New to BBB

[Watermom]

Nah, I didn't use liters but I do not know what I plugged in to the calculator to get that result! Duh. Must've still been asleep. Sorry 'bout that!

To Edit your signature ---- click on that tab in my signature below.

EDIT -- i realized what I did wrong. 80 oz. would be 2.5 of the 3-quart jugs of bleach. My brain apparently was not yet switched on this morning and I accidentally plugged in 2.5 gallons and 8% instead of 8.25! Mystery solved!

[TexasGolfer]

Okay, got the sig edited. Please let me know if there is any additional info needed, or any questions about what I put in there. Fingers crossed, but I think the algae problem will be under control in a day or two.

So next issue for me is CYA. That little test is a pain. It's my understanding that 3" tablets will add stabilizer. That is what I have always used for chlorination, prior to discovering BBB. I probably still have 20-30 lbs left over from last season. Can I use these to up my CYA level, once I'm completely finished with the algae battle? Or do you recommend something else?

[Watermom]

Trichlor tabs are stabilized meaning that they have CYA in them. For every 10ppm of chlorine they add, they will also add 6ppm of CYA. So, you can use the tabs for awhile and then when you get your CYA where you want it, discontinue them and switch to a non-stabilized form of chlorine like bleach. BUT....... Make sure that your tabs have NO copper in them! You don't want copper in your pool! Contrary to popular belief, it is copper and not chlorine that stains pool surfaces and turns light-colored hair green!

[TexasGolfer]

Thanks. I will check the label to see what's in there when I get home tonight. I think the ones I have now came from Sam's Club.

[TexasGolfer]

The pucks I have are 99% trichlor. The label also states 90% available chlorine, and there is no mention of copper.

There is a lot of info on here regarding chlorine and most of the other chemicals, but I'm having trouble finding posts and articles that discuss CYA. I would be most appreciative if you could point me to a few. I really have read a lot and looked pretty hard, but I probably just missed them. Specifically, I am trying to determine how much impact each of these pucks will have on the CYA level and the pH of my pool.

My FC dropped 2ppm overnight, so better than Sunday night but not quite fully done fighting algae. Yesterday was the warmest day of the year so far in Houston - it touched 90 - so chlorine level was all the way down to 4.5 by the time I got home from work around 7 PM. Since I am gone for so long during the day, and because my CYA is low, I went ahead and put my floater in the water this morning along with the morning addition of bleach needed to push FC back up to 12. So I would like to calculate what impact this will have. I will also test my pH tonight and begin moving it back up to the 7.4-7.5 range.

[PoolDoc]

For each ppm of chlorine added with dichlor or trichlor, you'll add nearly a ppm of stabilizer. With trichlor it's a bit less, with dichlor a bit more.

Regarding the relationship between chlorine and CYA, read the "Best Guess" page linked in my signature.

[TexasGolfer]

Thank you, I've read through that post numerous times, and many others, but I'm not seeing what I am looking for. Also, I saw where Watermom indicated the 10 to 6 relationship of chlorine to CYA in trichlor. I think what I am not making clear is that I'm trying to estimate what the impact will be before I put the pucks in, to determine how many to start with. For example, with bleach we have the calculators that tell me if my pool is a certain size, I need to put in a certain number of oz of bleach to raise my FC level 1 ppm. So my question is, how can I estimate the rise in FC and CYA from one puck of trichlor? Also the drop in pH?

I know that it takes time for these pucks to dissolve, and once they have done so, the CYA is already in the pool, and difficult to remove. I've also read that it may take several days after it's put in to register, which has me worried that even if I take them out, the level could keep rising. I want to sneak up on the desired level, and not have to worry about shooting way past it. So if one puck has the potential to raise my CYA by 10 ppm, then I'll just put in one at a time, and then test several times after it's dissolved. But if one puck is only likely to raise CYA by 1 ppm, then I'll put in 5 or 6 at a time, and not be so worried about shooting way past my goal.

[TexasGolfer]

Okay, a more thorough Google search turned up this thread which has the math I was looking for:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...f-tri-clor-add

Converting for my pool volume, looks like one 8 oz puck will increase my CYA by 2.7, so the four I have in my floater right now should be about right to start with. I'll pull it out at night for the purposes of doing my overnight FC drop test until I'm completely done fighting algae.

[JimK]

......I've also read that it may take several days after it's put in to register, which has me worried that even if I take them out, the level could keep rising......

I don't think this is true. Once it has dissolved it should be measurable and won't keep rising, unless you add more. I think where the confusion may be is that when adding stabilizer granules separately (those who use unstabilized sources of chlorine need to add stabilizer separately) it takes time for those granules to dissolve, and so the stabilizer level will rise as the granules dissolve. Personally, I find I get a good stabilizer reading about 24hrs or so after adding stabilizer granules directly in the skimmer and running the pump the whole time (the granules get caught in the filter where they then dissolve).

So measure after the pucks dissolve to see if you need to keep adding stabilizer.

Certainly someone here will correct me if I'm wrong.

[CarlD]

No, I actually think JimK is right and it's a subtlety. CYA granules take a very long time to dissolve but Trichlor fundamentally contains CYA so as it's releasing chlorine, it has to be releasing CYA, too, and acid.