CYA very high with unknown reason

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J

jbone1313

Member
Mar 26, 2021
20
Arizona
Last year, we had to drain and refill our pool.

After refilling, I went to the pool store and had the water tested. They gave me CYA and had me add the whole bottle, and they told me to come back in a week or so and have the water retested. After the second test, they gave me more CYA, and I added it according to their instructions.

A couple weeks ago, we treated the pool with ascorbic acid. After my testing kept showing low PH, I went to the store to have it professionally tested to make sure I checked everything accurately.

The test showed a level of CYA at 130ppm! My test here at home confirmed that.

Questions:

1. How could this have happened?
2. Is it possible they messed up the test last year? It seems really hard to mess up.
3. Is it possible the ascorbic acid could be throwing off this test?

I would hate to drain the pool unnecessarily.

Any other thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
How much stabilizer have you added, a 'bottle' is a measurement that is hard to calculate from.
 

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You have two choices, liquid chlorine or a Salt Water Chlorine Generator. With liquid chlorine, you add what the pool needs EVERY DAY. Or with the SWCG, it creates and adds the chlorine for you every day.
 
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Trichlor pucks are adding CYA at a rate of approximately 2 ppm per day (based on daily FC loss to UV of 2-3, and the ratio of FC to CYA in pucks). That means you raise the CYA by about 60 ppm per month, or 360 over the course of six months. These are rough numbers but you get the idea - since CYA doesn't leave the water, it rises very quickly.

I use liquid chlorine. It takes but a couple minutes to do each day. Others prefer SWG, which take even less time, but cost a lot more up front.
 
jbone1313 said:
Sorry to bump this thread, but I wanted to express my appreciation for all the help. I am now a Bleach Believer. Screw the pucks. I read through all the Pool School stuff, and it has helped tighten up a lot of knowledge gaps. What a great forum. :)

Thanks!
Click to expand...
you can auto add bleach with a stenner pump. I have this one with a built in timer. Stenner Econ T Automatic Dosing Peristaltic Metering Pump E10T2B 120V NSF 50: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

It can do 8.5 gallons per day or .35 gallons per hour.

I use a 55 gallon drum that I bought for $25 off craigslist.

The checkvalve screws into the top 1/2" NPT of the puck dispenser. That 1/2" npt I believe is for a pressure gauge. You might need an extender so the check valve doesnt protrude into the puck tube so you can still put pucks in.
 
march2012 said:
You might need an extender so the check valve doesnt protrude into the puck tube so you can still put pucks in.
Click to expand...
That is very dangerous. If you put pucks in and then liquid chlorine, an explosion is likely to occur. NEVER mix different forms of chlorine.
 
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mknauss said:
That is very dangerous. If you put pucks in and then liquid chlorine, an explosion is likely to occur. NEVER mix different forms of chlorine.
Click to expand...

Wonder whether that's what triggered James to start this thread:

Never mix chemicals.

Never mix different chemicals together. Mixing different chemicals can create very dangerous, toxic and explosive results. Mixing calcium hypochlorite with anything is one of the most dangerous types of mixtures. Finally, if the choice is to alternate between stabilized and unstabilized...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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