Great video.. Having owned an inground pool for more the 30 years I am pretty sure that the "IDEAL" mark on the strips refer to 30-50 and not the entire 30-100 range. Note the position of the word "IDEAL".. I have always tried to stay within the 30-50 range. Most all the chlorinated chemicals, granular and pucks contain CYA even though it may not say so on the container. I found out the hard way by purchasing 50# of granular on line and no where in the discription or on the container is there a reference to CYA or Stabilizer in the product. It might be a pain in the butt but, once you are at the correct level your best bet is to chlorinate with liquid bleach. Nothing wrong with using pucks or granular but pay close attention to the CYA level as it will definitely build up (increase) in as short as 2-3 months. Another issue is some people will shock their pool using alot of granular chlorine. To shock properly you have to maintain a very high FC count of a few days. If you use anything with stabilizer in it you will be running into trouble due to the quick increase of CYA. To be safe, always shock a pool with liquid chlorine. As previously noted, once your levels are high, the only solution is to drain some water out, at least 20% depending on your levels and add fresh water.

I just bought a house in Texas with a pool and the cya is way too high. Can't get a reading for chlorine at all. Algea won't stop growing so I have no choice but to drain the pool and refill. The pool guy that came over to teach me, said it was a must for my pool right now. I sure hope I don't ruin my pool! So far I have been draining about 20 hours with a few more hours to go!

I always thought it strange that the vast majority of pool people here use tablets year around. I use liquid chlorine exclusively from about mid to late October till about mid to late March. Thanks for warning about the "armchair pool chemical experts", some commission based, that are ever lurking in the retail pool stores!! When I moved here from LA, I thought that I had entered the "swimming pool dark ages" when I saw the plethora of sand filters, and especially, my shock when the largest pool builder here in Arizona was installing Swimquip HRP ( the one with the 32 nuts and bolts), sand filters on new pool installs!!! Great concise, and informative video!!

Simple and clear thanks for making these videos very helpful!

Thank you for specifying that CYA also goes by the name of stabilizer or conditioner. I asked the question on a couple other sites and never got an answer on what it was. My test strip shows stabilizer at the bottom and now I know I need to add this. My next question, I cleaned out the debris, put in algaecide, shocked, and clarified. The water was cloudy but I could almost see the bottom after 4 days. The chlorine was almost non existent so I added. Chlorine levels came up to ideal, but the water turned green. Now what?

Thank you! I am starting working with pools now and I’ve been feeling a little lost when I get to deal with chemicals. You saved my life with these classes. Haha Very good channel

Thank you so much for your content! I know this is old, but I just started in this industry and got thrown into the deep end after 3 days of "training" and this has been so informative! only thing i ask is about having a liquid form of cya. our company has it and i'd like to know the safety precautions around it. I've been using lotions to try and help my hands not dry out and crack and blister, but it only slightly helps.

At the beginning of the season, if CYA is low, I will buy a small bucket of tabs and use those for a few weeks. It will raise the CYA. When it gets close to 50, I switch to liquid chlorine.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, you make this so easy to understand and care for my salt water pool.

Hi Thanks for your video. I have been a pool technician in Arizona for 20 plus years from my personal experience I can say that it is best to start with a CYA level around 50 ppm thats kind like the sweet spot level once you reach the levels of 100ppm or above I would recommend to plan to have the pool drain.if you use stabilize chlorine on regular basis you will have to drain every 2 to 3 years Please do not wait till summer time to have it done

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO! YOU'RE A GREAT TEACHER & EXPLAIN EVERYTHING VERY CLEARLY.

This is very helpful advice to a new pool owner that’s made all the mistakes. Summer is just kicking off here and couldn’t figure out why my chlorine levels were stuck. CYA is the culprit.

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

I moved here to AZ in 2000. I have a 10K gal plaster play pool. The brain trust at Leslie's told me to use ChlorBrite as my shock. My CYA was always high. So for 19 years, I have been using it and have been draining my pool every few years. I went to a different Leslie's and they asked why I was using ChlorBrite? Because you guys have been telling me to. Now, remember, when I take a water sample in to test, they have all my pool info in their database. The guy said that I should be using the Power Powder Plus. I was like, don't you guys know WTH you're doing??? One says this, one says that lol Thanks for your videos, you have really helped me more than those "experts" ever have. Now my CYA is perfect and I don't worry about it anymore.

Another great Video from Pool School. Thank you, Subscribed

Thank you. We’ve been having issues with chlorination being too low. Our stabilizer was well under 30. I’ve been adding 1/2-1 cup at a time to our above ground pool with approximately 8000 gallons. We were at 28 with our last test, so we should be in the proper range now. I’ll have it tested again next week.

