Hi guys. Been following this forum for a few weeks...found it when I finally got sick of going to the "experts" at the pool store and getting incorrect numbers. We moved into our home a few months ago and I basically knew nothing about pool care, but was too cheap to pay someone else to do it, so I screwed it up all by myself. There were 2 floating (Trichlor) tablet holders in the pool when we arrived and a bucket of Dichlor in the shed. I had no idea that both of these evil products added CYA to the pool and as a result, used way too much of both. About midway through summer, I could not keep the water clear or the algae away. I finally took a water sample to a different pool store and was told that my CYA was over 200....doh! posting.php?mode=post&f=24#
She told me to drain about 3/4 of the pool, which, after reading all the scary warnings about draining your pool, was terrified to do. I rented a pump and did it anyway, by running hoses into the shallow end and taking water out of the deep end. I did it twice, each time taking out about half. Hard to tell how much of the old I actually took out but apparently it was not enough, because I am having the same problem with algae now, even though I have switched to the BBB method.
I finally bit the bullet and bought a Taylor K-2006 test kit and tried it for the first time yesterday. I knew for sure that my CYA was too high, even though the last time I took it to the pool store, they said it was only 60. posting.php?mode=post&f=24# I use only bleach for chlorine now, (8.25%), so I know I have not added any CYA to the water since the refill. (I no longer float any tablets either). The numbers for everything looked ok yesterday except for the CYA...my test kit only goes to 100 but it was well past that, probably 150 (plus).
I know I have to do another drain and refill, but since the swimming season is coming to an end, I was wondering if I could just wait until the spring. If so, can I just leave it for the winter, let it go yellow/green, and then do a complete drain and fill in the spring? Would this harm the pool or plaster? Also, if leaving the water in it is ok, would I leave the solar blanket on, (for a cover), or take it off...or does it matter?
Thanks in advance for any and all help....I've already learned a lot from this site and vow to NEVER return to those pool store morons.
FC - 4
CC - 0
PH - 7.8
TA - 100
CH - 350
CYA - 150+
She told me to drain about 3/4 of the pool, which, after reading all the scary warnings about draining your pool, was terrified to do. I rented a pump and did it anyway, by running hoses into the shallow end and taking water out of the deep end. I did it twice, each time taking out about half. Hard to tell how much of the old I actually took out but apparently it was not enough, because I am having the same problem with algae now, even though I have switched to the BBB method.
I finally bit the bullet and bought a Taylor K-2006 test kit and tried it for the first time yesterday. I knew for sure that my CYA was too high, even though the last time I took it to the pool store, they said it was only 60. posting.php?mode=post&f=24# I use only bleach for chlorine now, (8.25%), so I know I have not added any CYA to the water since the refill. (I no longer float any tablets either). The numbers for everything looked ok yesterday except for the CYA...my test kit only goes to 100 but it was well past that, probably 150 (plus).
I know I have to do another drain and refill, but since the swimming season is coming to an end, I was wondering if I could just wait until the spring. If so, can I just leave it for the winter, let it go yellow/green, and then do a complete drain and fill in the spring? Would this harm the pool or plaster? Also, if leaving the water in it is ok, would I leave the solar blanket on, (for a cover), or take it off...or does it matter?
Thanks in advance for any and all help....I've already learned a lot from this site and vow to NEVER return to those pool store morons.
FC - 4
CC - 0
PH - 7.8
TA - 100
CH - 350
CYA - 150+