Please talk me out of trying bioactive

[Poolnurse]

I have read the old threads about how it doesn't work and how draining the pool is cheaper, but I can't stop wondering if I should try it. I've called multiple pool water companies and all of the quotes are comparable- it will cost me $150/2,000 gallons of water, so if I drain half the pool and refill then I am looking $750 to get my 20k gal pool from CYA 200 to 100, and another $750 to get it from 100 to 50. Not to mention I will then have an unwanted pond in my backyard from all the drained water.
We have beautiful, clear, sparkling water, and I am using liquid bleach and muriatic acid to keep things under control, but with the high CYA it is so hard trying to stay on top of it. (I wish I had found this site before using trichlor all summer(. I feel like I shouldn't spend $1500 on new pool water without at least trying bioactive, but the negative reviews scare me. It seems like those are mostly from people who used multiple applications because the first didn't work, so I am thinking I might be ok with just one application? At this point I don't care if it does nothing, I will know I tried. My biggest concern is that either we will develop an algae problem while the FC is low, or that we will end up with a high chlorine demand from the bioactive working too well and leading to high levels of ammonia. Should I just spend the money to drain the pool? I tried the method of draining warm pool water from the shallow end while filling the deep end with the cold ground water from the hose and after about 16 hours and hearing some unusual sounds from the pipes/well pump, we stopped and the CYA was exactly the same so that didn't work. Should I keep doing what I'm doing for now and see if the CYA drops on it's own during the winter and if not, deal with the problem in the spring? We ultimately want to get a SWG and the pool store said we can install it with the CYA where it is, but I have also read that we should have everything balanced first and I would feel better taking care of the high CYA first. Here were my levels from yesterday

FC 10 (I know I need to get it back up to 15, I am going crazy buying bleach at the grocery store every day)
CC 0
pH 7.6
TA 100
CH 230 (planning to get more calcium this week to get up to 300)
CYA 180-200 (with dilution, hard to tell exactly what it is with the dot test)

 

[Shirker]

At this point I don't care if it does nothing, I will know I tried.

how close are you to the end of your season? Could you do it over winter? Once you water drops into the 60s you have less chance of algae. If it works, great! If not, you can still do water exchange.

 

[Newdude]

+1 for hopefully make it to the winter. Depending on if your cover is porous, mother nature will give you 8000 gallons of rain and melted snow.

 

[Jimrahbe]

PoolNurse,

Just send me the money you would use to buy BioActive and I'll go to the mall and spend it. I'll get new stuff, and you will get exactly what you would have gotten if you had added BioActive to your pool... Absolutely Nothing!!!



Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[duraleigh]

I tried the method of draining warm pool water from the shallow end while filling the deep end with the cold ground water from the hose and after about 16 hours and hearing some unusual sounds from the pipes/well pump, we stopped and the CYA was exactly the same so that didn't work.

Of course it worked. When you drain off CYA laden water and refill with CYA free water, your CYA goes down.......period.

Now, did you do it long enough to make a measurable difference? Apparently not. That process can take a couple of days and, if filling from a well, may have to be done even slower, but it is a fact that it works..........it has not choice but to work.

I am astonished that you are willing to pay money for a product that is a proven failure but you are not willing to carefully exchange out your pool water for new.......all for free and GUARANTEED to work.

 

[Poolnurse]

how close are you to the end of your season? Could you do it over winter? Once you water drops into the 60s you have less chance of algae. If it works, great! If not, you can still do water exchange.

We were planning to close the pool in mid to late September, so not too much longer. Because the cooler temps inhibit algae, they apparently can also inhibit the bacteria in bioactive so we would actually have to heat the pool to 90 to try to get it to work.

 

[Poolnurse]

+1 for hopefully make it to the winter. Depending on if your cover is porous, mother nature will give you 8000 gallons of rain and melted snow.

I hadn't really thought about that... This will be our first winter with a pool. Our cover is porous, so that should actually help us out quite a bit, thank you for pointing that out!

 

[Poolnurse]

Of course it worked. When you drain off CYA laden water and refill with CYA free water, your CYA goes down.......period.

Now, did you do it long enough to make a measurable difference? Apparently not. That process can take a couple of days and, if filling from a well, may have to be done even slower, but it is a fact that it works..........it has not choice but to work.

I am astonished that you are willing to pay money for a product that is a proven failure but you are not willing to carefully exchange out your pool water for new.......all for free and GUARANTEED to work.

You are right, it's quite likely we went from cya a little over 200 to cya a little under 200 with our water swap. I find it is hard to get an exact number with the black dot test. I suppose I was just very disappointed to see such an insignificant change with hours of running the hose wide open. My hesitation not to continue to swap out more water is my fear of burning up the well pump (or flooding the septic field with the discharge water). I know less about wells and well pumps and septic systems than I know about pools (which obviously isn't much) and I don't want to create a bigger problem. Don't worry, I think you all have talked me out of bioactive though. I am planning to wait and see what we have in the spring when we open.

 

[Newdude]

Our cover is porous, so that should actually help us out quite a bit

Last year was wet and I pumped out around 2/3 of my water instead of the usual half-ish. I read here in somebody else’s post (sorry don’t know who to credit) that most of us in the winterizing places drain enough to get a fairly fresh start every year. It might still go green but the CYA will be better for sure. If it needs help the wonderfull people here will walk you through it when the time comes.

 

[frogabog]

Testing tells you everything you need to know at startup.

That being said, not everyone loses CYA overwintering. Testing clarifies that. Plan for chlorine based on CYA for next spring. Happy vacation being closed.

 

[Bama Rambler]

When we first saw this stuff we had high hopes that it would work. Unfortunately even with several of us following the mfg's instructions exactly and a few getting the mfg involved, we couldn't get it to work enough to even consider it worth using.

The good news is that in Fredericksburg you get about 43" of rain a year and about 13" of snow. If you are willing to pump off water in advance of the predicted rains you should be able to lower the CYA a good bit over time.

If you wanted to do a little extra work you could get a few 275 gallon IBC totes and hook them to your gutters and save rainwater and use that to replace water in your pool. We can find those totes around here for less than $50 a piece.

 

[Shirker]

@Poolnurse , what is the status of your CYA?

 

[Poolnurse]

With repeatedly draining a few inches at a time and refilling, especially before a couple big rainstorms, we got the CYA down to about 150. Even that drop has made things a little more manageable. I am planning to winterize in another month or so and I'm hoping that that drain and the subsequent spring refill (hopefully accomplished by rainwater over the winter) well get us back down into normal range for a salt water generator. Thanks for checking back!

 

[borjis]

How are you doing the cya test?
If the lighting conditions are not right, it can give false readings.

 

[aussieta]

if you need to add calcium, you can use cal/hypo for a short period of time
which adds chlorine and calcium at the same time
good luck, dont use the bioactive

 

[Poolnurse]

How are you doing the cya test?
If the lighting conditions are not right, it can give false readings.

Outside during the middle of the day, I've tried it in the sun and under the umbrella. And I've tried early in the morning and at dusk. I try to keep it at waist level. I've tried with and without my regular glasses. Anything to help me see that dot just a little bit longer ?

 

[aussieta]

i find cya test best to do late morning, early afternoon, whn your body creates a shadow
fill tube to 100
hold at waist level
have a 3 second glance, dont stare at dot
fill to 90, repeat