Kenny thank you for the video liked and shared.👍👍👍👍

I live in Florida. The sun is eating through the chlorine. I check it in the morning and it has the ideal amount. Once the sun comes down, it's almost non existent. I was told to use a conditioner. But the ONLY pool store near me never gives me good advice. I'm glad I came across this video. Thanks hopefully this will help.

I've learned so much from your videos. Thank you!!

You are seriously the best

Thanks for the video👌

Thank you soooooooo much for this!! My local pool retailer said my CYA was at 130 and they said I should drain the pool and they "could help". You saved me from being fleeced!!

Great vid bro thanks. Explained well sir thanks🤙

Thank you, you're a lifesaver.

Super helpful! Thank you!

Great Video Tutorial! Thank you...

Great video! Very helpful. As a first time home owner it wasn't until recently that I realized it was the 3" chlorine pucks that was raising my CYA. Now I've switched to Liquid chlorine which doesn't effect the CYA at all. Thanks for the tips!

Depends on the brand of tablets. I have noticed that Leslie pool tablets have an extreme amount of CYA in their tables. I was having to empty my pool at the beginning of every season. Never added any stabilizer. Until I changed brands and haven’t had a problem.

Great vid

I need to drain my pool water right now because of high CYA reading. The temperature is in the mid-90s. If I fill in water as soon as I can (after ~4’ below skimmer) will the wall of the pool be damaged by the sun?

Thanks for your help..you make great videos! can you recommend a certain brand or company of CYA that you like to use?

Thank you for the information.

Hi! I really appreciate your intelligent videos on pool maintenance. I was wondering about your thoughts on swimming pool equipment automation? I have had my share of issues with an older Jandy system and now most of what I do is manual control. Anyway, thanks and keep up the great work.

I love your videos , I live in southern California I have a 10,000 gallon pool and spa , my CYA is at 38 the chart says that's good , but would it help to bring it a bit higher ?

Great info thx 👍👍

learned a tons..... pool in Pahrump is tough

Hi Kenny Just found you on utube. Thank you so very much for being so clear on the use of CYA. Can you do a video on how to care for a Pebble Tech finish pool? I just retired and I really cant afford the pool service any longer. I am so worried that i will damage the pool. Would you be willing to advice and give a lesson. please !

I recently bought a house with an in ground ~15,000 pool. My CYA was 169. Research and recommendations said to partially drain and add water to dilute the CYA. It dropped to 105. I’ll retry in a few months.

I have a 800 gallons intex pool. No chemicals in the water yet. How much Cya should I put in water for first time. Thanks

Just set my pool up and the CYA levels are too high! ShouldI just start again? Thank goodness it’s only a little above ground pool.

I have an above ground bestway 15x42 and the pool store told me to mix the cya with pool water and pour it around the edges of the pool…however I keep hearing it can eat the liner of your pool since it isn’t dissolved all of the way.. I hope I didn’t do it wrong I’m new at this and it’s really confusing.

Thanks brother very interesting and informative, dont trust those dipper strips one bit! I use a photo metre and it has way different readings to the strips(not your brand)that i was currently using.

Opens new pool added almost 2 lbs watches video after lol it is a freshly filled pool hope that works out full sun exposure.

It varies slightly but generally CYA should be about 45 to 70. over 75 or 80 and you wind up with abundant Cl2 but it is inhibited from any reaction. I have seen countless green pools with 5 to 15 ppm Cl2 because the cyanuric was too high. Lets say its 90, then you need to drain about a third of your pool to get in to around 60. Long dry spells without rain are the usual causes of high cya levels. This is usually only a problem with freshwater pools and not saltwater. The tablets people us are impregnated with small doses of cya so DO NOT load your chlorinator with tabs, one per week is usually enough. With long dry spells high cya is pretty much inevitable unless you backwash your pool for several minutes each week to introduce fresh water.

Thank you for your videos, so helpful! I live in California and I am new to pool maintenance. Could you please explain if we need both muriatic acid and cyanic acid to maintain the water or only of them.

Hi! My levels are near to high, but not at all toward the last square. It is also almost the end of the season and wondering if it is worth doing a drain/partial drain or should we wait until next season?

Hi, I love all your videos & have subscribed to your chanel. Im having a little issue. I have an inground fibreglass pool that holds 26,000 litres of water. Im getting ready to open the pool for summer. I do use the Aquacheck 7 Silver test strips & I have got all the chemicals to the ok or ideal range except the Cyranic acid. I have put in 1kilo or 2.2 lbs of Cyranic acid in 500gram increments over the last week & I test it everyday & the color does not change it still stays at the lowest square saying low. Can you shed any light on this please?🙏

If you add stabilizer to the skimmer, I read it could take couple days to register on the test strip so checking it again after two hours may not give you correct reading and if you add more it may take it in the high range

I have a question ? My pool is a salt pool, how can I get the alkalinity down? I tried the PH & Alkalinity dose that you recommend and I really did not succeed? May be I did not add enough, muriatic acid ! Thanks for your response and the great information you provide!

