Filled new pool in October. Add Salt & CYA now or wait?

[cwswifty]

I’ve already learned so much from this group and I’m so happy to have found you at the very beginning of my pool-care learning adventure. I love my PB but because of this site I knew better than to continue using the Clorox Extra Blue tabs he left me after startup.

I’m going to keep the pool open through winter and with my water temps in the 50s (F) I’ve been relying on liquid chlorine for sanitation (2-4 ppm). I’ll fire up the SWCG next spring when the water warms up. I was thinking I’d wait until then to add the salt and CYA (which I already have). Does this sound like a good plan? I’ve read that CYA reduces the harshness of chlorine but my current levels haven’t bothered us.

Thanks for the knowledge you’ve already bestowed upon me and I’m looking forward to learning more.

 

[ajw22]

Add at least 30 ppm of CYA to protect the chlorine on the sunny days.

 

[Bperry]

a good plan? I’ve read that CYA reduces the harshness of chlorine but my current levels haven’t bothered us.

CYA does do that but it also buffers the effectiveness of chlorine along with a benefit of slowing its degradation from the sun. Without any CYA, much of the chlorine you put in the water can be gone in a couple hours.

Always follow this chart for your CYA and FC

FC vs CYA chart location

Can anyone point me to the fc cya chart that used to be here somewhere? Had link buy changed ohones, link list. Now cannot find chart. Was green I think. Thank you.

www.troublefreepool.com

The trouble with super low CYA and its matching chlorine level is that chlorine is depleted each day from the sun and various organic debris (leaves, animals, insects, dust, etc) and the average loss per day varies between 1-4ppm. Winter is closer to the 1ppm. But you can see that if you start the day at 3ppm and then lose 3ppm, 3-3=0ppm so you have zero sanitizer in the water.

Adding CYA lets you both raise the amount of chlorine in the water safely and prevents the chlorine from degrading as fast so you have more buffer for losses through the day.

If you don’t have any CYA, you really don’t want to let the FC get much above 4ppm so it’s really hard to keep the FC above the minimum but below the maximum.

Long story short… add 30ppm like suggested above and maintain the FC to match.

 

[cwswifty]

Makes sense. 30 ppm CYA until spring warmup then add salt and raise CYA to 70-80 ppm.

Thanks guys!

 

[Bperry]

Makes sense. 30 ppm CYA until spring warmup then add salt and raise CYA to 70-80 ppm.

Thanks guys!

Just note that there’s nothing bad using a lower amount of CYA. It’s just that 70-80ppm seems to be a sweet spot in the heat of summer when using a SWCG and also using TFP chlorine levels. So don’t increase it much until you’re sure there’s no need to SLAM the pool cause the extra CYA makes the SLAM harder.

 

[cwswifty]

Just note that there’s nothing bad using a lower amount of CYA. It’s just that 70-80ppm seems to be a sweet spot in the heat of summer when using a SWCG and also using TFP chlorine levels. So don’t increase it much until you’re sure there’s no need to SLAM the pool cause the extra CYA makes the SLAM harder.

Got it! Thank you for your detailed response.

 

[Mdragger88]

One note*
All the chlorine (liquid or tabs), muriatic acid, & calcium chloride you add also adds salt so be sure to test your salt level in the spring before adding any.

 

[cwswifty]

One note*
All the chlorine (liquid or tabs), muriatic acid, & calcium chloride you add also adds salt so be sure to test your salt level in the spring before adding any.

Great add! Thanks to you guys I have the 2006C Salt to be able to do that when necessary.

 

[cwswifty]

OK checking back in here now that my pool water is in the upper 50s (58° F today). Current salinity is 800 ppm and CYA is 40 ppm. Is there any reason not to go ahead and add the additional salt this weekend and put the SWCG to work or should I wait a little longer? According to my manual the SWCG should be happy if temps are > 54° F. If water temp drops below that it will just stop generating chlorine and not hurt anything, right? Also, I plan on slowly bringing up the CYA over the next few weeks.

 

[ajw22]

Add the salt, give it 48 hours to dissolve, and see if the SWG is happy.

 

[JamesW]

Brush the pool thoroughly at least 5 times after adding salt.

Salt can actually sit on the floor much longer than most people realize.