Hopefully...minor clarity issue

[aylad]

As far as shocking goes, there is no need to shock weekly just on principle--you need to shock the water if 1) it's cloudy, 2) you have a CC of more than 0.5, or 3)you start seeing indications of impending algae bloom. There are some people who never shock the pools except when getting ready for closing--and then there are those who shock more frequently "just because".

It doesn't surprise me that your CYA is that high, if tabs are all the previous owners used with this pool. It doesn't matter that the water is "old", but lowering that CYA will definitely make the pool easier to manage! Can you imagine what nightmares the previous owners had trying to get/keep it clear?

Janet

[smileitsachoice]

I know this reply is a little late, but I just went through the same problem. I drained about 10k gallons out and got my cya down between 60-70. This was the best thing I could have done. Water is really easier to manage, and cheaper.

[buki5]

Update and pretty much all good news. Have been checking the water pretty much twice daily to monitor cl usage. Had a close call on the 1 36 or 48 hour period that I didn't check cl as it dropped to about 4 and looked like algae was getting ready to go two days before a pool event for one of my kids. Hopped up the cl and managed to get us through the night. Cleaned up and has been good since. Had a good weekend in the pool over the 4th.

Am now in the process of draining. down about 13 inches. I have a hose running onto a lounger to minimize mixing of water and my skimmers are turned off to pull water from the bottom drain.

Have been "bumping" the filter as well figure we can start it new at the same time. Goal is to leave about 4-6 inches in the shallow end and then turn the pump off for the refill. Going camping next weekend so this will give us some time to stabilize the chemicals and cl demand before everyone wants to hop in again.

BTW, have probably gone through 20 1.42 gal jugs of cl keeping it in the 8-12 ppm range. (remember my CYA is so high I can't really measure it).

Thanks for the help. Going to test my fill water shortly.

Cheers

Brian

[buki5]

Frustration...
Drained 10,000 gallons from the pool and refilled....(actually, somewhat more than this as I was filling at the surface while I was draining.

Pool tests this morning
FC-3
CC-0.5
TC-3.5
Ph-7.4
TA-120
CH-120
CYA-100+ (a few drops below the 100 line). Tested (poured mix back in bottle and retested...3 times...went outside and checked temps,skimmers, etc to kill time and re-rean the test)

After testing I added 3, 1.42 gal of 6%. Water is clear and fine. Need to vacuum the bottom otherwise it looks in good shape.

However, I still am running a huge CYA number and need to use chlorine by the truckload.

[Watermom]

I am sorry to hear of the frustration, but I understand. I'm sure your high cya is probably from years of somebody using trichlor tabs in this pool. There should be some kind of note on the label alerting people to the fact that if they use trichlor for a long time, they will have significant cya buildup. It would save people from being in the situation you are in. A lot of other people have the same issues. But, then they wouldn't sell as much of their product, would they? The almighty dollar.

I don't know if you just want to bite the bullet and do another partial drain and try and get that cya down more or if you just want to live with it. I think if it were me, I'd just go ahead and keep doing partial drains/refills until I got it to a more manageable level. A big pain in the butt, yes, and the cost of the water. But, then, it will be done and as long as you stick with chlorinating with bleach or liquid chlorine, you'll never be in this situation again.

[CarlD]

You need to get your FC up into the maintenance range of 8 to 15ppm with your CYA. Once it's there, you should have no trouble maintaining it in that range and not be using bleach or LC by the boat-load. In fact, your chlorine usage should go down substantially--but you MUST maintain the higher levels--aim for 10ppm. If you still are using so much then shock it all the way up to 25ppm (as per the "Best Guess" table) and that should kill whatever's eating your FC.

You CAN live with the higher CYA but you cannot do it with an FC below 8, minimum.

Hope this helps.

[buki5]

I'm going to continue my thread from last year (my first with a pool). Year 2 here we go.

This year getting ready to go. If you look through the notes for last year you will see super high CYA. I drained and filled for 3 days and about 8 hours this year guessing around 18000 gallons.

Took my first full set of numbers and am concerned about the TA level. Here you go.

FC 7
CC 0
TC 7
PH 7.6
TA 60 **
CH 110
CYA something <30
Temp 64 deg F

From the Balance scale in my K-2006 it seems I'm way negative on my balance. Should I be concerned? If so what are the steps to correctly adjust. I'm planning on burning off the CL (Targeting 4) and will bring my CYA up to around 35 and raise temp to around 82 deg.

Fill water is City Tap.

For reference I was burning through around 1 large 6% bottle a day last year. Chemicals will be almost free this year in comparison .

[buki5]

Two consecutive posts. While I'm at it...RE: CYA.

Looks like if I want to raise my CYA level 5 ppm. It will take about 1 lb disolved in the pool.

18x36 9' deep end 3.5 ish shallow end rectangle.

When I did my CYA test it was full a little past the 30 marker and I think I could faintly see the dot at the bottom.

Everyone concur with adding the 1 lb of CYA. I'm skitish since I was way off the charts all of last year.

[Watermom]

In an 18K pool, each pound of CYA should increase the reading by about 7ppm. I think you can add 1 to 1-1/2 lbs to start with. Wait a week to make sure it is dissolved and then retest and then you can decide if you need to add more.

Regarding your alk, you can add some baking soda to bump it up some. Add a couple of lbs. at a time. Gradually increase your alk to somewhere between 80-110 or so.

[madwil]

I can understand your concerns on CYA, but anywhere in the 30-50 range should be much more manageable...
You can add the CYA in stages, add half, retest next week, then add the other half if still needed!
the alk boost will help over time, just don't overdo it...