Cheapest way to Lower Pool Stabilizer Level

Stabilizer (a.k.a. CYA or cyanuric acid) is like sunscreen for your chlorine - it blocks the sun's rays from breaking down your chlorine and makes it last longer. But too much stabilizer is worse than too little! This video shows various ways to lower your stabilizer for the lowest cost.
NOTE TO VIEWERS
Although I haven't taken down the videos, I need to announce that I have stopped using PHIN and I've cancelled my subscription. I had issues with the pH accuracy; the unit kept telling me to add pH Up even though the level was too high. Also, their customer service and support severely declined since the company was acquired by Hayward. I still love Hayward products and use a lot of them with my pool, just not pHin.

[@chrishansenbiz]

I removed about 15 inches of water, refilled and circulated several times but CYA was still extremely high. I then put a submersible pump on the first step in the shallow end and the fill hose at the bottom of the deep end to simultaneously pump out and fill. This process lowered CYA to acceptable levels in less than a day.

[@handydadtv]

Brilliant!! CYA rises to the surface??? I didn’t know that.

[@chrishansenbiz]

@@handydadtv Warm water rises. With new, colder water filling the bottom of the deep end the old, warmer water is displaced up into the removal pump. It basically creates a thermocline. I should've taken temperature readings at various points before and during but didn't think about it. Probably would have been better to diffuse or transitionaly contain the incoming water instead of having it stream directly from the hose. Keep the mixing to a minimum for battery efficiency.

[@chrishansenbiz]

@@handydadtv How about this idea: put a large, empty bladder in the pool. Something like a rubber hot water bottle but much larger. Maybe at least 30% of the pool volume when expanded. New water goes into the bladder while old is pumped out. Then pull the plug on the bladder. Zero mixing until sufficient old water was removed.

[@handydadtv]

The bladder idea is harder for sure. But the temperature trick is brilliant!

[@vaskylark]

THis is very doable and makes a lot of sense. Thanks for idea!

[@jeancary677]

Thank you. I have read all the same stuff but with no explanation as to why. You have not only explained the what to do but the why to do. Awesome

[@tdbethel]

Great videos HDTV. I was having identical problem with CYA buildup using triclor tablets. That is part of the reason I decided not to use pHin. Instead I decided to change over pool to salt water chlorine generator. Using combination of SWCG and automatic acid feeder and have greatly reduced "pool chemistry" time. Actually entire project involved compete pool plumbing redo and replaced pump, added automation, changed our filter. Pretty satisfying DIY project and something you may want to consider. The entire project seems like something I would watch on your channel. Good luck.

[@handydadtv]

+tdbethel Sounds very interesting and I'd like to know more. Please email me with the products you needed to buy for the cutover to salt water ([e-mail]). BTW, pHin supposedly works with salt water sanitization, and you can also get it without the chemical service.

[@chuckschillingvideos]

Thing is, SWCG's cost thousands of dollars - they're not exactly cheap - even in a new install where the extra plumbing costs will be insignificant. And the salt cells don't last indefinitely. What you are getting for your money is of only marginal advantage over liquid chlorine (bleach), and at the same time you are adding yet another piece of equipment to your pool which requires maintenance and is subject to failure at any time. You didn't mention how much your salt water retrofit cost - I'm guessing at least $5,000 including install. How close am I?

[@tophgeld8440]

That sounds pretty high. I was given an estimate of $1,000 to install an SWG on my 10k gal pool. I'm sure prices vary by region, equipment brand and pool size.

[@FLmetalhead]

CYA is the bane of my existence as a pool cleaner that works for someone who doesn’t want to use liquid Chlor because it destroys trucks if you’re not careful. I have a handful of pools that the second the CYA gets a little high it wants to start getting green

[@handydadtv]

Thanks for your input.

[@WheelerRickRambles]

I have a 25k gallon pool... lowered my CYA from 110 to 69 by emptying thru backwash over several days. Leslie’s Pool did the testing before & after. I did have to sacrifice and get a green pool during cuz I didn’t want to add any chemicals during this process... call it 2 weeks time. Twice a day I would run backwash until I heard the ‘auto filler’ activated... about 5 inch drop. (...I was very careful not to starve pump of water...) My test strip every 3rd day or so was improving but I wanted the number. Once my test strip hit the lowest ‘color’ is when I took a sample to Leslie’s. I have yet to receive the water bill... can’t imagine it’s all that much (Phoenix AZ area)

[@chrishansenbiz]

Thanks for adding the update in the description regarding your use of Phin.

[@handydadtv]

Yes, not recommended!

[@jvictoriozee72]

Thank you for the information. I started diluting today, (CYA read just over 100ppm) I am going to do a little draining and filling every day for a week instead of all in one day because my water comes off a well pump and I don't want to burn out the pump. We'll see what happens to the CYA levels by the end of the week.

[@JorgePicco]

Im in the same process

[@CrazyBeansCrochet]

I’m going through this right now. I ended up draining half my pool because the cya levels were to high. I Didn’t want to use that so called gunk lol because our pool guys said we couldn’t swim in it for ATLEAST 2 wks. So I drained halfway and refilled. My cya levels are still a little high but better than before. Guess I won’t be using chlorinated tablets for awhile. I’d rather just stick with the liquid chlorine anyways. Thanks for the vid. I totally understand the problem I had now. Hopefully it won’t happen again. I hate wasting water.

