suggestions ?

[smgchandler]

i have and have had a 40k gal ig gunnite pool for 10 years and love this site - i dont really have a problem right now other than a little cloudy water but i want to ask why i cant get my chloring level up and keep it up - the only stuff i put in my pool are 73% calcium hypochlorite - muratic acid - baking soda - and a few times that blue clarifier - thats it - i have never checked for metal or ca or other stuff - i use county water for the most part - i opened this year and finally got the green gone with a lot of brushing and chlorine - but i have noticed that i cant keep my chloring level up after putting about 4 lbs in every other night - its clearing and no green and its still not clear clear but getting there - my ph stays 7.2 to 7.5 unless it rains a lot - my chlorine level just wont stay up like it used to - do i need to really shock with several pounds and keep doing that until it stays up ?? i have never really used the total and free test i just watch how long the chlorine color yellow stays yellow - i have used this chlorine for a few years now - i use it as shock and as couple times a week i toss in 3 or 4 scoops - i buy it by the 100 lbs buckets - is it not shock itself and i dont think it has a stabilizer in it ?? i get it from leslies --- any suggestions for me and thanks for the site - it really is great

[Watermom]

Do you add cya (stabilizer) to your pool? Do you know what your cya level was when you closed the pool last fall? Do you know what your current cya level is? We really do need some current water testing results to be able to do a very good job of advising you. Especially if you are having cloudy water and use cal-hypo. Your calcium hardness and total alkalinity readings would be important to know.

[smgchandler]

i do not add stabilizer and i am not sure my test kit will measure cya - what does cya stand for ? - i do have a couple of old kits that may measure what you need to know - if the total alkalinity test is what i do with the blue drop and should be 8 to 10 drops then its good but as far as the cya i will try to find out and the calcium hardness well that may take a few days - im not sure i can do that test but will do some reading on it and see if one of the test kits will do that - thanks for the help - if i need to be adding some stabilizer to the pool can you make some suggestions for me ?

[Watermom]

CYA stands for cyanuric (or isocyanuric) acid. If you don't have a test kit that can measure these things, can you take a water sample to a reputable pool store and ask them to test for you. They should give you a printout that you can bring back and then post values here. Just don't let them talk you into buying a bunch of stuff. Pool stores are notorious for selling people things they don't need because, of course, they are in the business to make money.

We won't be able to suggest if or how much stablizer (cya) to add unless we know the current reading. Sorry to be so vague, but without these numbers we can't know what to suggest.

[smgchandler]

i understand and i also understand about the pool stores - i will talk my bride into taking a sample later in the week - and post results - thanks for the help