Do I need to increase CYA?

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R

rwjdennis

0
Aug 31, 2016
11
Guelph, Canada
The last couple years I've had 0 CYA according to my water testing (I have the Taylor kit). I haven't been paying attention to how much liquid chlorine I've been putting in, but I'd say it's about 10L/week (1.14L/day). The only time I have trouble is when I go away for vacation, but a good scrub and vacuum as well as hyperchlorinating for a day or two bring it back to rights. Last year I did try administering some CYA in granular form, but it did nothing.

Based on my experience (but still hoping to hear your shared experiences), do I need to worry about it if my water is otherwise within the ideal parameters? If so, is there an effective way to add CYA? Should I be looking at other aspects of my water chemistry that might possibly be preventing its establishment?

This summer I'll be away for two weeks and my cover failed over the winter (as a result the water is taking much longer to get clear), so I'm also wondering about CYA to buy a little bit of elbow grease this summer in particular.

Thanks for any insights you can share!
 
James,

Pool water without CYA is harsh. There is just no reason not to have at least 30 ppm of CYA in your pool.

What is your normal FC level?

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks, Jim. I'm able to maintain 2ppm FC with little to no (maybe 0.2ppm) CC throughout the summer (May-September).

And I guess it's not that I don't want it - I tried to get it in there last year but couldn't - but if I can maintain otherwise good chemistry, is CYA something I need to worry about? You're saying that without it the water is harsh. Can you elaborate on that a bit?
 
How are you testing?

Without CYA in the pool water, the half life of FC with sun shining on the pool is 50 minutes. So it would be difficult to keep a FC of 2 ppm unless the pool is covered and never used in the daylight.
 
R,

CYA helps buffer the chlorine so that the water does not feel as harsh on your skin.

How did you try to add CYA??

The best way is to add it is by using a ladies knee-high stocking. Add the CYA to the stocking and then use the top of the stocking like a rope and hang it in front of a pool return, with the pump running. After about 15 minutes start squeezing the stocking and the CYA will just dissolve in the water... Kind of looks like smoke.

Adding the CYA will keep the sun from burning off your FC too quickly, but it won't allow you to take a two-week vacation without adding chlorine. Might make sense to just float some chlorine tablets while you are gone.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Marty - I'm testing using the Taylor test kit (FAS-DPD titration). Admittedly after a few years of doing this, I'm not doing it religiously throughout the season. Having also reviewed the math between now and when I first posted, I probably am having to add too much chlorine than normal to keep it at 2ppm. Which then leads into this ...

Jimrahbe said:
How did you try to add CYA??

The best way is to add it is by using a ladies knee-high stocking. Add the CYA to the stocking and then use the top of the stocking like a rope and hang it in front of a pool return, with the pump running. After about 15 minutes start squeezing the stocking and the CYA will just dissolve in the water... Kind of looks like smoke.
Click to expand...
... and that is pretty much exactly how I administered it. I thought I was a bit of a weirdo doing it this way, but now that Jim has prescribed it, I feel more normal. But the result is still no increase in CYA (and a couple empty reagent bottles to prove it).

Is there a specific product or brand that is proven to work? I'm just wondering if what I bought was not effective ...
 
@Jimrahbe I can't recall specifically, but I think it ended up being the entire 900gram (2lb) container for my 55,000 L pool.
@Oly can you provide a link to that? When I mentioned the reagent bottles, I was referring to the testing reagent in the Taylor testing kit ... in that I had tested so much and the only result was empty reagent bottles. But if you can recommend a better product to increase my CYA, that's certainly helpful.
 

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