Ready to use my pool..But I have low cya what to do ?

[ramoniqque]

The weather is nice and we will start using the pool soon.. The water is now cloudy because I was shocking to get rid of algae. I did not cover the pool all winter so I had to shock several times due to rain , leaves, pollen and so on.
Current readings are as follows:
FC 3.0
PH 7.4
TA 60
CYA 10
CH 70

I still have a bucket of trichlor tabs left bought prior to discovering your forum. I started adding a somewhat smashed tab of trichlor in a sock in front of the return so that I can add cya to the pool. I'm worried taht this method will be too slow. Should I go out and just buy the cya? Can I dissolve several tabs of trichlor in a bucket of pool water to speed up the addition of cya to the pool, or will that make the chlorine settle on the pool floor and ruin my liner? Speaking of my liner , the CH is also low , what is the ideal range for that ? You've helped me tremendously last summer and I had no problem with the pool following your advice. Thank you!

[PoolDoc]

Go to Walmart, and a buy a couple of trichlor floaters, like this (or you can use the Amazon link if you prefer)

Kem-Tek 879 Pool Floating Tablet Dispenser Pool and Spa Accessories

Put your trichlor in it. (If you don't want to go to Walmart, and have Amazon 'Prime', 2 day shipping is free. If you use Amazon a lot, Prime is a good deal -- otherwise, not so much.)

[Watermom]

With a vinyl liner, you don't have to worry about calcium hardness levels unless they get too high, in which case you'll have cloudy water issues.

[ramoniqque]

Thank you both for your reply..I read somewhere that CYA does not show up in the test only a week after it was added or disolved in the pool. I'm trying to see how many trichlor pucks should I add.. My pool is a 33' standard round. I only had the pool open for a about 1 month 1/2 last summer so I did not really found out the ideal numbers for my pool, but I am in GA .. the pool gets full sun until about 6 pm.. can you guys take a guess at what my ideal numbers should look like ?

Also watermom.. does that mean that I can leave the CH just as it is at at 70 ?
Thank you so much !

[PoolDoc]

-- you can leave the CH @ 70; CH is NOT an issue in vinyl pool (contrary to all the pool stores, who want to sell you some) UNLESS the CH is too HIGH.

-- add tabs to add chlorine, not CYA. BUT, monitor your CYA level, so you can stop using tabs before it gets too high.

-- Pool numbers are not a target; rather, nice safe clear pool water is the target! To achieve that, there is an acceptable RANGE of numbers, and if you are in the range, you should NOT try to hit a 'target'. Over-treating and over-adjusting pool water is a common, common cause of pool water troubles.

[ramoniqque]

Thank you, I kind of knew all this but I just wanted to have some idea where my numbers should be especially in the case of CYA since once it gets too high it is not so easy to get it down...

[PoolDoc]

CYA target sort of depends on how you decide to chlorinate your pool . . .

[ramoniqque]

Liquid bleach seems to be the best option.. and maybe once in a while these trichlor I already have.. and only when I need to rise up the CYA # after a backwash or whenever it may get low for whatever reason..

[PoolDoc]

If you use bleach to 'shock' and trichlor in a floater to hold a decent FC (free chlorine) level, you can run your CYA anywhere from 40 to 100 ppm. At higher levels, you'll need to raise your chlorine level to compensate -- but you'll be able to go multiple days without adding chlorine, which is nice if you have to leave the pool for a few days.

An easy way to handle it is to do what it takes to get to CYA=40ppm, and then use trichlor and bleach and let it climb slowly. Just remember to adjust your chlorine level upwards as the CYA goes up. ('Best Guess' chart link in my sig)

[ramoniqque]

Thank you so much ,you guys are the best .That is an excellent suggestion..