[@handydadtv]

I feel ya

[@jneusbaum3697]

The water went somewhere. Great to water your lawn with. It is recovered by mother earth in some way. ...And besides...It's a great use of water and a value too...to ensure your swimmers are safe and not anyway in harms way. Liquid chlorine is the way to go...but after a refill the stabilizer in your water goes away...could add some or let the tricor tablets do the trick to keep from going thru masses of liquid chlorine. Draining the pool is certainly not the most fulfilling act...but KNOWING that your swimmers are safe certainly offsets the downsides. See ya' at the pool. Have a great day.

[@dough537]

Thank you for this video. Great explanation of why my CyA level is too high. Unfortunately, I will need to have new water trucked in because I am on a well in this rural neighborhood, and my water is extremely hard (with emphasis on extremely). I suspect it will cost me in the $600-700 range to refill the pool. Oh well, there’s maintenance I need to do to this old pool while it’s empty. I am toying with the idea of running a line from my household water softener to supply the makeup water for the pool.

[@handydadtv]

Jeez! How big is your pool?? Know any firemen? Some fire departments will do this.

[@Beer_Dad1975]

Thanks for this, water is free where I live so this is a no-brainer. Your pool looks amazing!

[@handydadtv]

Thanks

[@jeffreynobles948]

Same issue with my pool. Trichlor tablets have their place, but they can easily be overused and abused because of their convenience of just loading up a chlorinator. I have switched to liquid chlorine that I get pretty cheap from either Walmart, Dollar General, Family Dollar, etc. and only add a tablet or so to my chlorinator when my CYA level drops below 30ppm; which isn't very often. Good video and explanation for folks that take care of their own pools like you and me. Take care, and thanks.

[@handydadtv]

Do you have a liquid chlorine feeder? Or just pour it in every couple of day? I’m interested to hear your experience with it.

[@jeffreynobles948]

HandyDadTV I just pour it in every day.

[@handydadtv]

And use trichlor in the feeder when you go on vacation?

[@jeffreynobles948]

HandyDadTV Yes.

[@jeffreynobles948]

Also, HandyDadTV, it takes some time to get familiar with how much liquid chlorine you need to add. It could be on a daily basis, or it could be several days. It all depends on where you live, temps, weather, CYA levels, etc., etc... I would recommend these two websites for reference.....www.poolcalculator.com/ and also.....www.troublefreepool.com. There are a lot of very knowledgeable on the latter that can assist you immensely. Take care, and happy swimming!!

[@tommynorthwood]

If you call the utility company they'll make an adjustment to the bill twice a year for just such reasons. They often ask for some proof of service.

[@mattmccauley1110]

My CYA was high and there are two effective ways to get it down without diluting or draining and filling your pool. Using a pool calculator online I was able to calculate how much muriatic acid to add to my pool after a few conservative additions my CYA started to come down. I also had success using sodium bisulfate and it also brought my CYA levels down. Your pH will also decrease so once you get your levels within range you can balance your pH back up to where it should be.

[@handydadtv]

Thanks for sharing

[@Hajjat]

Good info, gonna try these down!

[@lordgarth1]

This doesn’t sound right at all. Both muriatic acid and sodium bisulfate can be used to drop ph and total alkalinity but i’ve never seen or heard any evidence of them also lowering cyanuric acid at all.

[@drdrew3]

This doesn’t work. If it did nobody would have elevated CYA problems

[@kellydavis3110]

Good advice. I came across the same issues. Before watching your video I pulled my floating chlorine tabs and in process of putting fresh water in now. When testing my chlorine it was a little higher than I normally keep it, but I also switched to Clorox blue of which I think works better than the brand I recently switched from.

[@jeremykelley6733]

I wouldn't recommend using any dichlor or trichlor chlorine or shock as both will increase ur cya...i only use hypochlorite..

[@7511fsm]

Pentair IC40 or IC20 and IntellipH ph controller. Not sure how big your pool is but if you want some serious automation and with just adding some baking soda to the pool for alkalinity and keeping the Pentair intellipH full of muriatic acid for Ph control, then it's the way to go. I've had both products for over two years now and I'm in Hawaii. I run this stuff 24/7/365 and it's been great.

[@handydadtv]

+Matt Flick Sounds interesting. I'll have to investigate that. Thanks!

[@cardo1111]

Always good vids, personally I prefer pool store chlorine, though more expensive it is usually 12.5% chlorine and will give better results.

