SWG - Adding Stabilizer but CYA still under 20ppm

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M

mailmanic

0
Jun 4, 2018
14
Massachusettsdd
HI!

I have a 35,000 gallon in-ground pool, this is our second year of pool ownership. Last year we were in and out of the pool store every other day as we were continually battling low to no chlorine.

This year I wanted to try SLAM. However, it says we need the right CYA to start SLAM and I'm having an issue getting the CYA reading up to the 70-80ppm recommended for Salt Water Pools. This might have been our problem last year since we relied on test strips and they have a range of 40-100ppm so we could've had too low CYA causing our chlorine to be eaten up quickly. Or it could be the salt cell needs replacing - we'll see.

So onto this year:
I added 6lbs of stablizer 4 days ago (into the skimmer), and still don't see any increase in CYA reading through either the TF100 kit test or our less reliable strips.

We have perfect ph (7.6-7.8) and alkalinity.

Chlorine is 0, CYA is less than 20ppm.

I've read that stabilizer can take up to a week to dissolve - so while I wait 3 more days should I dump some chlorine in my pool as well to clear up the cloudiness or keep adding stabilizer until we reach the 70ppm needed to SLAM? What would you recommend?

Thanks for your help!
 
Re: SWG - Adding Stabilizer but CYA still under 20ppm

Welcome to the forum!

You say you needed to SLAM Process. What is a full set of test results from your own test kit? CC is important to know.

Adding CYA directly to the skimmer can be problematic. What type of filter do you have? Filters have no-flow areas in them and the CYA powder can get trapped in those and never dissolve.

We recommend a 'sock' method of dissolving CYA.
Add the CYA by using what we call the sock method. Get an old sock (no holes in the toes) and put the measured amount of CYA you need to get to your first target. Tie the sock closed and either suspend it in front of a return (hang it from your brush pole works with something weighted on the deck) OR if it still allows flow thru the skimmer, place the sock in the skimmer. Every 15/20 minutes give the sock a squeeze to speed up the process or just leave it alone, your choice. Please DO NOT follow the directions on the container of CYA to just pour it into the skimmer and don't just toss the sock in the pool as the CYA is acidic and can bleach/stain pool finishes.
Click to expand...

You do not want to raise your CYA above 30 or 40 ppm if you need to SLAM. Once your pool passes all three criteria for a successful SLAM, then you would raise your CYA to 70 or so to assist your SWCG.
 
Re: SWG - Adding Stabilizer but CYA still under 20ppm

More info:

FC - 0
CC - 0
pH - 7.6
TA - 100
Salt - 2700ppm
CYA - <20ppm

We have a Cartridge Filter.

Should I be focusing on raising my CYA to 30-40ppm first or just slamming it from where it is now (under 20ppm) and then bring the CYA up? The pool was cloudy white this morning after adding 6lbs of stabilizer to a clear pool 4 days ago, just an hour ago we added 3 gallons of chlorine and now it's a green pool. I'm lost at what my first step should be here. Our CYA and Chlorine are both extremely low to nearly zero. Where do I start?
 
Re: SWG - Adding Stabilizer but CYA still under 20ppm

How are you testing your water? Read post #2.

- - - Updated - - -

6# of CYA added 21 ppm of CYA. So your test is pretty good.

Add more CYA to get to 30. That would be 3# more.

Start SLAM Process now. Adjust pH to 7.2 first with muriatic acid.
 
Re: SWG - Adding Stabilizer but CYA still under 20ppm

We purchased a home in late 2016 and the previous owners hadn't opened their pool at all in 2016. We opened it in 2017 and for 3 months we had a great clean pool at a very high expense of constant trips to the pool store to battle our constanly 0 chlorine level. We cleaned the cell, troubleshot the SWG, tried super-chlorinate mode... nothing helped except manually dumping chlorine into the pool every 3-4 days.

This year we started like we did last year by shocking the pool and it cleared up pretty quickly. But we quickly had a cloudy pool with 0 chlorine reading.
So, I want to maintain it correctly and from all the research I've been doing along with getting a real test kit (we used strips last year) I believe our issues may circle around our crazy low CYA (<20ppm).
I want to SLAM this pool, but the instructions say we need to get to a certain CYA level in order to slam it to the right FC level.

Test this morning:
FC - 0
CC - 0
pH - 7.6
TA - 100
Salt - 2700ppm
CYA - <20ppm

I put 6lbs of stabilizer in (3lbs first, waited 4 hours put the other 3lbs into the skimmers). CYA still reads under 20ppm 4 days later. Our pool was clear after the initial vacuum. This morning it was cloudy white and we added 3 gallons of chlorine. An hour later the pool is green. I'm so frustrated because I feel like I'm running in circles. Should I be focusing on raising my CYA first or just SLAMming it from where it is now (under 20ppm) and then bringing the CYA up?
What steps should I be taking at this point? Focusing on Stabilizing or Slamming it to get FC up? Thanks for your help, I appreciate it!!



We have a Cartridge Filter. ~35,000 gallon in-ground SWG pool.

Note from Mod: Merged threads. This post is a repeat from above.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: SWG - Adding Stabilizer but CYA still under 20ppm

I use the TF100 kit test. For CYA I'm doing 50/50 mix of pool water and reagent that comes with TF100 kit, mixing for 30 seconds, and then using the black dot method.
Everything else is tested with the same kit, except for salt level I used a separate salt water test kit.

I'll add 3# of CYA using the sock method you suggested, and I'll start SLAM tomorrow morning. Thanks for your feedback.
 
Re: SWG - Adding Stabilizer but CYA still under 20ppm

6lbs of CYA in your 35000 gallon pool would add about 20ppm to CYA. Did you put the CYA into socks first so it could freely dissolve, or did you just dump it into your skimmer?
 
Re: SWG - Adding Stabilizer but CYA still under 20ppm

Sounds good. I added the test kit to your signature. Really helps us understand the test results we are dealing with.

Good luck.
 
Re: &nbsp;SWG - Adding Stabilizer but CYA still under 20ppm

mailmanic said:
The pool was cloudy white this morning after adding 6lbs of stabilizer to a clear pool 4 days ago, just an hour ago we added 3 gallons of chlorine and now it's a green pool.
Click to expand...

Are you on a well? If you add large amounts of chlorine to a pool with high iron content it can give the pool a greenish tint.
 

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mailmanic said:
I am not on a well.

The first 6lbs I added per the bottle instructions (into the skimmer).

We did the sock method this morning with 3lbs of stabilizer.

How long do we wait to see the CYA level change typically?
Click to expand...


You can't rush the CYA too much. It doesn't dissolve real fast. I took a sock and would occasionally squeeze it and wring it to get some dissolving out of the sock faster, but you don't want to do it too much otherwise it will just sit at the bottom of your pool.

I was in a similar spot, then I was almost too high.

Just use a couple of socks and just keep waiting it out.
Based on your calculations, you should pretty much "know" what your CYA will be based on how much you added. It's almost straight math since it won't disappear like chlorine will.

I think you need to keep in mind, you can add chlorine to chlorinate your pool regardless of whether your CYA is ideal or not. I'd target around 5 PPM on Free Chlorine and try to keep it there until your CYA stabilizes at the level you want.
 
12.5 is fine. If you are using the app, you have to select bleach first, then enter 12.5.
 
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