CYA ?

[schatz]

Tested my water this morning and thought I would just check my CYA since I used 7 gallons of chlorine in January so far and was thinking I should be using a lot less. Anyway here is what I got.

CC 4.6

CA 220

PH 8.0

TA 80

CYA 0 ?

Does cold weather effect CYA readings or 8 month old regents gone bad or any other ideas. I last checked in November and it was 50. Now it is clear all the way to the top of the comperator tube, and no cloudiness at all. I have not backwashed or drained any water since then also. Very curious, maybe I will order new reagents on Amazon unless you guys have any better ideas.

 

[woodyp]

Re: CYA ?

CYA test water should be allowed to reach room temp first if that's a factor. But it sounds like for whatever reason you have substantially less than 20. Reagents should be fine.

 

[Texas Splash]

Re: CYA ?

As Woody noted, the R-0013 is one of the most stable reagents used, so it should still be fine. Something else that caught my eye was the elevated pH which can easily be lowered with acid, but are you sure about that CC reading? Did you mean "total" chlorine perhaps?

 

[schatz]

Re: CYA ?

My Ph is 8.0 because according to pool math my CSI is where I want it with a Ph of 7.8-8.0. And the 4.6 is total chlorine and I am wondering where my Cya went? I am pretty sure that my test sample had warmed up abit to room temp. but will recheck and use my infrared thermometer unless anyone has a better idea?

 

[JamesW]

Re: CYA ?

What are the fc and CC readings?

 

[schatz]

Re: CYA ?

4.6 Fc and 0 on the CC why? could that impact my CYA readings?

 

[JamesW]

Re: CYA ?

High CC readings might indicate that bacteria ate the CYA and converted it into ammonia.

Sometimes CYA disappears. Add some more and monitor.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Re: CYA ?

That explains your 7 gallons of bleach. I’m in Tucson and I think I’ve used 80 fl oz (~ 2/3rds of a gallon) of 8.25% bleach since the beginning of December.

 

[schatz]

Re: CYA ?

I have never had a high CC and check my FC and CC everyday, so I guess we should not take our CYA for granted, It seems like I should be checking it every now and then.

- - - Updated - - -

That explains your 7 gallons of bleach. I’m in Tucson and I think I’ve used 80 fl oz (~ 2/3rds of a gallon) of 8.25% bleach since the beginning of December.

I am glad I checked my CYA that's for sure I even had my wife verify the last reading I took in November so I no I am not imagining things.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Re: CYA ?

Well, in the hot summer months, I’ve seen my CYA drop by as much as 15-20ppm in a month. At first I though I was doing the test wrong or I had a leak, but I’m pretty skilled on the testing AND none of my other permanent chemical levels (calcium or salt) we’re going down. So I chalked it up to warm pool water and Tucson’s typically high UV index. CYA does get oxidized by chlorine (especially when UV is present) but it’s just at a much lower rate in most pools around the country.

As long as you can rule out leaks and bad testing, then it’s just an unusual happenstance of living in the toasty desert climate.

 

[schatz]

Re: CYA ?

Well, in the hot summer months, I’ve seen my CYA drop by as much as 15-20ppm in a month. At first I though I was doing the test wrong or I had a leak, but I’m pretty skilled on the testing AND none of my other permanent chemical levels (calcium or salt) we’re going down. So I chalked it up to warm pool water and Tucson’s typically high UV index. CYA does get oxidized by chlorine (especially when UV is present) but it’s just at a much lower rate in most pools around the country.

As long as you can rule out leaks and bad testing, then it’s just an unusual happenstance of living in the toasty desert climate.

I guess I should chalk it up to experience seeing as I have only been doing it this way for 8 months now. Was under the impression that CYA never changed unless physically removed from pool by draining. Live and learn, from now on I will be checking my CYA once a month or more and especially if chlorine useage is high. It just seems kind of strange that the CYA oxidized and disappeared in the winter but was o.k. all summer when it was hot, and check my chlorine everyday and never had to slam or have seen visible algae. Thanks. Joyfull noise

 

[schatz]

Re: CYA ?

The other day, on Sunday I checked my chemicals and since I went through 7 gallons of liquid chlorine in January I decided to check my CYA. It showed that my CYA was zero, so I started a thread about where and how this might have happened. I received several sugestions and just for my own reasons ordered new r-0013 reagent from Amazon for kicks. Mean while I ran up to Leslies pool store and purchased 10 more lbs. of cyanuric acid and added that over the course of the last few days. So today I figured I would check CYA's and still no reading. Have been checking CYA everyday and still no reading. So this morning I used my new r-0013 that I ordered and I got a reading, it was 100, so overadded now. Moral of story is to check your Reagents, my k 2006 kit was only a year old so I figured it should be good for a couple years, right? Never assume I guess. So now I will be draining half the pool, unless anyone else has a better idea. Thanks again, and check your reagents against known good ones every year or so. So this still doesn't explain my high chlorine useage though, seems like a lot for January, although it has been really windy and I am out in the dessert and dogs water bowl gets a lot of algae that I clean out every few days or so so maybe I have a lot of algae blowing in the pool.

 

[Texas Splash]

That is odd. The R-0013 is an inert solution that is one of the most stable and reliable. Probably doesn't matter now, but I wonder if that particular batch (lot) was ID'd by Taylor as questionable? It does stink that your CYA appears to be high now. As for the FC consumption, anything's possible, especially if your CYA was almost to zero previously, then bounced around to where the FC was never balanced with it. You might try an overnight (OCLT) test and see what happens.

 

[schatz]

I thought it was kind of odd also, a 100 dollar or so mistake. thanks ,I guess I will bring my FC up to 11 tonight and recheck in A.M. for loss and then start draining.

 

[mknauss]

If you added your CYA (powder or liquid?) via the skimmer directly into your DE filter, a good portion of it may be in the filter. I would backwash right now. If you can't, do not run the pump until you can. Even liquid (which is powder in an aqueous solution) still has solids in it that take quite awhile to dissolve.

 

[schatz]

Thanks but I fear it has dissolved already based on my reading of 100 CYA and before I was running at 50. And I added using granules in a sock placed in front of a skimmer with pump running for 3 days.

 

[schatz]

I did the overnight test last night and had 12.6 fc and dropped to 12.0 this morning. Do you guys think I need to do a slam ? And if so I should probably lower my CYA's in a couple days after I get a stable reading of them.

 

[mknauss]

No SLAM needed. Less than 1 ppm FC drop, no visible algae (correct?), and crystal clear water (correct?).

So wait a week or so and do a dilute test for your CYA and see where you are. Then you might decide to drain some water (what is your CH?, it might be time to drain anyway).

Take care.