Starting up and trying to avoid the pool stores

[PoolDoc]

What all does the CYA do? My pool seems to be holding chlorine at the 3-5 range consistently without dissipating. I was under the impression that the only purpose for CYA was to help you maintain chlorine, which I am doing. Is that right?

Bottom line: higher CYA will make your SWCG work less hard, and last longer. The Best Guess page has not been rewritten to reflect either the SWCG norms, or the HiC2 (high chlorine + high CYA) option. It's on the to-do list.

[Pool8]

Ok, that makes a lot more sense. It is more about making my equipment last than my levels being wrong. I am away from home for 2 days, but then I will get started. As far as the alkalinity being high, is that a concern too or not really since my ph is good? Thanks for everything!!

[PoolDoc]

High alkalinity will tend to make your pH drift upwards, but on a vinyl pool, it's not necessarily a concern otherwise. However, since you have a SWCG, it would be better to hold your pH at the low end of things. This will also cause your alkalinity to go down over time.