New SWG, High CYA???

[kathgilliam]

We recently bought a house in Houston with a 30,000 gal. bell shaped pool, deep half in shade. Having studied here for several years, I was sold on salt and ordered the SWG immediately. We put in 10 40 lb. bags salt from the pool store and something called Perfect Pool Phosfree to help with mustard algae. The pool is just gorgeous, clear and sparkly, and my system readout says we have 2900 salt.

Just took our first ever sample to Leslie's and here is the analysis:

FC: .5
TAC: .5
Bromine::--- (didn't test?)
Water pH: 7.4
TA: 110
Calcium Hardness: 480
CYA: 150
Salt: 2000



The girl at Leslie's said we needed to drain at least 4' from the pool, that was the ONLY thing that would help. Having read this forum as long as I have, I immediately distrusted her advice. I will only do this when I hear it from you guys that it is correct.

Our water is extremely expensive here. I am hoping there is SOME other way...

Kath

[duraleigh]

Unfortunately, she's correct. I think there is an EXPENSIVE alternative but no one on the forum seems to have tried it...water's cheaper.

Whether you drain some of your pool or not, you're not running your Chlorine level high enough. 3ppm would be a suggested minimum.

[mas985]

The only way to lower CYA is to do a partial refill so she is correct in that. However, you will need to replace close to half your water but without dimensions, I can't tell if that would be 4' or not.

BTW, a partial refill will also lower your CA.

[kathgilliam]

Thank you <trying not to sound sarcastic>. Darn it. Since we just got our SWG in Thursday and it has only been generating for a day, I just hoped the low FC was due to it needing more time to generate. I did buy a bottle of bleach to pour in to raise my FC.

As to dimensions, we have 18 x 36 x 5.5. The deep end, which is well over half the pool, is 8 feet deep. The shallow end is not that shallow, at 4 1/2 feet. Small two person spa is the "clapper" of the bell shaped pool. Four feet seems like an awful lot, and the pool gal didn't even ask how many gallons. Does any of this change your recommendation? Would two feet do the job? Four feet seems like a LOT on a pool this size.

K

[duraleigh]

K,

Yeah, I knew you wouldn't like that answer...don't blame you, I wouldn't either.

How much you drain your pool is your option. The resultant CYA ppm will be higher, the less you drain.

Since most SWG's suggest 60-80ppm CYA, that means you'd need to drain 50% of your water to get your CYA in that range.

The only option I can think of is to run your Cl level up to 4-8ppm (I'm guessing) and keep it there with a combo of bleach and your SWG. That will keep your pool sanitized and prevent any algae. Then, you can hope for Winter rains and let them dilute your pool to a manageable CYA level. That'll be slow going for sure.

If you dabble at lowering it....say a foot at a time, you can do the math and find you will use a LOT more water to get the same results.

Off the subject, but as Mark suggested your Calcium is as high as it needs to be and the salt is supposed to be around 3200, I think. You could bring your calcium into a more normal 250-300 or so if you decide on the 50% drain....You can't get it out inexpensively either.

[PatL34]

Hate being the devil's advocate here, but how did Leslie's come up with 150 ppm CYA. Was it test strips, because most CYA tests only go to 100 ppm CYA that I know of?

Just trying to save you draining water.

If you have to drain, you are looking at close to 10,000 gallons. That could fill up WaterBear's pool with some left over.;)

Seriously, draining is expensive, and so is filling it back up. I just had to refill our pool with 20,000 gallons came out to $70.

If you can find another way I would do so.

Pat

[kathgilliam]

If it was only $70.00 I would drain it tonight! We were thinking in the $300 range plus.

[waterbear]

If you have to drain, you are looking at close to 10,000 gallons. That could fill up WaterBear's pool with some left over.;)

Pat
Guess there are advantages to having a small pool!;)

[kathgilliam]

Well, I've spoken to the former owner and she said when she filled the pool after resurfacing in February, her water bill was under $200. We had a freak storm this afternoon and 15 minutes later our pool is full of crepe myrtle and oak leaves and something that hits and rolls, leaving a brown stain on our pristine surface. We're going to vacuum to waste and get rid of some of the water, use the opportunity of less water to get down on the deep end (we're swimming wienies) and scrub off the stains, refill, resalt and hopefully put this behind us. How's that for a positive attitude?

I'm such a newbie, I don't quite understand the difference between the pump box and the filter box. The pump runs the water through, circulating it, and it's the first box on the fence. I know the second one runs our Polaris. Is it also the filter, or just for the Polaris? Or does the filter automatically run whenever the pump is on? Do I need the pump/filter on while I vacuum to waste? I'M SO CONFUSED!

Help me, Waterbear, you're my only hope...<nod to Princess Leia>...oh, and Pat of course...and Ben...etc.

K

[hulla]

The pump probably has a filter basket in it to catch leaves before harming the pump. But the real filter is separate. If you follow your pipes, the flow of water goes from pump to filter to heater and then back to the pool.

You can't vacuum unless the pump is running. The filter does not turn on and off. The pump does all the work pushing water thru the filter. When you vacuum to waste the filter gets bypassed. Leave the booster pump off while vacuuming.

[kathgilliam]

Thank you all so very much! We have vacuumed to waste successfully, and actually, except for the stains from the oak balls, the pool is looking beautiful as it drains away. : )

Hula, I appreciate so much your plain spoken explanation of the pool plumbing. I am finally starting to "get" it.

K

[PatL34]

Actually I believe in not wasting water. This will soon be a resource that will be more expensive than oil.

Kathgilliam's $300 will be a drop in the bucket, especially in the southern US a few years from now. We are depleting Mother Nature's MOST valuable resource, NOT oil at a rate that is mind-boggling. Trouble is we think it just comes out of a tap.

In parts of Arizona, drinking water has to be trucked in by homeowners, because they cannot afford the $2 million it would cost to drill a well. Lake Mead is 74 feet below normal. It has to feed close to seven states and Mexico.

So please think about this the next time you have to drain water from your pool. A time may soon come when you may not be allowed to fill it.

Pat

[kathgilliam]

I grew up in West Texas, Pat, where water conservation was taught to us at an early age. In fact, on a visit to Seven Falls we stood at the observation point, and my sister tattled to my mother, "Ummm, they're wasting water!"

I took your advice and retested the water to confirm that the CYA was indeed that high. I used the HTH test and it was well over 100, which indeed is the top number. Then I bit the bullet and started the drain of the pool and our finances. I just didn't know what else to do. The pool was resurfaced this past February and I was warned the high CYA would be highly corrosive to the surface. I guess this is what always happens, the dilemma between the needs of the individual and the needs of the masses.

K