CYA in a sock

[sturev]

I think I read a post about liquid CYA being available now...? To me, that's the easiest I recall something about it being more expensive though...

[waterbear]

I think I read a post about liquid CYA being available now...? To me, that's the easiest I recall something about it being more expensive though...

QUITE a bit more expensive in fact.
1 gallon Liquid Conditioner raises 10000 gallons about 35 ppm and costs close to $30 online.
2.75 lbs CYA raises 10000 gallons about 35 ppm, 4 lbs costs between abut $10 and $20 online.

do the math

[sturev]

Wow, that is pricey... Does it still take a week or so to start working/showing? If it starts right away, it might save some money in bleach...

[waterbear]

Wow, that is pricey... Does it still take a week or so to start working/showing? If it starts right away, it might save some money in bleach...

It is supposed to work my faster BUT if you filter 24/7 for a day or two after adding CYA it starts showing up pretty quick, at least enough to protect the chlorine.

[Poconos]

Polyvue,
A couple months ago I tried dissolving a couple cups of CYA granules in a gallon jug. Nope. Some did, most didn't. Kept pouring off the concentrated liquid into the skimmer and refilling and eventually after a couple weeks the solid was almost dissolved. Certainly didn't dissolve in 10 minutes. The granules are fine enough they will easily, or quickly, get past the skimmer and pump baskets. Once they make it to the filter how do you know how long they take to dissolve? I don't use the stuff personally. I smash up pucks.
Al

[waterbear]

Polyvue,
AOnce they make it to the filter how do you know how long they take to dissolve?
Al

By putting in a known amount that will cause a certain ppm rise and testing the water. I have found that it usually takes anywhere from 48 to 72 hours of constant circulation for my CYA to reach the levels for which I dosed.

[PoolDoc]

Waterbear;

I'm not sure it's reasonable to try to settle the sock vs skimmer issue the way you think. The reason is 1 word: Intex!

There are now more Intex, or Intex type, pools out there than all the commercial pools and all the inground pools put together. And last time I checked, they don't have skimmers!

I bought one once, to try it. And, we tried to put the stabilizer in to the sidewall suction intake. We ended up with stabilizer all over the bottom of the pool.

There's at least one other reason to use a sock, besides a missing or broken skimmer: cal hypo feed systems!

Do you know what happens when you mix wet stabilizer with cal hypo? If not, don't try it: it DETONATES!

I've experimented with it a little, but it scares me, so a little is all. But, you haven't lived till you've stood in a pump room, biting your nails as you listen to a 60" steel sand filter that sounds like it's full of popcorn popping!

================================================== ============

You've also raised a larger issue, of variable and even wrong advice given here. It's an issue I'm aware of, and it concerns me.

There is no perfect solution.

Even if I wrote up a comprehensive guide to BBB pool care, and let you and Chem Geek and mods proof and correct it . . . it still wouldn't be perfectly correct: I'd just think it was, for awhile.

I do hope to put together a series of FAQs for the PoolForum over the winter. But, whether I'm able to do so depends on a number of things I'm not fully in control of . . . including my own ability to concentrate on such things for hours at a time.

I do see posts and responses that make me wince. But, if I try to jump into all of them, other things more critical to PF's survival will grind to a halt. I think the question for me is, are people generally better off coming here and following the advice here, or not?

I think the answer -- imperfect responses notwithstanding -- is still clearly "Yes!".

After the past 4 or 5 years, I find that fact a lot easier to be comfortable with than it used to be. The world's a broken place, and I'm a broken person, and I can't change that. If my efforts make it a little less broken than it was, well, I think that's enough reason to be content. Not that I don't want to make it better, but I'm more able now to try to do what I can, today, and worry less about the things I can't do, at least not today.

Ben
"PoolDoc"

[polyvue]

Polyvue,
A couple months ago I tried dissolving a couple cups of CYA granules in a gallon jug. Nope. Some did, most didn't. Kept pouring off the concentrated liquid into the skimmer and refilling and eventually after a couple weeks the solid was almost dissolved. Certainly didn't dissolve in 10 minutes. The granules are fine enough they will easily, or quickly, get past the skimmer and pump baskets. Once they make it to the filter how do you know how long they take to dissolve? I don't use the stuff personally. I smash up pucks.
Al

Well, my CYA is a bit low so I guess it's time I do an experiment. It's been my belief for some time that when CYA is added to my pool it can be detected in a fraction of the time suggested by those here and elsewhere... in hours, not days or weeks. But I'm conservative when adding chems and haven't tried to increase CYA 20 or 30 ppm all at once; perhaps I've been misled due to the imprecision of the test. The turbidity test doesn't exactly lend itself to the task.

And, even if the experiment supports my thinking (that all or nearly all of the CYA will be evident in testing within a few hours of application) I don't know how transferable this finding would be. Everyone's (IG) pool plumbing is a bit different, filter capacity, flow rates and head vary, etc.

So, I'll try to resolve this during the week, starting tomorrow night, by raising CYA 20 PPM. Got lots of melanine stored up. What the heck!

[waterbear]

Got lots of melanine stored up. What the heck!

err, melamine.