[@tracymiller5264]

Well the problem is Walmart liquid chlorine is a diluted version of the much higher concentration chlorine found at pool stores the same applies with acid and also chlorine tabs all these items are much inferior

[@deedemarest443]

Draining your pool water is not the only way you are told by most everyone. I discovered by unintended circumstances when I ran my pool out of chlorine 0ppm, my CYA also lowered. And no to all the things an pessimist will say happened. The pool was not being used by anyone so no splashing the water out of the pool or spilling out of the pool due to adding water including rain etc etc did not happen. This happened a couple times when my feeder ran out of liquid chlorine (unstablized as promoted by Trouble free Pools) and I needed to buy more chlorine. Unstablized liquid Chlorine and dry acid and a product called Descale water treatment is all I put in my pool period. When I needed to shock, I used the same liquid chlorine too. So I have determined that because there was no chlorine to sanitize, the growing organisms in the pool degraded the CYA naturally. This may not be an ideal way on a regular basis to resolve your high CYA levels, but it is effective. Another alternative to draining is using a water filtering process for pools now available (reverse osmosis). These companies have a trailer filled with a huge filtering system and just cycle your water until it cleans out the TDS to an appropriate level and then you adjust your chemicals that's it; you don't waste any water or risk damage to your pool so this can also be done anytime of the year too. Given water is precious especially in our deserts, it should not be wasted due to "CYA". Pool owners have a responsibility to be mindful of wasting water and especially now that there are better alternatives you can use to deal with TDS issues in your pool water. You can find these pool water purification companies now in CA, AZ that I know of. The cost to filter is relative to the cost of hiring a service to drain your pool, water bill to fill back up and all new chemicals.

[@handydadtv]

What kind of liquid chlorine feeder do you have?

[@JoseGarcia-et2dk]

I luv that hot air balloon in the back ground

[@MikeLee390]

Our pool store expert guy said that CYA will 'leach' into the gunnite walls of your pool so that even draining it completely will not get rid of all of it.

[@handydadtv]

Thanks. I bet it’s not good for my liner either. Nasty shit. It’s a byproduct of convenience.

[@abramruelas5176]

That's the best thing you can ever do to a pool 😎. Cool video!

[@deborah0427]

I too have very high levels of CYA. Pool store recommended emptying half the water out, two to three times (and I am circulating after each refill) and then bring in another sample in to retest. I live in NYC where we pay for everything under the sun... no pun intended. Water is expensive here. I'm on my second refill and currently circulating that water. Tomorrow I'm bringing in another sample wherein I'm sure they will say it's still too high. Well, so is the cost of water so I'll be buying me some liquid chlorine too and adding sparingly, watching not to ruin my sandals or my clothes, and having water retested again, and again and again until pool closing in September. Like many here in this feed, I used the floating chlorinator with the three inch tabs too (as well as shocking once a week). I think that's where I went wrong. Won't be doing that again. And you're right, folks. Water is precious. I didn't even think of that! Shame on me. I'm a single lady doing it all on my own so when a tradesman recommends something, like a dummy I listen. Gotta remember the YT family out there from now on. Thanks for all the previous comments and suggestions. This was helpful Thank you HDTV.

[@handydadtv]

Keep your chin up, Deb. The evils of chlorine tabs are a hard lesson to learn. Curious why he told you to dilute it multiple times instead of draining and refilling once? You could have emptied and refilled it once and been done. Now it’s a guessing game. At this point in the year, I’d have you deal with the high CYA for the rest of the season with liquid chlorine and just empty it in the Spring.

[@goldslinger]

Trichlor greatly lowers ph, so I am adding borax when using those. I use the trichlor until stab. levels reach 30 to 40, then go to sams club for Clorox for the rest of the summer. Liquid chlorine keeps the ph higher. Seldom have to use baking soda for alk. That’s the only stuff You need. Never have to shock. Liquid chlorine does not add to the tds that can add up quick if the pool supply store has their way with you dumping in a bunch of crap you don’t need creating more problems. Test strips are pure crap, and will NEVER give You a consistent reading. I can’t believe the pool stores use them to troubleshoot people’s pool. The best test kit is the Taylor k2006. Tests Everything! It will easily test the CYA levels. It also tests ‘free chlorine.’ It is 60 bucks, but then you just buy refills.

[@handydadtv]

Thanks. I have a DPD kit similar to K2006 right now.

[@mrbrickmore]

goldslinger , How much Clorox and baking soda to put in the swimming pool

[@jessicaowen6871]

The K2006 kit from Taylor is the best. I ordered one for myself this summer and have been taking care of my own pool. I haven't been to the pool store in awhile for chemicals. I too have a problem with CYA, my level at the beginning of the summer was 120. I drained a little at a time, just felt bad wasting all that water! Last time I had it tested was a few weeks ago and was at 94 going to bring in a sample this week to see where it is at now with all this rain we have had. Unfortunately I used all the CYA test in the kit. I have been using liquid chlorine and I have noticed my ph has been high and I have had to add acid to adjust that. I had to add baking soda to raise the alkalinity. I do keep my chlorine levels higher for my CYA level according to poolcalculator.com . My days of trichlor tabs are over - strictly liquid chlorine for me. No big deal I just add it every night.

[@timothyberlinski2299]

My CYA has been within limits for the 2 months we bought the house. Last week when i serviced pool last week i added stabilizer for the first time since my chlorine has been evaporating fast. Now my chlorine levels didnt change which is what i wanted but my CYA is high and i have algae for the first time. Now its 90 and was 50 before

[@handydadtv]

Your "normal" chlorine level is proportional to the CYA level. The higher your CYA, the more chlorine you need to sanitize the pool. If you only use stabilized chlorine tablets, this is exactly the catch-22 that causes CYA to go ballistic. My advice: try an algaecide or mineral treatment to avoid overchlorinating.

