High CYA - BioActive

[dariushd]

Moderator note - Moved from here: Phosphates in clear pool - Page 2

I am having the same issues with CYA (200) and I am trying BioActive, and I missed one step in the process, so my failing results are not valid, I need to do it again, but I pray I can get it to work as draining 10k+ gallons of pool water in southern California will likely get me shot.
I feel I got "pool stored" and bought a feeder and have been using Clorox pucks for 2.5 years with the feeder. We're very busy in the household, so that seems like the best thing, but I am wondering what other options (I know about BBB) we may have to prevent this again in 3 years.

I had Phosphates close to 1000, and a clear pool, but I keep getting yellow green on my shaded pool wall every week. So I got some Phospate remover (Clorox from amazon or Pooltime from Home Depot) and put some in the pool. I filtered with brand new DE and in about 36-48 hours, backwashed, cleaned the grids, put in new DE, and di the whole thing again with more of the sequestering phosphate remover. I had used Leslie's PhosFree before and it was USELESS. Anyway, I did the treat, filter for 48 hours, clean filter process 3 times and now my phosphates are below 100. Now I just need to fix this CYA BS.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Re: Phosphates in clear pool

Dariushd- you weren't by chance using Clorox XtraBlue products I hope? Because they contain copper, which in addition to your too high CYA will cause its own problems in your water (staining, green hair, etc).
The BioActive product has had very poor response in almost all the posters here who tried it. It almost feels like throwing good money after bad.

Draining and refilling might be far easier in the end.

Maddie

 

[dariushd]

Re: Phosphates in clear pool

Dariushd- you weren't by chance using Clorox XtraBlue products I hope? Because they contain copper, which in addition to your too high CYA will cause its own problems in your water (staining, green hair, etc).
The BioActive product has had very poor response in almost all the posters here who tried it. It almost feels like throwing good money after bad.

Draining and refilling might be far easier in the end.

Maddie

Yes, I am/was using it. I thought the algaecide in the tabs would be more helpful, but it's been cya lock for a while that keeps making yellow stuff appear on my wall. I'll stop using it asap. I am considering a liquid chlorine feeder like the Hasa: The Liquidator Hasa Automatic Pool Chlorine Feeder 8 Gallon
or maybe a stenner pump like I'm starting to read about here a bit.
I would HATE to drain again, as I did 2.5 years ago, especially in Southern California where I'll get tarred and feathered for wasting water. Ugh. Rock and hard place for sure.
Anyone with experience on that HASA feeder?

 

[dariushd]

Re: Phosphates in clear pool

Anyone know about this thing:
Pentair Chlorine Tank with Tank Mounted Pump 522473 | Pentair 522473

 

[dsmith99]

Re: Phosphates in clear pool

Anyone know about this thing:
Pentair Chlorine Tank with Tank Mounted Pump 522473 | Pentair 522473

Only a 4 gallon capacity, I would want something larger.

I installed a fixed rate stenner pump and for the reservoir I used a plastic 15 gallon barrel I found on craigslist for $20. The stenner is controlled by a timer and it works great. Originally installed the 3 gal per day but I am switching to the 10 gal per day tube so it does not need to run as long. Cost was about $250 for the whole setup.

 

[dariushd]

Re: Phosphates in clear pool

Only a 4 gallon capacity, I would want something larger.

I installed a fixed rate stenner pump and for the reservoir I used a plastic 15 gallon barrel I found on craigslist for $20. The stenner is controlled by a timer and it works great. Originally installed the 3 gal per day but I am switching to the 10 gal per day tube so it does not need to run as long. Cost was about $250 for the whole setup.

So basically you have tubes coming in and out of the container filled with liq chlorine? I'm afraid of the chlorine smell for us and our neighbors.
How long does the pump run? How much liq chlorine do you pump into the pool per day?
And it pumps pure liq chlorine into the pool thorough a saddle valve on the plumbing like an offline puck feeder? It doesn't mix with pool water until it hits the pool?

 

[dsmith99]

Some folks install their tank and stenner right beside their pump equipment, but my bleach reservoir and the stenner pump are installed in the utility room in my basement. I installed it there to keep the bleach cool and out of the hot sun. The bleach doesn't lose strength as fast when it's kept cool and dark. There is really no smell from any part of the setup. I get a little bit of smell each month when I fill the tank but it sure isn't overly strong or offensive.

I have a small 1/4" line routed out to the pool plumbing through a small hole drilled in the sill. The pump injects directly into the return line through a duckbill injector that comes included with the pump. I drilled and tapped a hole in one of the elbows to thread the injector into, but you could also cut the PVC and add a fitting if preferred.

The stenner is controlled by a timer and is set to inject about 40 oz per day right now. I have the 3 gallon per day pump so it runs about 2.5 hrs, in the hot summer weather usage will increase some. The 10 gallon per day pump would only need to run about 45 minutes to pump the same amount.

 

[tim5055]

Re: Phosphates in clear pool

So basically you have tubes coming in and out of the container filled with liq chlorine? I'm afraid of the chlorine smell for us and our neighbors.
How long does the pump run? How much liq chlorine do you pump into the pool per day?
And it pumps pure liq chlorine into the pool thorough a saddle valve on the plumbing like an offline puck feeder? It doesn't mix with pool water until it hits the pool?

No smell at all.

Mine is installed under my house in an enclosed area and I smell nothing.

My Stenner Install - July 2014

 

[Mycall9550]

Re: Phosphates in clear pool

How do you determine which (3vs5) gal/day pump to use?
any good links for setup and calibration?

 

[dsmith99]

I was dosing last summer with about 48 oz of 12.5% so I knew even the smallest pump would work fine in my case. I actually went with the 3 gallon per day mostly out of fear. I was afraid if something went wrong I didn't want to pump gallons of bleach into my pool. Well the original timer I used caused me problems and pumped 2.5 gallons before I caught it. I have it set up pretty well now, interlocked with the pool pump and using a much higher quality timer.

I plan to install the 10 gallon per day tube in my pump to cut down on run time. The different sized pump tubes are interchangeable so you can easily resize if needed. I'm using 8.25% bleach this summer and don't really want the stenner to have to operate 4+ hours per day. The 10/gpd stenner outputs about .89 oz per minute so that will cut down my run time a lot.

The SWG section here has quite users who have similar setup. It's really very easy to dial in, especially if you are dosing manually as you already know your daily dose. I test every day or two to confirm the dosing happened and tweak the timer as needed to increase or decrease the dose.