Need to drain pool

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The chlorine from trichlor (tablets) and liquid are identical. The trichlor is one third CYA, that stays in the pool. And builds until your chlorine is less and less effective and you get algae.
 
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Well then I just realized something. I was told the liquid was not stable and dissolved in a day. It was used for a quick shock and that’s why we use tabs. I knew tabs had CYA but never clicked that’s what made it “stable” while also destroying your water.
 
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Your daily FC loss is the same no matter which chlorine product you are using. Adding enough liquid every day which goes into solution rapidly to match your expected loss, ensures you stay in your target zone for your "fixed" CYA ppm which you manage independently.

Using tabs, trichlor or dichlor will time release chlorine over several days and will raise your CYA, eventually also raising your target FC. The properties of tri and dichlor are known, so how much FC, CYA is in each 8oz tab and how much it will lower the pH is predictable. A bit more nebulous is the rate at which the tabs dissolve. You can accuratly estimate how much your CYA will rise when fully dissolved and you need a plan B when you reach the working limit.

Each pool chloinating product is unique and none are evil, but understanding how they work and the effects of using each is key, as is regular water testing.
 
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Well then I just realized something. I was told the liquid was not stable and dissolved in a day.
Click to expand...

:laughblue: Yet another example of stupid things Pool Stores tell customers. Liquids don't need to "dissolve", and if you didn't have *some* CYA in the pool, yes, it could burn away from the sun in a day. But we use specific amounts only of CYA so that is not a problem.
 
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I live in San Antonio and I too am plagued with high CYA. It was recommended I switch to CalHypo… bad choice given our high calcium content in SA water.

I have ordered a Stenner 15gal tank system to dispense liquid chlorine. We are very fortunate to have Fiesta Pool and Spa care over by the airport. They sell bulk, bring your own jug, 12.5% for $3/gallon.

Right now, your first order of business needs to be eliminating the pucks and migrating to liquid chlorine and you can drain/refill once the brutal heat subsides.

Good Luck!
Brandon
 
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TxHR, great to know about Fiesta thank you

The tabs are Leslies, 99% trichoro-s-triazinetrione, 1% other. They were removed days ago and have only been using liquid.

added 2 more gallons last night and half this morning. My test only goes to 5 so I would say FC is 6-7 now, TC is 7-8 and its the first time CC is a positive number around 1. PH still high but went from 8.2 to 8. Alk from 190 to 180 today.

Brushing the bottom this morning is MUCH better with barely any visible plume.
 
Keep your tabs. Once you get your CYA to manageable levels you can use Trichlor tablets for extended time away from home.

TF-100 and TF-Pro are the best value. But you can also get a K-2006C directly from Taylor Technologies (It is going to be a bit more expensive). Both kits use the same reagents. Ordering a K-2006C online from anywhere else has the risk of getting old reagents.

Be aware: TFPC has one big downside: People will not believe you your pool is so clear spending so little.
 
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Today I was told the pool color is back to what she had picked and it's amazing how you don't notice slight variation over time. Crystal clear water, no scale and no algae brushing off the bottom.

Test kit shipped today and should arrive Thursday

FC and TC both appear 6-7, ph down yo 7.6 but alk still around 160. Very curious to find out actual CYA after the half drain, but even if its high and I can manage the rest of summer at the current 1/2 gallon chlorine a day I'm fine with that.
 
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TF100 kit arrived. SpeedStir is alot easier
After the half drain a week ago:
CYA 50
FC 13.5
PH 7.8 (keeps rising I've been adding MA every other day)
Alk 220 (my K1004 kit was reading 140)
CH 875
Phos kit does not appear to test

Is it OK to use up the rest of my K1004 kit for daily Chlorine and PH, or is the K1000 better? The chlorine bottles are different numbers.

I'm amazed cya is 50 and thought I would need another half drain. What is recommended now? Let chlorine drop and treat Alk and CH?
 

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TA will come down over time.
CH is high. Only way to reduce it is to drain the pool and replace with lower CH water. You will most likely get scale at your levels.
 
Another chemical that is un-needed. Manage your pool water chemistry. If your fill water is very high in CH, then it is likely you have a water softener for your home. Use that for make up water due to evaporation. If you live where it rains, develop ways to harvest rain water to fill the pool. The stuff being added does not reduce CH, it simply ties it up, for awhile. You must replenish it.
 
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Wow interesting. I'm learning. We do have a softener but don't think it supplies exterior faucets. Tested the sink and CH was much lower. I'm going to test the outside faucets now
 
If you use the PoolMath app, you can also track your CSI which takes all your test results into account and comes up with one single number to represent whether your water is prone to scaling (large positive numbers) or etching (large negative numbers). If you're prone to scaling and have high TA and CH in your water, it will be important to keep your CSI slightly negative. That may mean doing a few acid-and-aerate cycles to bring your TA down, or just keeping your pH on the lower end of the 7s rather than 7.6 - 8.0 range.

Based on the figures you showed above (CH 875, TA 220) you have a CSI of ~+1 which is VERY likely to scale. The unfortunate part is that with your CH being that high, you probably should have drained a lot more of the water than you did to get the CYA down to the (much better) level it is at now. If you drain now, you're draining half old and half new water, which seems wasteful.

If I were you, I'd get through the rest of the summer on this water doing as I say above (keeping pH down), then do as Marty advises and try to get as much 'free' water into your pool as possible, then next spring consider doing a drain/refill with the water you have at that point, and based on a longer period of testing, to get everything looking good for 2022 swim season.
 
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OK the sink was 100 and exterior faucets 500. We laughed because we aren't going to fill from the sink or collect rain water. So every time we replace evaporation we are adding more CH from the exterior faucet.
I thought about the same thing while waiting for this test kit for CYA. I should have drained more because another drain is wasting half good water.
I like the idea of the app but I don't like subscription apps or knowing if I can get my data out if I want to
 

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