dickeystorm

How are you testing the water? I would suggest getting a Taylor K-2006 test kit (FAS-DPD method, NOT DPD) which can directly test chlorine levels of up to perhaps 50 ppm without dilutions. Also, with a CYA of 100 (and it could actually be much higher since it's difficult to measure CYA above 100 ppm) you need to maintain your FC at 8-15 ppm for normal chlorination and shock to 25 ppm or higher when you need to shock to end of with the same amount of ACTIVE chlorine in your pool because CYA binds with chlorine and lowers its activity. This link has more info. You can run a high CYA pool but you do need a test kit that can test the higher FC levels needed (Taylor K-2006, not the K-2005) and must only used UNSTABILIZED chlorine. There is much evidence that you will actually use LESS chlorine doing this. As you have noticed, chlorine residuals in the water last much longer with higher CYA levels. If your CYA is between 100-200 ppm then 10 ppm is in the normal chlorination range and you can go in the water BUT you need to see just how high over 10 ppm your chlorine really is. You can take a sample of pool water, dilute it with an equal amount of DISTILLED water, test that for chlorine, and multiply your test results by 2. If the FC is less than 20 ppm I would have not problems with swimming in the water. For right now your TA and CH are fine. The ONLY way to lower CYA is to drain water and replace it. Waterbear, thanks for the reply. I am currently testing with a cheap oto kit (drops) which tops out at 5. I plan to pick up a good kit asap, I'm trying to decide between the tf-100 and the k-2006. The tf-100 seems to give more bang for the buck. My latest test, from the pool store on July 30, is the bottom set of numbers showing the cya at 70. If I understand the chemicals right that means I need to maintain 7 for FC, correct? Also, if draining/replacing is the only way to lower cya how did my cya go from 100 to 55 to 70? I don't really want to run high FC since I have a young child using the pool. I'll have to think about draining some. I tested with the 50/50 mix of distilled water and it is still showing 5 or higher. Thanks

Hi all, I've had my pool for just under a year and have been going up and down with it. I've learned the hard way not to trust the pool store advice regarding chemicals. A few weeks ago I had whitish cloudy water. I had the pool store test the water since I don't have a good test kit yet. My chlorine levels had been between 3-5 but dipped to under 1 for a day. July 9 readings: FC 5.3 CC 5.3 pH 7.4 TA 80 CH 370 CYA 100 copper 0 iron 0 tds not run Borates - not using Advice was alkalinity was low add 16 lb 14 oz of sodium bi-carb, BioGuard balance pak 100, in 3 doses at least 8 hours apart which I did. The cloudiness didn't clear. I was running the pump 4 hr/day at this time July 17 I had the water tested again FC 4.2 CC 4.4 pH 7.5 TA 144 CH 340 CYA 55 copper 0 iron 0 tds not run Borates - not using Advice was alkalinity was high, add 1 gal 2 qt 1 pt 14.75 oz muriatic acid in 3 doses 8 hrs apart. Did that. Had an algae bloom. green. I shocked the pool with calcium hypochlorite, around 2.5 lbs. the green cleared slightly next day but was still green another day later. Back to the pool store for advice and fresh shock since the cal hypo was clumping and of unknown age and didn't seem to be working. Advice was shock and algaecide. July 22 added 3 lb super zappit and 1 qt algaecide plus (aqua chem, copper based) and ran pump 24 hr/day until clear which took the next 2-3 days. This is when I discovered this site. I read the pool school and many posts and realized I shouldn't be using these chemicals and I have a better understanding of the chemicals now. The water looks great now but the chlorine is still very high despite not adding any since last week. Today I had the pool store test the water. FC 10 (the upper limit of their test capability) CC 10 pH 7.5 TA 99 CH 310 CYA 70 copper 0.21 iron 0 tds 1400 Borates - not using My concern now is 1) my chlorine is at least 10 a week after shocking with no additional chlorine added, when will it get back to safe swimming level. 2) is my cya too high keeping the chlorine high? should I lower cya? how? 3) is my hardness too high? Sorry for the long post but best to get all the details out up front. Thanks for the help.