Pool is Running, First test....

I agree with everything Jean said except "please don't add any extra CYA as of yet, because you already have some dissolving in your pucks......."

The CYA from your pucks especially if your feeder is turned down, will not raise your CYA levels quickly enough to keep you from wasting a lot of money on bleach additions that are consumed by the sun. I would add enough CYA to get your levels to about 20 ppm, (and don't retest or backwash for at least a week because it does take a long time to dissolve) and then turn your feeder down to the slowest rate. Just check your chlorine level at least every couple of days and supplement with bleach as necessary.

Janet

Also, read the label on your chemicals to see what you are actually putting into the pool.

Many pucks/tabs/sticks are tri-chlor, which will add chlorine to the pool as well as CYA.

But some 'solid' forms of chlorine products may be something else (HTH Duration capsules are/were solid cal hypo) or may add other junk (Pace 'pucks' now have copper in them!).

And it's not so much that CYA doesn't show up on a test kit right away, as it is that the usual way to add CYA is to pour the CYA granules into a skimmer where it then goes to the filter and gets trapped where it will then slowly dissolve over 5 days or so. Once it's dissolved in the water, it will show up on a test kit right away.

IMHO, put in some bleach now so you have some FC there. You can try to put the CYA in via the pucks, but I'd just go get some CYA and add it directly. The little bit of CYA in ten pucks won't be all that much anyway. Your pool should need about 4 pounds of CYA to get 30 PPM, and no way are you going to get that much CYA out of ten little pucks.

Here's the update.....
After a week of running my new numbers are:
Cl......1
Ph......7.2
Cya is still not registering....the water is getting cloudy, but not enough to hide the black dot in the 5 way test kit.

This week I have been adding bleach, and added 3 lbs. of stabilizer.....I am wondering if should add more stabilizer , or let the pucks bring the cya up the rest of the way? It has been three days since I added the stabilizer.

Hi, Roxy,

I'd stay patient with the CYA. That said, it looks like your 3lbs will only get you to 20ppm, which I feel is a little low. It's a subject with a lot of opinions but I believe CYA of about 40 is ideal. It will probably take a few more days for your test.....putting in another 2-3 lbs wouldn't hurt you, either.

It seems like your puck dispenser is painfully slow. This might be a good time to drop it completely and go to bleach. If you put in one of the 3-qt bottles of 6% clorox, you should get about a 2.5 rise in your Cl. If you have any left at the end of the day, that'll mean your CYA is starting to work.

How does your water look? If it looks fine, I think you're in good shape. Be patient with the CYA for a few more days. Adding more won't hurt but I don't think it will make it show up any faster....just get you to a level I like better. :)

Dave,
The water looks fantastic, it has been several days since I added any bleach so I believe the cya is certainly starting to work. I agree that the pucks have been super slow, but they are doing their job. I will continue to let the pucks run until I am out, it seems as though it will be several weeks before any swimming occurs around here. I think by then the cya will be up to a reasonable level and I will switch to bleach.