CYA Levels Okay at Minimum?

[MomX5]

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie and have been reading (and rereading) posts here for a while. This is our first "real" pool, and I have been thrust into keeping it up (as in, my landlord got it started up and then bailed, lol) so I hit the internet and found this site! The pool is a 23,000 vinyl inground. I do not have the full test kit (but it is on my wish list), just the strips (not very accurate, I know) and a chlorine and ph drops test kit. I have been concerned that my stablilizer was too low or nonexistant, so I took a sample to the pool store today. After the salesgirl became miffed because I wasn't going purchased the recommended products, she finally gave me the printout.

My readings are:

TDS: 400
CYA: 35
TC: 0
FC: 0
pH: 7.8
Alk: 80
Adj. Total Alk: 69 (explain please)
Hardness: 95
Optimizer +: 1 (explain please)
Quat: 0

I went to the store and purchased 25 1lb. boxes of Great Value baking soda and 4 of the 1.42 gallon jugs of bleach. All of that has been added at this point. My concern is: is the CYA level being on the low end of acceptable (35) going to allow the chlorine to dissipate more rapidly than it would if I raise the CYA with some stabilizer?

Thanks!

[waterbear]

My readings are:

TDS: 400
CYA: 35
This is a good starting place. If you find that your chlorine burns off too fast in the sun then bump it up a bit.

TC: 0
FC: 0
pH: 7.8
Alk: 80
Adj. Total Alk: 69 (explain please)
It means the contribution to the alkalinity from cyanurates is removed. It is not a needed correction under most circumstances. In your cast the difference is about the resolution of the TA test in the Taylor K-2006 so it's pretty meaningless at lower CYA levels. It is roughly 1/3 the CYA reading subtracted from the TA when the pH is above about 7.4 and 1/4 the CYA reading when the pH is lower than 7.4. It really only becomes important on a pool with very high CYA chlorinated with trichlor (which you would be sure to have if you listen to the advice of the Bioguard dealer that is testing your water.
Hardness: 95
Optimizer +: 1 (explain please)
This is Bioguard's brand name for their (expensive) borax. It is used as an algaestat and water conditioner at a concentration of 30-50 ppm in a chlorine pool. For more info there is a thread in the China Shop about borates.
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=4712
Quat: 0
This is algaecide.
I went to the store and purchased 25 1lb. boxes of Great Value baking soda and 4 of the 1.42 gallon jugs of bleach. All of that has been added at this point. My concern is: is the CYA level being on the low end of acceptable (35) going to allow the chlorine to dissipate more rapidly than it would if I raise the CYA with some stabilizer?

Thanks!

Hope the above is helpful.

[Watermom]

Why so much baking soda added? In your pool, 25 lbs. will add 78ppm of alk which would put you up to TA of about 158. 80-120 is a good range for alk.

[MomX5]

The printout from the pool store said to add 24.5 lb. of their alk product, and I remembered reading on PoolSolutions (hope I can say that here) that you can use A&H lb. for lb. Apparently I am better off learning the exact formulas and firguring it myself next time! Thanks for the help Waterbear and Watermom :-)

[PoolDoc]

Considering that PoolSolutions is also my site (look at the logo at top!), it's probably OK to mention it.

And yes, baking soda AKA sodium bicarbonate AKA sodium hydrogen carbonate AKA sodium acid carbonate is EXACTLY the same thing as Alk+ AKA Alkalinity Increaser AKA etc. The only difference is the food grade is not only cheaper, it's also a little more pure!

PoolDoc

PS. I don't even ban people for mentioning TroubleFreePool.com . . . and that's NOT my site.

[waterbear]

total alkalinity increaser is baking soda. Period. the chemical name is sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate.

As far as the computer readouts from the pool store let me give you an insider tip. they are designed to sell chemicals and not to balance your water. If your water is balanced you wont need to buy anything!

[waterbear]

troublewho?

[aylad]

You did very well--congratulations for not letting them "pool-store" you!!!

We recommend that most people start out with a CYA of 20-40 ppm, which require that you maintain your chlorine levels at 3-6 ppm of chlorine. If you find that you lose chlorine too quickly, like Waterbear said, you can always bump it up a little if you need to!


Janet