New Pool With High CYA. Am I taking the proper steps?

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K9Chris

K9Chris

Member
May 21, 2020
12
Lakehurst, New Jersey
Hey everyone! This is our first time opening the pool after buying this house. Exciting!

I don't have my Taylor K-2006 test kit in hand yet. Shipping is taking a while, so it wont be in till next week. While I was at Leslie's to pick up a replacement spider gasket, I got a test done and this is what they found:

FC- 0
TC- 0
pH- 6.3
TA-0
CH-11
CYA- 101

My main drain is currently clogged and I have a very green pool, so I'm going to have to use a utility pump. My current game plan is as follows:

1. Purchase submersible utility pump.
2. Drain the pool to 18"-24" below the skimmer.
3. Fill pool back up.
4. Repeat steps 2-3 two more times to lower CYA.
5. Test municipal water.
6. Test new pool levels.
7. Begin to SLAM the pool.

Thanks in advance. Y'all seem like such a friendly and helpful crowd.
 
Welcome!

I wouldn’t make any plans based on tests from a pool store. Get your kit in and do your own tests, and post the results here. We can help from there.

Until the kit comes in, put 5ppm of FC in liquid chlorine into the pool each day, pouring slowly in front of a return jet while the pump is on. That should help keep things at bay until the kit comes in and we can really get going on it. :)

If your CYA is really that high and you want to take it down to 30ppm, you’ll need to exchange 70% of the water. Draining down a bit and adding more will go through a LOT of water because it will mix each time and so each drain would remove less CYA. But let’s see where you are with the kit before we make those plans. :)
 
I would personally drain and refill if water is cheap. Remember to leave about a foot of water on the shallow end or your liner will shift. I would not buy the pump, you can rent from HD or hardware store. When you finish filling then you can do as @IceShadow mentions, add 5 ppm of Liquid chlorine daily until your kit arrives. You will be in a better place to start the SLAM Process and use far less chlorine as with the old water.
 
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If you do get a submersible pump, check out the ones Harbor Freight. I got a good one for ~$50 there. I also really like having it for closing the pool. Rather than using my pump to lower the water level, since I don't like to put that wear and tear on my pump.
 
Make sure the CYA is where it needs to be and that you don’t have to drain / refill more. Post new tests once you’ve refilled and we can go from there. :)
 
All,

After partial dumping and filling my pool twice, I've gotten a CYA level of roughly 70.

Here are my current levels:
CYA: 70
PH: <7 (a test strip says I'm somewhere around 6.4)
FC: 0.2
TA: 30
CH 60

Should I continue draining to lower CYA or move forward?
Assuming I want to keep things around this CYA level and do a different partial refill next year, what do I do? I've plugged everything into the pool calculator based on a 24,400 gallon pool. It recommends the following:

FC: Adding 87 ounces of 10% liquid chlorine
pH: Adding 140 oz by weight of soda ash
TA: Add 401 oz by weight of baking soda
CH Adding: 909 oz by weight of calcium chloride
 
How are you going to chlorinate the pool going forward? CYA of 70 is fine with a SWCG but just above the recommended level for using liquid chlorine or chlorine tablets.

In terms of priority, I would figure out if you need to drain / refill again. Then do the SLAM process. You can adjust the pH and TA as you go through the SLAM process.
 
I'm at 90-100 I find I can manage it. The key is to not add anything that will make it go up further and let it come down over time.

Obviously if you can do further drain and fill it will go down and make your pool management easier.
 
I do not have a SWG. I plan on chlorinating the pool using liquid chlorine. I was hoping that I could slowly drain/fill the pool over time. Do things this summer like routine backwashes and watering the plants with pool water. Nobody likes a crazy expensive water bill ?. I understand lower CYA makes management easier, but how much easier? Will my liquid chlorine cost skyrocket? New Jersey doesnt have extremely intense sunlight. We have a good amount of overcast over the summer.
 

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If you keep your FC ppm in the target range for your CYA your daily FC loss will be the same. Your target range will be higher due to your CYA at 70 but your daily use will be the same. You will not have the option of using tabs (trichlor) as you do not want to raise your CYA so if you are away from home for more than a few days you will need someone to add liquid chlorine for you. Over time your CYA will drift lower.
 
Is it normal for my FC levels to be unreadable 3 hours after adding liquid chlorine?I stopped at 20 drop of R-0871 because the color was not turning clear. Using pool math for a 24,400 gallon pool, I got an output of 6 gallons and 3 quarts of 10% chlorine. I added exactly that and left the filter running the full time. My skimmer is clogged for the mean time (I tried snaking and a drain king to no avail. waiting on a PG now) so the main drain is doing the suction.
 
You added 28 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine. At 20 drops, if using a 10 ml sample, you were at 10 ppm FC. You need to keep going.
 
I guess but most test kits don't have a 5ml line so being accurate could be an issue. Also, at that volume small deviations could mean you are off by a FC or two. Maybe in the case of expecting high FC like the OP it would work. But for every day testing I think you're better off at 10ml.
 
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