First time pool owner

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tgblackw

Member
Jul 4, 2021
6
Denver, NC
Pool Size
13500
Surface
Plaster
Hi everyone. We recently purchased a home with a pool and are trying to get the hang of maintaining the pool. We took a water sample to the local pool store and we’re told that our CYA was high (117 ppm) and were sold a CYA removal kit made by natural chemistry. I followed the kit instructions and am now waiting to see if it reduces our CYA to an acceptable level. However, I didn’t think about the timing of this treatment process. Can my family and I use the pool during this process? I’m okay with it causing the kit not to work. I will just do it again in the fall when pool season ends. I just can’t find any information that tells me if the water is unsafe as a result of the kit. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
 
Welcome to TFP! :wave: The best way to lower CYA is by a water exchange, or at least enough to reduce the CYA down to something more manageable like around 50 or so. I can't speak for that product you added. The label should say if there are any cautions about swimming. But your overall chemistry is more important to confirm if you should be swimming.

Since you went to the pool store for testing and advice, we can tell you that we place no reliability on store testing or their advice. It's almost always wrong. The foundation of TFPC is testing your own water with either a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C test kit. That should be the #1 tool in any pool owner's box. Once you have one of those kits, post a full set of test results and we can help you get back on track. Easy stuff. Please update your signature with all of your pool and equipment info as well. We're here to help.

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Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!
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I will order a testing kit ASAP. There are no cautions on the product I used about not swimming so I am assuming it won’t be detrimental to anyone’s health.

I don’t really know the specs of my filter and pump. Is that information on the equipment itself somewhere?
 
tgblackw said:
I don’t really know the specs of my filter and pump. Is that information on the equipment itself somewhere?
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It helps to know the basic make or model. You can always post some pics and we might be able to help.
 
Ok. I got my Taylor K-2006C test kit in today. Test results are as follows:

pH: 7.6
FC: 0.4 - 0.6 ppm
CC: 0.4 -0.6 ppm
TA: 110 ppm
CH: 250 ppm
CYA: > 100 ppm

I know my CYA and is high and my chlorine is low. The CYA came in at 117 when I took a sample to my local pool store on Friday, 7/2/21. I shocked the pool on Friday after the pool store test with one bag and am using Trichlor tabs in the auto feeder. I can't keep the Chlorine levels up, I'm assuming due to the high CYA.

I did adminster the CYA reducing kit on Saturday and it says it can take 7-10 days for it to work. However, we used the pool this weekend so I'm not sure if that will cause the kit to not work. I've read that draining the pool is the best way to reduce CYA. I have no idea how to do that and it seems like it would take a long time to drain and refill in the middle of the swimming season. I'm all ears on what I need to do to get this thing balanced.

Also, I added my equipment to my signature. I'm not sure if there is anything else that you guys need to know.

Thanks in advance!
 
With a cartridge filter you probably don't have an option to pump water to waste, so you would need a submersible pump to remove some water then refill. That would be the most efficient way to exchange water. Getting that CYA down to about 50-70 would be ideal. Be sure to not use any stabilized chlorine products like bags of shock, tabs, etc. Those increase the CYA even more. Stick to liquid chlorine or regular bleach.
 
tgblackw said:
How do I know how much liquid chlorine to put in the pool?
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The first place we go to is the FC/CYA Levels. Find your pool type and current CYA to find the proper FC level. In your case you are over the ideal limit, hence the water exchange to lower the FC level. A CYA over 100 is really very difficult to manage properly.
 
Also you probably want to add what type of pool vinyl, plaster, or fiberglass to your signature. Each of them has different things to watch for when draining
 

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I will go buy some liquid chlorine today, but I suppose the first step is draining water off the pool. Is there a way to determine how much needs to be drained so that I don’t drain more than is necessary? Also, can I connect a hose the the pictured valve on my filter to drain or is a sump pump the only option?
 

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tgblackw said:
Is there a way to determine how much needs to be drained so that I don’t drain more than is necessary?
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The amount of water you replace equals to your CYA drop. For example, if you replace 50% of your water, your CYA will drop by 50%.

For your case, with a CYA of 110, you'd need to replace around 45-50% I'd say.

I'll let the experts answer your other question, as I'm not familiar with cartridge filters.
 
tgblackw said:
I will go buy some liquid chlorine today, but I suppose the first step is draining water off the pool. Is there a way to determine how much needs to be drained so that I don’t drain more than is necessary? Also, can I connect a hose the the pictured valve on my filter to drain or is a sump pump the only option?
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You can if you're careful. While I'm not an expert I have done it for smaller amounts.

Do you have a main drain? If not you can only get down to skimmer level with the main pump. Submersible pump would be safer, you do not want to run the pump if it loses prime so if you did go that route monitor very closely and be prepared to shut pump off if it loses prime. It will not be a fast process that way but could be done.

I would still recommend verifying cya level with your test kit and the diluted test instead of calculating amount to drain based on pool store test. Wouldn't be fun to drain and refill and find out it was actually higher than the 117 the pool store said.

Draining - Further Reading

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There are two drains at the bottom of the deep end of the pool. So, in theory, if I turn off the skimmer and have just the main drain running with the filter open at the bottom I shouldn't be at risk for anything crazy happening to the pump, right? It will just take a long time because the water draining will be limited by the size of the hose attached to the filter.

I'm sure a lot of these questions are dumb, but I am completely ignorant to all of this stuff.
 
With the skimmer closed and taking water from the main drains and the fact you aren't likely to need to completely drain pool you should be able to keep water coming to pump at all times. I would still keep an eye on it as it drains.

Yes you will be limited by hose size. If you wanted to speed it up home depot rents pumps for around $50 for 4 hours or $70 for the day that could output a lot more.

Better to ask questions than find the problems the hard way
 
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