Quote Originally Posted by kickurasin View Post
well from reading here it seems the cya will always continue to build up

but here they are

cya 85
ph 7.5
akalinity 100
hardiness 237
free chlorine 1.9

total chlorine 2.8
The CYA will always build up, but does reduce some by splashout, backwashes, and dilution. The key is to either stop using them altogether when your CYA is where you want it, or use them at a very low feed rate (starting with a low CYA) but with bleach to maintain your desired chlorine amount.

I find that I can use the tabs throughout a summer swim season, then switch to bleach or cal-hypo over the winter, and the CYA goes back to almost nothing over the winter due to backwashes and rain dilution. Of course, I run a higher CYA level than most people due to my location and the sun exposure of my pool, but you could still use the tabs with the feeder turned very low and just supplement with bleach. Or switch to cal-hypo or bleach for regular chlorination and just use the trichlor tabs in a feeder for vacations, etc. They are useful, if you know what you're doing. But if you try to use them exclusively for all your chlorination, yes, you're going to find yourself in the high CYA/drain/refill cycle.

With your CC at .9, you definitely need to shock the pool and maintain that until the CC goes away. Keep the pump running and brush your pool daily. With a CYA of 85, you need to make sure that your TC never drops below 5, and really is better maintained around 6-7. When you shock, you need to shock up to 20 in order to do any good. Don't use dichlor for this--it's only going to raise your CYA higher. Use cal-hypo, or better yet, plain bleach.

Janet