Idea for Dissolving CYA Granules– And Nothing in the Skimmer

[nuttyp]

I’m delighted with my SWG for many reasons. Among them the idea that I can maintain reasonably low chlorine levels while keeping CYA a bit higher. Many thanks to all the contributors on the topic of CYA & Chlorine relationship – including Ben Powell. Richard Falk (chem geek) and other forum members.

Before I had the SWG, I relied on a floating feeder with trichlor tablets – until CYA levels got appropriately high, then I used liquid chlorine until CYA dropped back off. Using trichlor pucks there was of course no need to ever add CYA/stabilizer as long as I kept an eye on levels.. And the cost of trichlor is much higher than CYA granules. Therefore with the SWG, raising CYA with stabilizer granules makes sense. Now enter the problem of how to dissolve the CYA granules because it can take many days to a week for them to dissolve.

My idea - that seems successful so far - is to pour a couple pounds of CYA granules onto a plastic saucer, such as used to catch water under a potted plant. I carefully submerge the saucer to a step or bench in the spa (or pool bottom) and place a small rock on top. Wait a week, and voila! Okay, the downside is you have to place it somewhere where it won’t get disturbed by swimmers, etc. But you don’t need to add CYA very often.

If I consider all the other ideas I’ve read, in threads here in TFP, in other forums, and on CYA & trichlor product labels, here’s why I reject the many other ideas.

Skimmer: It seems to me that every equipment manual I’ve read says the warranty is void if the water is not in balance. That’s for pumps, heaters, SWG’s, check valves, flow meters, sensors, you name it. Is that a scare tactic to avoid warranty replacement? Maybe, but I like to avoid future hassles when possible. And we may think that a sock full of CYA is highly diluted when the water reaches the equipment, but why risk it? Same with trichlor tablets despite the fact that pool services and many forum threads recommend dropping stuff into the skimmer basket. Whatever the amount of dilution, it simply must be the case that the water reaching the equipment is not in balance, certainly not like the rest of the balanced pool. If I want the best chance at equipment longevity, I conclude that no chemical ever should go into the skimmer.

Inline Feeders: Inline feeders are supposed to be installed as the last piece of gear before water returns to the pool so that chemicals (usually dissolving trichlor pucks) enter the water only after passing through all other equipment. They even recommend a check valve be installed ‘before’ the feeder so that reverse flow is precluded and concentrated CYA and chlorine cannot get back to the equipment - a point that underscores the “no chemicals in skimmer” argument above. As an aside I suppose it’s difficult to ensure the inline feeder is absolutely last in the stream when you consider possible downstream check valves, but there are bigger reasons not to use the inline feeder. Mostly, I found the inline feeders don’t work reliably (or at all) when running two speed or variable pumps on lower speeds such as 40 GPM or less. Also, in my experience inline feeders are notorious for clogging. And feeder manuals warn it can be highly dangerous (read explosive) to ever use an inline feeder for one chemical and then switch to another. For all those reasons the inline feeder is out.

Broadcasting: Many product labels and user threads suggest broadcasting the CYA granules around the pool. They sink to the bottom where they sit for a week or so until they completely dissolve. Ugly, perhaps. Annoying to step on, sure. And I guess I don’t want to find out two years from now what they were doing to the pool surface. So broadcasting is out.

Floating Feeder: I thought my deep-chamber “duck” floating feeder might be perfect for this CYA granule dissolving task. After all it worked perfectly for my 3” trichlor pucks, and I always tethered the floating feeder to a pool jet to keep it away from the skimmer and keep it from interfering with pool activities. The last thing you need is a duck floating by as you’re about to spike the volleyball for the big win. I use wax string to tether it after all other string types (nylon, etc) always deteriorated quickly. But the vent holes in the duck feeder are too large and the little CYA granules will slip through, so I filled a sock with CYA granules and dropped it into the floating duck. What I got, very quickly after it got very warm, was a solid brick of cya that may dissolve some day in this lifetime, who knows. It’s been a month and the brick of CYA is still solid and formed so well it won’t even budge to remove it from the plastic floater. So that didn’t work. Some day I might try lining the floater with a fiberglass screen and pouring the granules into it – without the sock. A future experiment, once I determine whether cyanuric acid eats screen.

Squeezing Sock: Well, many forum writers mention filling a sock and squeezing it now and then, and perhaps that will work if you hang out in the pool squeezing a sock for some hours. Most of those threads also mention placing the sock in the skimmer, which is already excluded as an option unless you like replacing pump seals and such. Still, it might make a good replacement for a stress ball, to sit on the pool steps and keep squeezing the sock. Maybe wear rubber gloves though – not sure what that CYA does to your hands over time.