[@azyoadrienne]

The pool company says draining less than half does nothing. True? We drained a foot.

[@handydadtv]

Based on my experience, I agree. I didn’t drain mine enough the first time so I needed to do it again. Second time I was pissed so I dropped it down to the bottom of the low end. That did the trick but such a waste of water. It’s much more predictable to add stabilizer than to remove it.

[@azyoadrienne]

HandyDadTV we refilled ours and pool store said to add 2 shocks and two caps of the Phosphate down. Still no choline registering. The cya did go from 150 to 60

[@handydadtv]

60 is a little high, but not horrible. Use liquid chlorine for the rest of the season. Stay away from trichlor or dichlor because they raise CYA.

[@TrinityHealth215]

The chlorine at Leslie's is much cheaper than what you're buying at Walmart. The clarinet Leslie's is 20% sodium hypochlorite so you are spending more.

[@montemag]

they are also telling me to do an overnight chlorine loss test?? or a slam-- this is all getting to seem a bit technical and quite a chore- my wife is getting angry that I started this fiasco in the first place. Now you explain what an overnight chlorine loss test is in simple terms and what a SLAM is- I really don't want to do all this - especially that slam procedure which I have no idea where to begin

[@handydadtv]

TFPools has great explanations of these processes. Much better than I could do.

[@montemag]

hello sir-- I also have had high CYA for years but my pool looked and felt great I was super chlorinating the pool with an item called GREENOUT-- water looked good?-- But chemicals- ??? I joined this site called Trouble Free Pools and purchased a test kit called Tf100- with the stirrer rods. I will test this weekend. But I also drained my above-ground pool- 15' x 24' and refilled it with a filtered water hose. Now let me back up a bit. When I opened my pool a few days ago- the water had that bluish tint and looked really nice. I added 64 oz of liquid chlorine also. No more Greenout or Tri-chlor tabs. After draining I then refilled my pool again(as I did upon opening since the water level dropped during the winter months)- and now after refilling the pool a second time- my water is NOT a bluish tint BUT a green tint? Oh NO- what did I do- why did this happen- I did the same exact procedure I did days ago when initially opening the pool- why did it turn tint colors now-- All I can do now is add more liquid chlorine and see if the water changes- I will test with the tf100 kit this weekend- BUT I must tell you- I am quite nervous. After many years of having high CYA and who knows what else- my pool at least looked and felt OK- nobody ever had a problem with skin irritations-- I am really frustrated and am thinking that I should have kept doing what I always did and left well enough alone? Any ideas? Thank you, sir,

[@handydadtv]

Love that TFP test kit! Good move! 👍🏻 Fresh water = NO CYA. So your chlorine dissipates faster. I suggest you buy pool stabilizer (aka CYA) and bring your pool to 40 ppm. Then use only liquid chlorine for the rest of the summer to keep your FC 3-4 ppm. Consider getting Sutro to test your pool automatically. kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2jYqGOhnNqAh5I

[@cliffljimenez4237]

Thanks! Direct to the point. Very detailed. What’s the ratio of the liq chlorine on a 15k gal pool? Thanks again.

[@handydadtv]

There's a phone app called PoolMath that does the calculation based on your pool size and chlorine level. Give it a try.

[@montemag]

thank you for replying-- I just tested my numbers today and a little whacky-- The pH seems to be around 8.2 with that color-coded yellow chart in that test kit and the chlorine is OFF the charts- it is orange?- Now that makes sense since I did that TF100 test for chlorine ONLY vial- and the number of drops x.5 - shows that my chlorine is 17ppm???? But remember I have been adding liquid chlorine every day since I opened the pool on Thursday and then drained some and refilled and kept adding 64 ounces of liquid chlorine- Maybe if I stop for a day or 2- those numbers will come down??? Also, my TA shows 120- so that is pretty OK-- and my CYA yesterday came down a drop it is now 90- but like I said- this is because I have been shocking weekly for years using those super chlorinator powders and stabilized floating tabs ALL the time--which I am now stopping. So it seems that I only need to get the chlorine down to a manageable level-- RIGHT? What do you suggest? And lastly- the pool has a slight green tint- to it and what we have ALWAYS done for years at pool opening- is give it a kick-off with a capful of the clarifier and then vacuum, etc and the pool always turned out beautifully blue-- what do you think on this matter. Please let me know the answers to these problems. Thank you so much. Appreciate you.

[@handydadtv]

I thought you emptied and refilled your pool. If so, your CYA should be zero. Regardless… Get the app called Pool Math. It calculates your ideal FC rate depending on your CYA. For example, with CYA=90, Pool Math says your FC level needs to be 7-12 ppm. You can’t measure that with a normal OTO test kit. That’s why it’s good for you to have that TF100 test kit which uses DPD to measure chlorine. So, my advice is to stop adding chlorine until your FC drops to 9-10. And only use liquid chlorine. And brush the entire pool twice a week even if it looks good. P.S. High chlorine affects your pH. So don’t do any further adjustments until the FC level returns to normal.

