CYA with a pool refill? How?

[DigitalCK]

We just had to drain and refill our pool. It was acid washed while empty and then immediately refilled using our hoses on the house.

Talked to our pool service company about chemicals for a "restart" of sorts.

They came out the day after it filled.

CYA was reading 60 already, but 0 free chlorine.

Is this a misreading? Is this CYA from our tabs in the in-line chlorinator? What am I missing here?

 

[PoolStored]

Something is not right. CYA does not occur naturally.

How did you read a CYA of 60? Pool Store Test? You can't imagine the number of times pool store testing is wrong...

If you are using pool store testing, get your own test kit...Link-->Test Kits Compared

 

[HermanTX]

We just had to drain and refill our pool. It was acid washed while empty and then immediately refilled using our hoses on the house.

Talked to our pool service company about chemicals for a "restart" of sorts.

They came out the day after it filled.

CYA was reading 60 already, but 0 free chlorine.

Is this a misreading? Is this CYA from our tabs in the in-line chlorinator? What am I missing here?

The CYA result is most likely a mis-reading - unless - the pool service company added CYA (stabilizer) to the water when the pool was filling. Municiple water does not have CYA in it naturally.

Tabs take a very long time to increase CYA (when starting at zero) as each tab has to dissolve. You do not state your pool volume but using 20k gals, one 3" puck (when fully dissolved) only adds 1.7ppm of CYA to get a CYA of 60 you would need to dissolve 35 pucks.

Why haven't they added chlorine? That should be done ASAP.

 

[DigitalCK]

I did the reading with a test strip. Yes, I know these are garbage compared to the taylor drops, but we're not DIY'ing maintenance (yet) so it's more of a backup plan to have these available.

I called them yesterday because our service report from Friday said 100 on CYA which they agreed was wrong, and they have not been back out with any chemicals yet. Trying again on them today...

 

[HermanTX]

I did the reading with a test strip. Yes, I know these are garbage compared to the taylor drops, but we're not DIY'ing maintenance (yet) so it's more of a backup plan to have these available.

I called them yesterday because our service report from Friday said 100 on CYA which they agreed was wrong, and they have not been back out with any chemicals yet. Trying again on them today...

I read your other post where you finally had the plaster contractor do a second acid wash to remove some of the staining. So is this the new fill after that? It is baffling that CYA is so high unless something was added.

I would highly recommend using liquid chlorine (Home Depot, Walmart or if you have a Pinch A Penny pool store in Dallas area). See What Are My Ideal Pool Levels?

Using a pool service is sometimes necessary by those that cannot physically do the work, travel extensively or just busy with family however, having a proper test kit allows you to verify the balance of your pool water because at the end of the day, poor chemistry can lead to other issues with pool equipment or plaster, which will cost even more money to resolve.

 

[DigitalCK]

I read your other post where you finally had the plaster contractor do a second acid wash to remove some of the staining. So is this the new fill after that? It is baffling that CYA is so high unless something was added.

I would highly recommend using liquid chlorine (Home Depot, Walmart or if you have a Pinch A Penny pool store in Dallas area). See What Are My Ideal Pool Levels?

Using a pool service is sometimes necessary by those that cannot physically do the work, travel extensively or just busy with family however, having a proper test kit allows you to verify the balance of your pool water because at the end of the day, poor chemistry can lead to other issues with pool equipment or plaster, which will cost even more money to resolve.

Yes, it is the new fill after an acid wash. I'm also confused. I feel it has to be a mis-read as free chlorine is zero... unless they put in stabilizer and NOT chlorine...

I did add a gallon of chlorine that I had as a spare sitting here just in case I ever needed it. Something better than nothing but clearly not enough and it'll probably disappear today with our expected high near 100

I have a pool service because I'm learning and I do feel it's at least the option to put the blame on someone else if something's wrong, while I continue to ask questions and do my own testing to confirm things. Like this situation. Clearly I need a better test kit, but this is at least directional to tell me something isn't right (and now i can challenge the servicer to fix it).
I do hope to get to be my own servicer next year. Just need to learn a bit more and feel comfortable with it.

 

[Bperry]

Yes, it is the new fill after an acid wash. I'm also confused. I feel it has to be a mis-read as free chlorine is zero... unless they put in stabilizer and NOT chlorine...

I did add a gallon of chlorine that I had as a spare sitting here just in case I ever needed it. Something better than nothing but clearly not enough and it'll probably disappear today with our expected high near 100

I have a pool service because I'm learning and I do feel it's at least the option to put the blame on someone else if something's wrong, while I continue to ask questions and do my own testing to confirm things. Like this situation. Clearly I need a better test kit, but this is at least directional to tell me something isn't right (and now i can challenge the servicer to fix it).
I do hope to get to be my own servicer next year. Just need to learn a bit more and feel comfortable with it.

The strips will end up causing more problems then they solve. You’de be better off just adding 5ppm of liquid chlorine per day and not doing anything based on test strip results. You now have first hand experience of how useless they are.

 

[proavia]

Test strips are not accurate - period.
You just proved that to yourself with a full drain, acid wash and full refill. That would result in a CYA reading of 0 (zero), but your test (guess) strips show CYA 60.

You say you are "... not DIY'ing maintenance (yet) ...". Which means you will be doing it at some point.
Get one of the recommended test kits. Test Kits Compared

 

[HermanTX]

I have a pool service because I'm learning and I do feel it's at least the option to put the blame on someone else if something's wrong, while I continue to ask questions and do my own testing to confirm things. Like this situation. Clearly I need a better test kit, but this is at least directional to tell me something isn't right (and now i can challenge the servicer to fix it).

No one will take care of your pool better than yourself. Suggest you meet with your pool service and state your expectations. Some items to discuss, state you only want to use liquid chlorine and you want a note left every time they visit of what was done (vacuum, brush, backwash, etc,) and what and how much chemicals was added. Also tell them that you do not want any fancy solutions - if they think they need to add anything other than LC or muriatic acid that they need your approval first. This way your are taking control of the pool and still have them to make the recommendations. I interpret your comment that you will purchase a proper test kit - so you can start to use that after it arrives. Feel free to post results and ask questions.

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