Well, that’s how I came to the conclusion to use the potted plant saucer. I welcome any other creative and safe ideas.

 

[Texas Splash]

Now enter the problem of how to dissolve the CYA granules because it can take many days to a week for them to dissolve.

It should not. Once I drop a sock full of stabilizer in the water, I wait 30 minutes to let it soak. Then I begin squeezing the sock until all the "much" comes out. Takes me about 5-10 minutes. All done.

Adding CYA:
To increase CYA via granular stabilizer, place the required amount as calculated by the PoolMath APP into a white sock and place in the poolside skimmer basket. For those concerned about suction flow to the pump, suspending the sock near a return jet or from a floating device will also suffice. Best never to allow undissolved granules to rest directly against the pool surface. After about 30 minutes of soaking, squeeze the sock continuously to help it dissipate. Once dissolved, consider your CYA adjusted to that programmed (target) level. CYA test readings should show a rise in 24-48 hours, however some pools may experience a longer delay to fully register. Best to confirm final CYA in about 5-7 days before adding any more stabilizer/conditioner.

 

[wireform]

I don't know why we need to fix if it's not broken. The hanging sock method as far as I can tell is way ahead of your plastic saucer theory. If the cya coming out of the sock isn't enough dilution then what is. Pucks in the skimmer is a no no due to its acidity but CYA is mild with no harm done but is somewhat not recommended as it can take up to a week to completely get out in to the water so backwashing toon soon can lose the CYA still in the filter stage but if that isn't an issue it can be left there without a problem.

 

[Oly]

The sock method suspended in front of a return jet is the best practice short of spending $+ for liquid stabilizer.
At most after saturation massaging the sock several times over 24 hours does the trick every time. No issues on my bare hands.
As for the other poor methods you list, I agree completely.
Your saucer idea sounds like a great way to stain the bottom of your pool unless you keep everyone out.

 

[wireform]

The sock method suspended in front of a return jet is the best practice short of spending $+ for liquid stabilizer.
At most after saturation massaging the sock several times over 24 hours does the trick every time. No issues on my bare hands.
As for the other poor methods you list, I agree completely.
Your saucer idea sounds like a great way to stain the bottom of your pool unless you keep everyone out.

And think about what that can do to a vinyl pool

 

[SoDel]

Having tried several methods, all I can tell you is what I now do and you can take it with as many grains of salt as needed.

I can easily fit 1 lb by weight of CYA in a standard white cloth rag (bought by the bag for many purposes — available pretty much everywhere) which I tie with a string and suspend in the skimmer, Huck Finn style if you know what that is, with the end of the string captured by the skimmer cover. My filter pump runs 24/7 and the CYA dissolves by the next day without manual intervention. Having tried and rejected the various other methods for many (good, to me at least) reasons, it works and I can’t find much in the way of why it might be a bad way to do it (and would welcome criticism if that is a bad way to do it — I only know what I know). Easy, quick, don’t give it a second thought. YMMV, etc.

Footnote — generally don’t add stuff to the skimmer, but CYA is one of the unusual chemicals that dissolves so slowly, not a problem. Again, welcoming correction if there’s info to the contrary.

 

[Mdragger88]

Having tried several methods, all I can tell you is what I now do and you can take it with as many grains of salt as needed.

I can easily fit 1 lb by weight of CYA in a standard white cloth rag (bought by the bag for many purposes — available pretty much everywhere) which I tie with a string and suspend in the skimmer, Huck Finn style if you know what that is, with the end of the string captured by the skimmer cover. My filter pump runs 24/7 and the CYA dissolves by the next day without manual intervention. Having tried and rejected the various other methods for many (good, to me at least) reasons, it works and I can’t find much in the way of why it might be a bad way to do it (and would welcome criticism if that is a bad way to do it — I only know what I know). Easy, quick, don’t give it a second thought. YMMV, etc.

Footnote — generally don’t add stuff to the skimmer, but CYA is one of the unusual chemicals that dissolves so slowly, not a problem. Again, welcoming correction if there’s info to the contrary.

If left to fully dissolve in the skimmer some of the cya can still remain trapped in your filter media for some time so if the need to backwash or clean the filter arises some cya may be lost.
When placed in front of a running return it is all immediately dispersed into the bulk of the pool water & able to be accurately tested in 24 hours. If u don’t need to backwash/clean the filter within the next few days it’s not a big deal but most who land here are often dealing w/ an impending SLAM Process / algae & need to backwash/clean their filter quite often thus the recommendation.

 

[mknauss]

At the end of the day, our recommendations for dissolving the CYA stabilizer granules is do not pour them straight into the skimmer, as they can be trapped in the filter media for some time. Also do not let the granules sit on your pool surface as they can stain it.