[@montemag]

TFP pools say i should do an overnight chlorine loss test to make sure its not algae eating up the chlorine?? This is getting so out of hand. This has never happened to me before and its all because I slightly drained the pool and added to much liquid chlorine in the last few days. Using Greenout super chlorinated shock and HTH clarifying agent always had my pool crystal clear.

[@montemag]

Thank u so much-- I agree- totally- I am not adding any more chlorine until it comes down- which by doing the test strips an hour ago- definitely is coming down.. But my son and daughter-in-law and grandson are here today. My son is a lawyer and he is about the smartest most level-headed person I know beside my wife-- and they all say the pool looks turquoise- aqua-- NO longer that beautiful blue-- what is going on and why is the pool staying this ugly tint of aqua-- and how do I get the blue color back?

[@handydadtv]

Patience. Get your water balanced and keep brushing.

[@montemag]

let me ask u this-- I did an occult chlorine loss test-- at 9 Pm last night 26 drops= 13 ppm and this morning at 5 AM 32 drops?? HUH? I am very sure I did everything perfectly. All I know with the TF100-- my TA is 110 and my diluted CYA was 120.. I know my CYA is high- but as I mentioned yesterday- my CYA has had to be for years-- and everything else was OK- there has to be a way (gray area)- to stop stressing over this. My wife has had it with my stress and obsession. I am losing sleep--

[@handydadtv]

High CYA is probably the root of all your issues. Take a water sample to your local pool store and get their advice. They’re either going to recommend emptying 3/4 of the pool to reduce your CYA, or they’ll try to sell you an organic bacterial product that supposedly lowers CYA. Avoid that! I would only recommend diluting the pool to lower CYA.

[@livingadreamlife1428]

What is the name of the acoustic guitar song in your intro? I’ve heard it in several places. Thanks, in advance.

[@handydadtv]

Sorry, I don’t remember. I created that intro four years ago.

[@montemag]

sorry I meant an OVERNIGHT chlorine loss test-- why did the morning value go UP??`

[@handydadtv]

I don’t know.

[@txsraappraiser]

Most shock and tabs are trichlor. We are trying trichlor tabs in the pump and bleach combo to keep cya from getting too high

[@rawbitsunami939]

Preach, I keep telling these pool guys liquid shock is best, back off the tabs and the cal hypo. Brush your fucking pool.

[@skmcp57]

How long did it take for your cya to come down after using liquid chlorine.

[@handydadtv]

I diluted half my pool and switched to liquid chlorine but it never dropped back to normal levels. This year, I drained the entire pool to start fresh and I’ll keep a better watch on CYA. It’s evil.

[@speedlgt]

Got same problem so whats the point of the tablets if they are just gonna raise the cya and make you switch to liquid anyway!?! Sounds like there is no point to the tablet product

[@handydadtv]

My brother, a chemist, said chlorine is naturally a gas and it’s unstable in other forms. So they use CYA to stabilize it in solid form.

[@bcuriel2010]

I'm in Florida and the chlorine level in my pool keeps dropping fast. I have to add one gallon of chlorine every two days. In addition the alkalinity keeps getting high. My pool store keeps telling me that it's normal to keep adding chlorine and muriatic acid. 😭😭

[@handydadtv]

Did they check the stabilizer level?

[@LilHendy1]

Thanks dad!!

[@handydadtv]

My pleasure

[@JohnnyRawks]

Why is there no such thing as a non stabilized chlorine puck that can be used in a regular chlorinator? If there were such a thing, NOBODY would use stabilized chlorine pucks. I am CONSTANTLY fighting high cya levels and water is expensive, so this problem is very costly. It's a head scratcher. Is cya actually required to make a 3" chlorine puck or something? Seems suspicious to me. The problem with liquid chlorine, is that it's several magnitudes more expensive to sanitize your pool with it vs pucks or granular.

[@handydadtv]

You can use cal hypo tablets, but they are harder to find and raise your calcium hardness.

[@Megan24Nichole]

We just bought a pool and filled it up and before I even added chlorine or shock it said they CYA was too high based on our strips..... How do you fix that since the water is literally what we will be putting right back in.

[@handydadtv]

I would take a sample to the pool store. They have a better test kit than the strips.

[@markcatcash4688]

Also consider buying a test like like the taylor 2006...Not uncommon for pool stores test to be off especially your CYA levels. and test strips are useless, I ended up with CYA off the charts last time I used them.

[@handydadtv]

Trichlor is evil.

[@markcatcash4688]

@@handydadtv I bought a SWG in early 2020 and wouldn't run a pool without one again!

[@handydadtv]

Which one did you buy?

[@markcatcash4688]

@@handydadtv I ahve a 23K plaster pool and bought the Circupool Edge 40. I paid $850 in jan 2020 and now is $1250!

[@Saebjorn80]

So I have now drained about 3’ out of my pool and refilled over the last 3 days and I am still over the 100ppm for a 28,000 gallon pool....I don’t know what else to do

[@handydadtv]

Sorry to say, you didn’t empty enough. I did the same thing and was so disgusted that I drained 75% the second time. That worked.

[@warweaponx6629]

Handydad, I have some algae build up and our pool guy is saying it is high CYA. He put a water hose running at the bottom of the pool for 24hrs to dilute and is letting the pool drain via the overflow drain. Does that make sense? I have concerns about draining the pool as I’ve heard horror stories about pools floating up. Thanks for any comments you can share.

