Help! High CYA/Switching to this from pool store testing and chemocals

[Ilovemylife1129]

Hello! I’ve had a pool for years but I’m here to stop using the pool store as they have gotten me into a mess! Following what they told me to do since we opened the pool in May of this year 2020 and our chlorine kept reading low and stabilizer high from them over and over and then telling me to put more chemicals in. Then they told us to switch to Pristine Blue and over 4 days our pool got more cloudy and a blue green color?! That’s when I found this and decided to give it a try. I read on a forum someone said to start putting a half gallon of Clorox bleach in a day until my test kit came. It came today and here are my results.
FC- 3
CC-0
TC-3
CH- 400
ALkalinity- 170
CYA-100

I hope this is right because I feel like I have no idea what I am doing as I’ve always trusted the pool store. Do I need to SLAM my pool or drain? Any help is so much appreciated!

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum! Great decision to get your self a proper test kit and take control.
100 is the limit of the CYA test, so you have to do a diluted test. Mix 50% pool water with 50% tap water. Use this mixed sample as your test water. Multiply the result by 2 for your CYA level.
Once you confirm the level of CYA, how much water you need to drain and refill can be discussed.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

Ok great! I will do that first thing tomorrow and post!!!

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

Hello! I diluted the CYA test water 50% tap water. I got 40-42. So multiplied by 2 is 80-84. What do you think I need to do?

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

Should I test again because the number was different from yesterday? We did just clean the filter last night so not sure if that would have had an influence?

 

[mknauss]

A 50-60% drain and refill will get your CYA to a reasonable level. I assume your pool is 48" deep so draining down 24-28" is about what you need to do.

Once you have done that and refilled, run the pump and mix the water well and run a full set of tests. Then adjust pH to 7.2 and follow the SLAM Process

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

Ok great! Thank you! I know I ya e some questions about the slam process so after I look back over it, I will ask!

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

Is it ok to swim until we drain? And when we are slamming, should no one swim then?

 

[mknauss]

It is OK to swim before you drain. Keep your FC in the range of 9-11 ppm.

You can safely swim in a pool as long as the FC is above the minimum and at or below SLAM level based on your CYA. You must also be able to see the bottom of the pool in the deep end of the pool.

 

[carnivalday]

I read a funny post here onetime about some guy slamming his pool. He had his kids test during the day, since he was at work. Kids knew that testing under slam levels was okay to swim, so when they tested and the number was under slam level, they'd hop in the pool for a bit.....then add chlorine back up to slam levels. Cracked me up.

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

I drained 60% and refilled. Here are my test results. Should I SLAM or?

FC- 1
CC- .5
TC- 1.5
CH- 250
TA- 90
CYA- 40
PH- 7.5

 

[mknauss]

Add chlorine.

How does your water look? It seemed like you needed to follow the SLAM Process before the drain.

Do a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test tonight. Raise your FC to 10 ppm for it.

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

It looks great and clear. How do I know how much chlorine to add?

 

[mknauss]

PoolMath
or PoolMath
Try one of them out and then let us know what you come up with.

1 gallon of 10% bleach will add 4.5 ppm FC to your pool.

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

This is probably going to be a dumb question but is this considered bleach?

 

[mknauss]

Yes it is. 12.5%

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

Great thank you!
Does this look good?

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

I used the CYA chart and it said ideal FC level for my CYA of 40 is 5-7. Did I get that right?

 

[mknauss]

That will work!

 

[mknauss]

Add that now.
Add another gallon this evening. Run the pump for at least 30 minutes and test your FC after the sun sets. In the morning, run the pump for at least 30 minutes and test FC before the sun hits the pool surface.