Otherwise, sock in the skimmer or hanging in front of return, or any variation of that, is fine.

 

[Britali]

I hung my CYA sock off of ladder in return stream. When it got soft, I squeezed hehe. You do not have to hang out at that sock to squeeze it. Squeeze it whenever is convenient…you do not even have to get in the pool, just squeeze it the water in front of your return.

 

[Newdude]

I needed 20 lbs of CYA at startup and will likely need close to that every spring. I'm gonna need a big plate.

 

[reggiehammond]

I admit, I latched on to this:

the idea that I can maintain reasonably low chlorine levels

Why? What about low chlorine levels and CYA makes the water any better or safer? TFP methods rely on the fact that free chlorine levels above minimum, all the way to SLAM levels, are completely safe for swimming.

There’s no reason to target low chlorine, other than finding out how hard it is to SLAM at high CYA levels. I’d recommend making sure FC never goes below target, never ever to minimum.

 

[Newdude]

There’s no reason to target low chlorine, other than finding out how hard it is to SLAM at high CYA levels

 

[Mcow]

Another fan of the sock and return jet method. Just recently had to add 10lbs of stabilizer and it works like a charm. Took maybe 4 hours to dissolve but I was out working in the yard and squeezing pretty frequently.

 

[jark87]

My experience with granular CYA is that takes days upon days to dissolve using the sock method, if it ever would dissolve, as I’ve never been able to get it to dissolve. I’ve squeezed and massaged and spoken encouraging words to it, and of course cursed at it. Like the OP’s CYA, mine just hangs there in a lump. While I’m not a fan of the platter suggestion, as I feel like the potential for a spill is high and/or I’d still have a platter full of CYA when closing my pool in the fall, I do recognize the need for an alternative to the sock method. I fill a 5 gallon bucket full of hot water and slowly add the CYA over several hours, stirring with a wooden paint stir stick. Most of it will eventually dissolve, but only after lots of stirring and many hours. I then pour the slurry into the deep end of the pool, directly over the drains. There will still be some granules that I brush into the drains. It’s a total PITA. Maybe I just have a bad batch, as the bucket I bought was my first experience with granular CYA. I’ve always used liquid in the past and unless there’s a better way to get the granules to dissolve, I’ll gladly pay more for the convenience. I don’t use so much CYA that cost is a significant consideration when weighed against the aggravation.

And don’t get me started on the dot test….

 

[Mcow]

@jark87 Wow that is crazy. Are you using a panty hose type "sock" and hanging it in front of a return?

 

[reggiehammond]

My experience with granular CYA is that takes days upon days to dissolve using the sock method, if it ever would dissolve, as I’ve never been able to get it to dissolve. I’ve squeezed and massaged and spoken encouraging words to it, and of course cursed at it. Like the OP’s CYA, mine just hangs there in a lump. While I’m not a fan of the platter suggestion, as I feel like the potential for a spill is high and/or I’d still have a platter full of CYA when closing my pool in the fall, I do recognize the need for an alternative to the sock method. I fill a 5 gallon bucket full of hot water and slowly add the CYA over several hours, stirring with a wooden paint stir stick. Most of it will eventually dissolve, but only after lots of stirring and many hours. I then pour the slurry into the deep end of the pool, directly over the drains. There will still be some granules that I brush into the drains. It’s a total PITA. Maybe I just have a bad batch, as the bucket I bought was my first experience with granular CYA. I’ve always used liquid in the past and unless there’s a better way to get the granules to dissolve, I’ll gladly pay more for the convenience. I don’t use so much CYA that cost is a significant consideration when weighed against the aggravation.

And don’t get me started on the dot test….

What CYA are you buying? I've never had an issue like you describe.

 

[C&HSewell]

My 4lbs of CYA placed in a skimmer sock, was able to be dissolved within 5 mins of squeezing, after letting soak for about 2 hours.

 

[jark87]

What CYA are you buying?

Leslie’s brand. I’m willing to try another brand, as everyone else seems to have better luck with granules than I’ve had.

 

[Newdude]

I bought four 5 lb bags from the same pallet/batch at Home Depot. 2 of them took days to dissolve and 2 took hours.

I squeezed all 4 bags at the store to ensure they were sealed and powdery. None of them had punctures for moisture to brick them.

 

[jark87]

Are you using a panty hose type "sock" and hanging it in front of a return?

I don’t recall the exact type of sock, either an athletic sock or dress sock, not panty hose. I don’t know that the sock made a difference, as it just wouldn’t dissolve. When I squeezed it, a cloud of CYA would disperse, but the granules were still solid. Yes, hanging it in front of a return.