[@handydadtv]

In theory, the end result should be the same whether you drain and refill, or dilute by adding fresh water.

[@warweaponx6629]

@@handydadtv thank you!

[@jayli3574]

I have same problem that CYA level is very high. What you did, is that mean by using liquid chlorine, the CYA Level will go down, even you don't drain your pool?

[@handydadtv]

No, the liquid chlorine only stops it from getting worse. You need to drain the pool to lower CYA.

[@thecoach3222]

@@handydadtv It seems to me you are in New Jersey, I am in Maryland so climate-wise we should be in similar stead. Wouldn't the CYA get lowered during the off season? At the very least there is the lowering of the water level prior to closing. We also have to pump out over the winter if the level gets near the tile, so that is a combination of water already in the pool plus that put in by rain/snow.

[@handydadtv]

Yes it’ll be a little lower in the Spring than in the Fall. But not enough to correct a severely high level. If your CYA is 100, for example, you should drain around 3/4 of the pool in the Spring to bring it down to a “normal” range.

[@hillbilly4333]

Great Video. My cyn acid is 300 ppm. Previous home owners were using trichlor for years. Not interested in draining pool.

[@handydadtv]

Like it or not, that’s your only option.

[@chengkhang2804]

2 other options, increase FREE chlorine levels to 22.5 ppm MINIMUM!!!! use an enzyme that breaks down the CYA (neither options are cost effective) "DRAIN TODAY PROBLEMS AWAY!!!"

[@jneusbaum3697]

Hopefully your swimmers know their risk. An easy fix...drain and refill...problem solved...swimmers safe. Easy. Non-event.

[@justingeronimo]

I was skeptical on the bioactive until I used it! Works great. I have a 20k gallon pool. CYA was at 108. Added 8oz of bioactive and dropped the CYA to 30. Pretty impressive. Got sick and tired of drain and refill process.

[@handydadtv]

You’re an anomaly. Everyone else, including the pool store, says it takes multiple applications of Bioactive to get CYA to move. If at all.

[@philipwolf3619]

Thanks !! Great info !

[@handydadtv]

My pleasure

[@amymoreland2060]

How do you know how much liquid chlorine to add? Does Phin tell you? Or is it a guessing game until you get the hang of it?

[@handydadtv]

PHin only tells you to use trichlor tablets, which raise your CYA. I’ll give you a jump on an upcoming video: I use an app called Pool Math.

[@chuckschillingvideos]

There are many online pool calculators to help you determine the proper chemical additions for your pool. You'll need to know the volume and, of course, the sort of pool and filtration/sanitation system you have. The guy posting the video linked you to a calculator operated by the vendor of the system his pool uses. I have no idea whether that would be appropriate for your pool or not. I recommend www.poolcalculator.com/, which isn't affiliated with any vendor or manufacturer and can give you the correct additions for any sort of pool.

[@soccerdad812]

Is granular ok? Sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione dihydrate. Or does it also have stabilizer?

[@handydadtv]

Granular is my least favorite form of chlorine. Yes, unfortunately it has stabilizer just like tabs. But it must be dissolved in a bucket before use; it could burn the liner/plaster if broadcast into the water.

[@daveydave9579]

Actually Sodium Dichlor can be used in a vinyl liner as it dissolves faster than Calcium Hypochlorite. However, it does have stabilizer in it but not ad much as trichlor. I work at the pool store with the over priced chemicals.

[@chengkhang2804]

just use bring cya to proper levels and super chlorinate with liquid chlorine once a week. TEST weekly.

[@Jasheon]

Fall/winter/early spring use liquid chlorine or cal hypo chlorine tablets. Come late spring, summer and early fall use trichlor tabs….easy.

[@handydadtv]

I hate liquid chlorine.

[@Jasheon]

@@handydadtv cal hypo tablets then

[@MichaelMantion]

Thankfully over 20,000 gallons of water is only $2.21/1000 gallons of water. $8/1000 gallons seems high.

[@BrandiWL]

Something's really fishy. They told me to drain my pool, that my CYA was too high. But here's the thing. I just filled my pool with fresh city water and if I drain and refill, I'm refilling it with the same water. I have not yet chlorinated it. It sat for a day because we had to fix the pump, but pump has ran overnight and retested, CYA still too high. I still have fresh water in the pool. And I don't know what to add. The first time it said CYA too high and ph too high. Now ph is ok but my hardness is too low when it wasn't a day ago?

[@handydadtv]

If you just filled with fresh water and the test still says your CYA is too high, try a different test. Or a different pool store (if they did it for you). Something’s not right. Tap water wouldn’t have CYA.

