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Agarcia1016

Well-known member
Feb 16, 2019
55
Mont Belvieu, Texas
We have been struggling with high CYA for the last few weeks. I had done a partial drain and refill two weeks ago and it seemed the levee had gone down and the chlorine was back to working, but after a few days the chlorine stopped registering again. I drained it again last night and it finished this afternoon. This time I went to middle of the light so about 3.5 feet. I refilled it and now notice this on my tanning ledge. What is this?? I am getting frustrated because the pool is only a year old.
Also, if anyone can give me start up advice that would be great. A neighbor brought me a couple gallons of liquid bleach. I’m going to start with one and test in the morning. I will adjust the alkalinity and ph after I let it circulate tonight with the bleach.
 

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Hello! Thanks for the response. I use the testing kit they gave us with the pool. It tests for alkalinity, ph, and chlorine. I was using strips that tested the Cyanuric acid but I just ordered a cya test kit as the strips didn’t seem too accurate. I had my pool company come test the cya after finding out what it was exactly and that ours was super high. We have other neighbors with the same issue so I’m not sure how it happens after only having the pool for a year. That is the shelf after refilling the pool. Those spots are on the plaster with the water already back in.
 
Howdy.. and welcome to the forum. Lots to go over.

-Can you fill in your signature so we know more about your pool and we can give you better advice?

-How are you chlorinating your pool? If you are using tabs that is likely where your high CYA is coming from.

-The forum is kind of picky about how you test. They have standardized on Taylor reagent kits. it makes it easier for us to understand your chemistry if we are all using the same test kit. You have already discovered how inaccurate test strips are for testing. See here Test Kits Compared for information on recommended test kits.

-Read through what Marty posted and that will get you on your way. This forum does things a little different than the pool stores so don't be surprised if our standards are different that what you've heard elsewhere. There is a lot of information here and don't be afraid to ask questions.
 
mguzzy said:
Howdy.. and welcome to the forum. Lots to go over.

-Can you fill in your signature so we know more about your pool and we can give you better advice?

-How are you chlorinating your pool? If you are using tabs that is likely where your high CYA is coming from.

-The forum is kind of picky about how you test. They have standardized on Taylor reagent kits. it makes it easier for us to understand your chemistry if we are all using the same test kit. You have already discovered how inaccurate test strips are for testing. See here Test Kits Compared for information on recommended test kits.

-Read through what Marty posted and that will get you on your way. This forum does things a little different than the pool stores so don't be surprised if our standards are different that what you've heard elsewhere. There is a lot of information here and don't be afraid to ask questions.
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Thank you for the reply! I should have been on here all along. We have been taking the water to Leslies to check the levels and I don’t know how accurate they are. It’s a start, but I feel like I knew what I was doing until I found out about CYA and how it affects the chlorine. No one even told us anything about that when we got the pool. We have been maintaining it ourselves and thought we had done pretty good until now lol. I will check out the test kits and I have read the ABCs of water chemistry. I will fill out the signature as soon as I figure out what that is. And yes, we were using the chlorinator put in by the pool company with trichloride tabs. We were not told that there were different kinds of chlorine and tabs I’ve learned so much through this process of draining and trying to get the levels back to normal. I’m concerned though about the spots in my ledge now. It almost seems like it is hollow or like it dents in. I may be feeling something that isn’t there. But those spots weren’t there Before today.
 
mguzzy said:
Howdy.. and welcome to the forum. Lots to go over.

-Can you fill in your signature so we know more about your pool and we can give you better advice?

-How are you chlorinating your pool? If you are using tabs that is likely where your high CYA is coming from.

-The forum is kind of picky about how you test. They have standardized on Taylor reagent kits. it makes it easier for us to understand your chemistry if we are all using the same test kit. You have already discovered how inaccurate test strips are for testing. See here Test Kits Compared for information on recommended test kits.

-Read through what Marty posted and that will get you on your way. This forum does things a little different than the pool stores so don't be surprised if our standards are different that what you've heard elsewhere. There is a lot of information here and don't be afraid to ask questions.
Click to expand...
Added signature!
 
As you have not doubt figured out, using a tab feeder adds CYA to your pool and if it goes unchecked it just keeps increasing. At some point the your chlorine becomes ineffective because the CYA is too high. That's why chlorinating with liquid chlorine or a SWG avoids adding CYA. A lot of pool companies don't seem to realize that either.

Testing at Leslies is hit or miss (mostly miss). Not all stores or techs do it correctly. so its best to test yourself. You will be more consistent in the long run. Which Taylor kit are you using? Is that the K-1004? That is a good one to start with and you can add on to it. I know your going to need the FAS/DPD test and the CYA test as well. You can get them from here: Individual Tests (K-1000, borates, CYA, FAS-DPD, salt, pH meters)

Did those spots start after your drain/refill? The guys that know about that stuff probably won't chime in until morning.
 
mguzzy said:
As you have not doubt figured out, using a tab feeder adds CYA to your pool and if it goes unchecked it just keeps increasing. At some point the your chlorine becomes ineffective because the CYA is too high. That's why chlorinating with liquid chlorine or a SWG avoids adding CYA. A lot of pool companies don't seem to realize that either.

