realize the Taylor kit had that also. It tests way high with both kits. The pool stores said my cya was high, but I didn't really understand the correlation to my chlorine loss and algae issue. Starting to understand better now.

I am up on a slight hill,by Fl standards, so a drain and fill should not be a concern. My house sits approx 6-8 ft above street level. I was wondering how a fill and drain works if you drain and fill at the same time? Also, I have a water conditioner on my house, but heard that it is not good to add to a pool with 'soft' water. Don't really want to run that much water through the softener anyways. I have a hose hooked up before the softener for pool water and lawn care.

Thanks again for any advice.
Mike
 
Using your 'raw' water is normally fine. No iron problems, etc? What is the CH of your raw water?

You can exchange some water without draining.

If you place a low volume sub pump in the deep end and pull water from there while adding water in the shallow end (through a skimmer or into a bucket on a step so you lessen the water disturbance) you can do a fairly efficient exchange. That is assuming the water you are filling with is the same temperature or warmer than your pool water. If your fill water is much cooler than your pool water, then switch it. Add the water to the deep end (hose on bottom) and pull water from the top step.

The location of the pump and fill hose may change if you have salt water, high calcium, etc.
In my pool, with saltwater and high calcium when I drain, I put the pump in the deep end and hose in shallow end. The water in the pool weighs more per unit volume than the fill water from the hose.

Be sure to balance the water out and water in so the pool level stays the same. Also be sure your pool pump is disabled during this process. Once started do not stop until you have exchanged the amount of water you wish.
 
I will test the ch of my city water before I start this project next weekend. If you do fill and drain at the same time, how do you know when you have exchanged enough? Just keep testing ?
I will probably just do a drain and then refill. I assume all my levels will be off then?
Mike
 
At the start of the exchange, once the in and out is balanced, you take one of the hoses and fill a 5 gallon bucket while timing it. You get GPM and you can then see how long it will take to exchange the volume you want.

If you drain and refill, run the pump for a couple hours, brush, etc and then run a full set of test results.
 
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