[@BrandiWL]

I found out that in my state, there was discovered a brain eating amoeba in the water which is dangerous only if the water goes up the nose, as in swimming. In those areas, they put cyanuric acid in the water which is not dangerous to drink, but will kill the amoeba. It wasn't my area, but maybe that's why we don't have any brain eating amoeba notices here. I tested my water straight from the tap and same readings as my pool. I then tested water from Ozarka spring water (a bottle) and that doesn't have cyanuric acid at all, nor chlorine, but it's pH is really low interestingly enough. My tap water pH is a little on the high side and has no chlorine which surprised me, high cya, water hardness was low. I researched how to get rid of cya and you can't. Draining would not work for me because it's in my tap water. I'm not rich and can't afford to have water shipped in from other areas so I'm stuck with cya which is not harmful to me but is harmful to chlorine tablets because it breaks them down quickly. I guess I'll just throw bleach in there, it will be gone soon enough anyways.

[@handydadtv]

Wow. I’m surprised. I never heard of that.

[@BrandiWL]

Turns out the bleach does disintegrate rapidly but before it does, it cleans the pool, so I've just been shocking it the day before we want to swim. I need to buy more bleach at a time now. I'm going to try the chlorine tablets and see how they do.

[@chengkhang2804]

@@BrandiWL with no CYA chlorine will dissipate within an hour to 3 hours pending on how much liquid chlorine you add. simply hire a company to bring your pool to proper levels and super chlorinate once a week. (very simple advice without getting too detailed)

[@alexgunawan98]

If I use TCCA, do I need to worry about YCA ?

[@handydadtv]

TCCA, or trichlor, adds CYA to your pool with every tablet. Chlorine dissipates but CYA does not. So you eventually have to drain water out of the pool to reduce it.

[@arthurmarquis-fullsailstud9020]

Thanks Dad!

[@handydadtv]

My pleasure 👍🏻

[@arthurmarquis-fullsailstud9020]

@@handydadtv Can I ask for a how to get your pool perfectly clear when it is cloudy video?

[@handydadtv]

I don’t have one like that. But I’m sure you can find one on YT. I use two websites for most of my tips: swimuniversity.com and troublefreepool.com.

[@macknumber9]

How much do i have to drain? Half pool? 1/3?

[@handydadtv]

Take a water sample to a pool store. They will calculate how much CYA you have and how much to drain to achieve the level you want.

[@SpookMrsSpooky]

What are the effects of too much CYA? I might have missed it. I nave an automatic chlorinator with those stabilized 3" disks in it. the disks are dissolving (and I have the chlorine level pretty high), but my test strips and the test at the pool supply store are showing 0 chlorine. It makes no sense. The CYA last reading was 105ppm. I saw on another web site that 100ppm is too high and can cause problems. Is this the problem it causes? Does it bind up the chlorine? I'm having trouble understanding why my chlorine disks are dissolving but I still have no chlorine registering in the water. Thanks!

[@handydadtv]

+SpookMrsSpooky You have the same issue I had. Just kept putting 3” tabs into the chlorinator for years. 100ppm is definitely too high. I can’t explain what it does chemically, but I know your chlorine loses its effectiveness so you need to overcompensate by raising the level. Unfortunately, like me, you need to drain 75% of the pool and refill it to drop the CYA level to 30ppm.

[@SpookMrsSpooky]

+HandyDadTV thanks. I'll drain some of the water then add more then just stop putting stabilized tabs in there. Unfortunately we've come to the end of our rainy season, so it'll be the hose until next summer. :P

[@dpeagles]

The more cya the more chlorine it takes raise the free chlorine level. There is a chart at troublefreepool.com Bleach is bleach is bleach. Use regular old bleach as a supplement while using the tabs to keep the chlorine from zeroing out.

[@tophgeld8440]

CYA protects chlorine from the sun and buffers it - the CYA holds back some chlorine from working. The higher your CYA level, the higher your chlorine level needs to be. The rule is keep chlorine a minimum of 7.5% of CYA. In your case 8 ppm of chlorine would be the lowest safe level. 11-13 ppm would be best. I have 50 ppm of CYA in my pool so my chlorine minimum is 4 but aim for 6-8 ppm. Consider using liquid chlorine (bulk from a pool store or straight bleach from anywhere) after you've fixed your CYA issue. BTW - Trichlor and Dichlor contain lots of CYA whether in puck, tab or granular form. Trichlor adds a lot of CYA. Check your label. It's probably over 50% by weight of CYA and one 3" tab adds 5.5ppm chlorine and 3.3ppm CYA per 10k gallons of water.

[@handydadtv]

Does CYA dissipate naturally over time? I switched to liquid chlorine after I diluted my pool, and CYA never dropped any further. This Spring, I’m emptying the whole thing and starting from scratch.

[@brucefeks]

What happens if you have high stabalizer and don't drain the pool

[@handydadtv]

Chlorine is less effective when you have high stabilizer so you need to keep the chlorine level even higher to compensate. Standard test kits won't accurately measure high chlorine levels, so you'd need to get a FAS-DPD test kit. The high chlorine can affect your hair, skin and bathing suits. It's just ugly. My advice: when CYA gets to 50ppm, STOP USING stabilized chlorine (dichlor and trichlor) and switch to liquid chlorine.

[@outlawjodiewales9295]

HandyDadTV can you lower the cya without draining and just start using liquid chlorine? I guess it could take a while. I run a resident pool. My company just provides me with tablets and that’s what I have to use. My cya is at 150 with test strips.

[@handydadtv]

Unfortunately, no. You need to drain 3/4 of that pool and refill it to bring the level down to the required 30-50 range. In theory, you can just add that same amount of water and let it overflow until the level comes down, it’s just harder to judge.