Testing at Leslies is hit or miss (mostly miss). Not all stores or techs do it correctly. so its best to test yourself. You will be more consistent in the long run. Which Taylor kit are you using? Is that the K-1004? That is a good one to start with and you can add on to it. I know your going to need the FAS/DPD test and the CYA test as well. You can get them from here: Individual Tests (K-1000, borates, CYA, FAS-DPD, salt, pH meters)

Did those spots start after your drain/refill? The guys that know about that stuff probably won't chime in until morning.
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Yes, after I drained and filled back up those spots appeared. I’ve emailed the pool company again because I’ve honestly never seen my pool look so bad. There is algae stains now at the bottom and sides that won’t brush off. I just went out and brushed it and added as much acid as I had on hand which was about a whole gallon and 3 1/3 cups. Tested with my kit I have and got readings of 270 alkalinity, ph was super high it took 5 drops to bring it to level needed, and the chlorine/bromine was reading 2/4. Last night i had added a gallon and a half of liquid chlorine. My chlorinator is off right now because I didn’t want to Add any more of the trichlor tabs at the moment or ever again
 
Can you post your numbers like this?
pH-?? what was the reading your drops told you?
FC-2.. gotta get that number up
CYA- do you have the reading the pool guys did after they drained and refilled it to start with
Alk-270
CC- you need the FAS/DPD test for this one
CH-yet another test to buy
I know you don't have all these tests yet, but post what you have and we will get the Chem gurus on it. If you have algae you are going to need to do a SLAM Process. But you will need a more complete test kit to do it. After we get the algae under control we will worry about the alkalinity
 
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mguzzy said:
Can you post your numbers like this?
pH-?? what was the reading your drops told you?
FC-4
CYA- do you have the reading the pool guys did after they drained and refilled it to start with
Alk-270
CC- you need the FAS/DPD test for this one
CH-yet another test to buy
I know you don't have all these tests yet, but post what you have and we will get the Chem gurus on it. If you have algae you are going to need to do a SLAM Process. But you will need a more complete test kit to do it.
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Thank you. I did not have pool guys do the drain. They recommended it and I did it myself. I did not have the cya test kit yet to get a reading so I don’t know where it’s at but I am hoping, since this is the second time I drained half to more than half it helped majorly. I ordered the kit and it said 3 days til arrival. PH reading was at the highest level on the tester which is 8.2 and took 5 drops to get it down to between 7.2-7.5. The others I do not have but the last reading at Leslies a couple weeks ago was 78 cya that was a couple days after I drained the first time.
 
I would suggest you add 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine every day with the pump running until you get your test kit.

Your pH test should be accurate so do monitor that. Be careful adding large amounts of acid at once as your TA has a significant effect on how the acid effects the pH. So be sure to test your TA when you are going to add acid and use the data in Poolmath.
 
mguzzy said:
Well you are going to have a constant challenge maintaining liquid chlorine with a CYA of 80. We recommend something around 30-40. But lets see what you get with your own test results. before we go to far.
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Yes the CYA of 80 was after the last drain I just drained it again so I’m hoping it is significantly lower because I drained almost half or a little more than half this time as well. I am learning but when you say 5 ppm how do I know what that means with my pool
 
Did you do the drain/refill at night or during the day?? Im afraid the color discoloration might have been due to drying/wetting of the pool surface while drain refill was going on. Not much you can do about it right now, better get the levels right and worry about that later.
 
Flying Tivo said:
Did you do the drain/refill at night or during the day?? Im afraid the color discoloration might have been due to drying/wetting of the pool surface while drain refill was going on. Not much you can do about it right now, better get the levels right and worry about that later.
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I did start draining it at night but it took a long time so it finally finished yesterday afternoon and I started refilling it yesterday afternoon/evening. I wish my pool builder would have told me, when they suggested draining, a little more information because I could have put a hose on it if it ruined my year old pool I’m going to be so upset. I also have these in deep end and they were supposed to come a month ago and have plaster people look at it and have yet to come. Pool was done last March and in July had same crack looking spots in ledge and other places so they replastered. We’ve had a few issues since the beginning.
 

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Flying Tivo said:
I suspect those lines are also related to drying, but im not the plaster finish expert. Lets wait and see if you get additional info.
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The lines were there since right after the pool builder had plaster people come last July and redo. Ok, so just retested before I take a sample to test at store.
Alkalinity is down from 270 to 210 still high
PH is 7.2
FC/Br 1:2
TC/Br 1:2
CC 0 🤷🏼‍♀️
 

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