To drain or not to drain pool with high CYA?

[stevemac213]

Ok, draining it now but I only have a small pump so may take a couple days. Is there anything I should be doing while it's draining? (i.e.. sweeping sides/bottom, etc)

Thanks Ben.

[PoolDoc]

Yeah, what you said.

You don't want stains or algae to dry on the sides. Using a hose with a nozzle is probably the easiest solution.

[stevemac213]

Ok...makes sense.

How much do you think I should drain? (50%....75%....100%)?

Thanks.

[PoolDoc]

Either drain it all, OR purchase a K2006 kit, and let us walk you through a high-range CYA test to see what your actual levels are. CYA test results from strips are too unreliable to depend on.

[stevemac213]

Actually, I do have a K - 2006 test kit...that's where I got the high CYA reading from. It was past 100 when I tested it with straight pool water so I did 50/50 pool water/tap water and that's how I got the reading which was closer to 200.

Any help you can provide is much appreciated.

Thanks.

[PoolDoc]

If the 200 ppm is valid, you probably want to drain 3/4 (to 50 ppm) if you are going to use bleach next year. If you are going to use trichlor (which adds CYA) you may want to drain more.

[stevemac213]

Ha ha....exactly. I'm not sure how accurate it is because I feel that the reading would change every time I did it, mainly because I'm so new to it.

I am definitely doing bleach...trichlor and dichlor is what got me into this mess.

I was thinking about 75% as well, which is what I thought I did the first time I did this, (about 3 months ago), but I guess it wasn't enough.

Thanks.