[@outlawjodiewales9295]

HandyDadTV yeah with summer, it’s just not an option. It’s not up to me is what I’m trying to say. Do I run the risk of damaging equipment or will swimmers be affected by it? Can I just wait until late october? My calcium hardness is through the roof too. Maybe we don’t have the much time. I would hate closing the pool for 3-5 days.

[@handydadtv]

I have never been in your shoes but if it was my pool, I’d take action now and my family would need to deal with it being closed. Take a sample to the pool store and get their advice. The trouble is, your pool is in a spiral of toxicity: chlorine tablets raise CYA, so you need to over-chlorinate to keep it killing bacteria. Over-chlorinating with tablets just keeps increasing CYA and the problem gets exponentially worse. One thing I’ve learned is, when CYA reaches 50ppm, switch to liquid and stop using tablets.

[@JerryFinin]

Where did you get FIN at? Thank you.

[@handydadtv]

I don’t recommend it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHTSoKBojtV2abc

[@JerryFinin]

Ok thank you 👍🏼

[@randylaclair2978]

So what is the ideal level of CYA?

[@handydadtv]

30-50ppm

[@chuckspeer2163]

Thankyou

[@handydadtv]

My pleasure

[@Hajjat]

TLDR; dilute ur pool, and stop using 3” chlorine tabs (they contains stabilizer).

[@handydadtv]

👍🏻

[@richp5064]

This ia why i decided to go with a salt water generator in my inground pool..

[@handydadtv]

Which model did you choose?

[@tamarakennedy4976]

My pH is 6.0 and my alkalinity is 180. Should be around 100.

[@jeremiegrund]

Those numbers usually don’t go in opposite directions, assuming they are accurate you need some muriatic acid to lower TA and some soda ash to raise pH

[@davidbarnett9312]

CYA high? Local pool company said drain half the pool. I did. Levels ok. This seems to be easier than draining half the pool and refilling.

[@gregmau7268]

what the fuck

[@MikeTrieu]

That literally makes no sense. CYA levels would be the same with no dilution. Think about it.

[@WhyYouAskingMe]

I live in California. I pay $1.99 per 1,000 gallons of water.

[@handydadtv]

Not sure where you live in California but calwater.com has rates close to mine. You have a bargain.

[@WhyYouAskingMe]

@@handydadtv I'm with CalWater. Look at the city of Bakersfield rates.

[@lyleheller3703]

Thank you for not buying Amazon. Please spend the few hundred extra dollars and help support not small business. Not Cosco 9r other large box stores. No I don't own a pool store. Buy local save jobs

[@handydadtv]

That’s a novel idea but unrealistic. People will always choose the best value for the cheapest price.

[@lyleheller3703]

@@handydadtv ha , I know. Never Herts to ask though. A local grocery store made record profits over COVID and are now cutting hours. Machine checkout is efficient. Great video thanks for posting.

[@goldslinger]

Informercial

[@boomskis4926]

Does this guy know how to party or what

[@handydadtv]

🤣

[@wandarainns1378]

N

[@datboispicyg1708]

So much incomplete & false information here. I’m a licensed pool professional & am a CPO (Certified Pool Operator) Also the test strips are junk, I’ve used several different brands, & tested the same water at the same time with the different types & got several different results. A Taylor test kit is the best way to test your pool chemistry.

[@jeremiegrund]

Agreed on the test strips, just spend the money on a K-2006 and call it a day. One thing I’m not sure of is the moving target of free chlorine based on stabilizer. Should the amount of free chlorine for a healthy pool depend on how much CYA there is?

[@chuckschillingvideos]

@@jeremiegrund You want your CYA (assuming you're using it - many expert pool operators refuse to use stabilized chlorine) to be between 40 and 70 PPM and no higher. This will allow your free chlorine to be effective at nominal levels of 2.0 - 5.0. I like to keep my chlorine higher, but that's a personal preference. Once your stabilizer gets much past 70, you will find that your free chlorine just isn't doing much of anything but loitering at normal levels and you'll wind up having to keep it at much higher levels to assure sanitation.

[@jeremiegrund]

chuckschilling Thanks for your response, I made the mistake last year of using stabilized shock as well as chlorine pucks so my CYA is a little high at 80. I try to keep free chlorine between 6-10

[@jeremiegrund]

chuckschilling Almost all literature says don’t go above 4 ppm FC which is where I would be confused because your effective FC is dependent on CYA

[@chuckschillingvideos]

@@jeremiegrund The literature is silly. You can safely go far higher than 4 ppm. Been running pools for nearly 40 years. In fact, the lower you maintain your FAC, the more likely you are to pick up combined chlorine. There's nothing dumber than chasing FAC down to an artificially low level. Trust me on this - you'll be fine maintaining your FAC at 4-6 if you don't have to worry about pushing stabilizer levels too high.

[@sonnychung2315]

Junk advice

[@handydadtv]

Ok. You got a better idea?

[@josephk4051]

😂🤣

[@jaystv1682]

get calhypo tablets and use a floater.

[@handydadtv]

Good idea. I've only seen calhypo shock, not tablets.