to drain or not to drain

Hi to all:

I have a new inground 12,000 g plaster pool with SWG. Using Ben's Kit and loving it and this forum.

My CYA level is high - it has been at 100 for the past month. So I have had to keep the FC at 10-12 to avoid algae and to follow the chart here.

I am wondering if I should just bite the bullet and partially drain the pool so I can lower the CYA and thus the FC. The calcium is also a little high at 400.

FC 12
CC 0
TC 12
pH 7.2
Alk 90
Cal 400
CYA 100
Temp 85

I live in FL where it is hot and right now is our rainy season - the pool water level is a little high.

I am not sure HOW you get the CYA level lower - is it something that dissipates in time? Or should I just drain a bit now to get it lower. It has been at that level for about a month - from a pool guy who was helping me while I was on vacation - he added too much.

I guess why I worry is because I have a kid and 2 puppies who LOVE to go in the pool and it worries me.

THANKS!!!!!

The simplest way to reduce your CYA is to perform a partial drain/refill. Assuming you drain 50%, you'll end up w/approx. 50 CYA. You should test your tap water for Alk and Cal. If you have hard water, you won't see much of a reduction in calcium.

My pool water and tap water Alk is 80-90 and my tap water Cal is 100 so I was able to significantly reduce my Cal from 650 to 350 by doing a 50% drain/refill. My CYA went from 50 to 20.

Most manufactures of SWGs recommend a CYA of 60-80 and CL 1-3 PPM. You might want to check your manual.

Also, there have been many post of CYA and SWGs which you may want to read. Some, including myself, believe that higher chlorine levels are not necessary with CYA between 60-80 because of the high chlorine levels in the cell. Currently, my CYA is about 70 and chlorine is 2.0 and I have yet to have any problems. Check out this thread:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=3185

We recently had a pool party of 16 teenagers. Although the pool was cloudy that night, the next day it was clear as can be.