Partial drain of pool to lower cya, should I use chlorine neutralizer?

dariushd · May 27, 2017

I am biting the bullet and gonna do a partial drain to lower my CYA levels. I had added liquid chlorine to the pool yesterday as a shock, thinking I would try BioActive one more time in a week, once the algae is gone (first time was a COMPLETE FAILURE), but I figured I'd save the trouble and drain the 80% of the water you fine folks here are recommending. But my Chlorine is pretty high, and since my CYA is 200+, I don't want to wait to drain if I can. My kid is going nuts wanting to go swim.
So, should I toss some ChlorNeutralizer in there and then drain? I definitely won't drain till the chlorine comes down one way or another, so is it just as bad to add another chemical to it before draining?

mknauss · May 27, 2017

Where will the water you drain be going? If to the sewer cleanout at your home or the storm drain a high FC should not matter. If you plan to drain to your lawn or plants then a lower FC is needed.

Jimrahbe · May 27, 2017

D,

How high is high? What is your current Fc level?

Jim R.

Mycall9550 · May 27, 2017

How are you getting a result of 200+?

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Ie. What's your testing tools and methods?

dariushd · May 27, 2017

Mycall9550 said:
How are you getting a result of 200+?

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Ie. What's your testing tools and methods?

Blue Devil turbidity test kit, I did a 50% dilution with tap water and pool water, and it read at just under 100, so x2 is about 200. Leslie's, whom I take with a grain of pool salt, said about the same @200.
BioActive did nothing. :-(

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FC is well over 10. I'd estimate (I am using test strips - I know, I know!!) about 15. I just shocked it with a bunch of liquid Chlorine, knowing that with a CYA around 200, I'd need chlorine at 15-20 to be effective, and I just wanted to kill the algae in the pool after I brushed it off the side. Looking back, I was hasty and should have left it so I could start draining sooner than later.

dariushd · May 27, 2017

mknauss said:
Where will the water you drain be going? If to the sewer cleanout at your home or the storm drain a high FC should not matter. If you plan to drain to your lawn or plants then a lower FC is needed.

Yes, to storm drain for Los Angeles (LADWP) and the sewer runoff web page asks that the chlorine be gone before draining into the storm drain, which it was until like an idiot I decided to shock the pool thinking I'd BioActive it again next week, which I won't.

I found this service online that sounded PERFECT for me not wanting to waste all this water:
https://www.waterrenew.net/
And I spoke with the guy, who was SUPER nice, and in the end, it'll cost me around $700 whereas the water will cost me $250 or so with LADWP rates. Looking for others who do this, looks like it's about $600-700. Anyone here use this? I just hate the idea of wasting 18k gallons of water, BUT I also hate the idea of wasting $400-450, too, so I'm not sure.

cfherrman · May 28, 2017

Sure if you want to waste money, let ladwp or the earth renew the water, because that's what happens when you toss it down the drain.

adeleincali · May 28, 2017

I had really high CYA as well and live in SoCal (Temecula). I looked at "Reverse Osmosis", per Richard320's advice. It was going to run around $800 for me with my size of pool. I too hated to "drain and waste" 30k gallons of water when we are barely out of a drought and then refill. I think you need to do the math and look at time as well as expense. I definetly think if we were still in drought, I would have done the Reverse Osmosis. It does however, take alot of time to drain and refill. I rented a Home Depot sump pump for $50. It took about 16 hours to drain around 24K gallons. Then another 18 or so to refill. Not to mention time monitoring, etc. The Reverse Osmosis is 24 hours, they monitor, and your done. If you have the money, I would do the RO....

dariushd · May 28, 2017

adeleincali said:
I had really high CYA as well and live in SoCal (Temecula). I looked at "Reverse Osmosis", per Richard320's advice. It was going to run around $800 for me with my size of pool. I too hated to "drain and waste" 30k gallons of water when we are barely out of a drought and then refill. I think you need to do the math and look at time as well as expense. I definetly think if we were still in drought, I would have done the Reverse Osmosis. It does however, take alot of time to drain and refill. I rented a Home Depot sump pump for $50. It took about 16 hours to drain around 24K gallons. Then another 18 or so to refill. Not to mention time monitoring, etc. The Reverse Osmosis is 24 hours, they monitor, and your done. If you have the money, I would do the RO....

Yeah, by the time the RO guys get here and do it, it'll be a week or two from now. I htink I'm gonna drain and refill. My backwash feeds to the street directly, so it should be fairly simple to drain. Just gotta get my chlorine levels down. Is a dechlorinator additive ok to use?