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View Full Version : High CYA, High Alkalinity - everything else fine



distressedpool
08-18-2012, 12:21 AM
Hi. I have always read this forum for info (very helpful) and now need to post. I was gone for 2 weeks and my housesitter neglected my pool and I have an exchange student coming and wanted to hang by the pool while we got to know each other, but my pool is green/brown!
So i dumped everything known to mankind in: chlorine, metal and calcium eliminator (we're on a well and have high iron content - and lots of pool stains; something I plan on dealing with this winter after reading that forum), algeacide, muriatic acid, etc. (this was all after doing drop test to see what was needed).

This was 2 days ago and i've only seen 10% improvement. Water is now more green than brown, and a little clearer, but still cant see bottom of deep end.
Here are my readings (approximate)
Chlorine: dark yellow
PH: 7.2
Alkalinity: 140+ (this was high before; I dumped Muriatic acid in and it lowered to 75. now it's back up so i put 1.5 gallons in to lower it - 35K gallon pool)
Hardness: doesnt register so i assume all's good
CYA: off the charts.

I'm thinking the CYA might be high b/c last month I switched to a powdered chlorine, not knowing about the CYA issue. I have backwashed my pool alot, and that along w/ water evap due to high temps should have enough fresh water in pool I would think.
Anyhow, any advice is appreciated, and I will buy products needed now from walmart due to urgency of situation, but future products I will buy from Amazon link to show my appreciation.
Thanks

aylad
08-18-2012, 10:07 AM
Hi, and welcome to the forum!

One thing we've learned in the years this forum has been up, is that "dumping everything known to mankind in" the pool ....never works, and almost always makes the problem worse--because now there's such a witch's brew of stuff in the water that it's going to be hard to predict what's actually happening in your pool.

Can you please give us a list of everything that you've put into the pool (ingredients, not product names like algaedcide), and fill out this short info sheet about your pool? That information will help us try to determine what needs to happen to get your pool back in shape.

Pool Chart Entry Form (http://goo.gl/cNPUO)

PoolDoc
08-21-2012, 03:46 PM
membership upgraded; no Pool Chart entry found.

jwhouse
08-21-2012, 04:16 PM
I have backwashed my pool alot, and that along w/ water evap due to high temps should have enough fresh water in pool I would think.
One other thing to keep in mind is that evaporation and topping off does not cause lower CYA. When the water evaporates, the CYA does not, thereby increasing your CYA concentrations. When you add water to top off, you dilute your CYA ppm back to the original level.

How are you testing? OTO test kit, HTH 6 way drop test, strips or pool store?