Hi great video! Very helpfull! My problem is i keep adding cya and it keeps showing up low! Is there anything i can do? Thank you in advance

Thank you for this information. I just hired (May 2022) a new pool chemical service company and they said my CYA was around 100. They suggested that I drain about half the water and refill. Since I'm in California and there are issues with lack of water I decided not to. I have been doing research and found your video. Also, it is getting hot, and I don't want to drain now since you said the heat could damage my micro pebble tech. Thanks again.

Hi Kenny I live in Arizona and I just drained my pool last year got at CYA of 30. And now my CYA is at 170. Leslie’s told me to drain my pool. I saw some youtube videos about this Bio Active CYA reducer do you think this would help? What are your thoughts on this. Thank you

I was told to stopmusing chlorine tabs in chlorinator cause tabs have chem compounds that hold chlorine product together

I'm wanting my chlorine levels to go down they are high so I'm stopping chlorine and adding no stabilizer at all. Is that okay. Also I'm having a hard time figuring the math for our pool its 1400 gallons a small pool. And its just difficult. I use the clorox 6 in 1. And it tests for hardness, total and free chlorine, stabilizer, alkalinity,and ph.. I will be adding it though when the chlorine drops to where i want it. Also is adding an algaecide needed??? We have the pool covered

I have a question. We have a above ground pool. Our Cyanuric acid level is very high besides the effects on the pool does it cause any issues for the people swimming in the pool? We planned on partially draining the pool. Do you think we should do it now or can we wait till the end of summer

If my CYA levels are perfect, should I switch to liquid chlorine to prevent adding more CYA through the 3” tablets that I typically use?

I need the video on starting up a pool because I need to drain my pool in the Fall. We have well water that has a lot of minerals in it. We are going to get filters to go on the hoses to reduce the TDS next time.

I'm surprised most videos recommend just 'drain' your pool if the Cyanuric Acid is too high. This is very risky for a number of reasons (Vinyl liners can wrinkle, cement cracks, pools float of of the ground, etc). Probably safer to drain about a foot below the skimmer and refill with fresh. May take several cycles, but safer in the end.

Thank you so much! I have been struggling to keep my chlorine levels up. I added a total of 8 lbs of CYA to my 22,000 gallon pool a few days ago by adding it directly into the skimmer little by little and my reading is still low based on the test strips. What should I do? How long should I wait before adding more?

I have a 6-month old pool that has a auto-chloronator where you add 3" tri-chlor tabs. In live in a desert state next to yours and the pool builder said to set it so you go through 2-3 a week. But what about in the 100+ Summers here? I test weekly and I have the big Taylor kit, and have done the test where you keep adding drops until the black dot just vanishes. My CYA is 35-45. Question: Why is it so high already? And, how many tabs should I go through, 2-3 off-season, and 6-9 in-season (your earlier vid said 9 tabs a week in your float dispenser?) The three of us swim daily in our pool. Thanks for helping us!

My cya is high 300ppm I live in Central texas currently temps are ranging 80-90° would it be ok to partially drain the pool to help lower my cya? I'm scared to drain my pool as I've heard of so many horror stories! But the water is 5yrs old. What is you take?

Kenny I am starting in the pool service business soon and studying for my CPO exam here in Florida. Should I take a job with a pool company in the beginning or is it too risky to buy 30 or 40 pools and start like that?

Thanks for clearing this up way to go bud 😄

If your cya is constantly low that means your pool is leaking. The only way to get rid of high cya is to drain. The cya reducer crap doesn't work. Sometimes a partial drain can work to lower cya. Just make sure you drain enough or you're back to square one. Along with testing cya also check water hardness. Usually both will be high. Time to drain. This means the water is old and saturated. The chlorine can't kill effectively. I'm in California. The water is very hard here. " high in calcium"

First time pool owners here. We live in central Michigan, so our pool season is short. Lol. But we filled our above ground Intex pool that is 15feet round about 4 feet deep, with our well water. Our cyanuric acid levels were high before chemicals were even added. So draining our pool won't solve our problem. Any other suggestions?

Will cyanuric acid lose effectiveness over time? Let's say I just stop using tablets once my water hits 50 ppm will those CYA continue to work as a stabilizer indefinitely until I drain my pool?

My CYA is 110 my alkalinity is 24 my phosphates are 700 my free Chlorine is 10 I was told to drain 18 inches of water and refill and retest it’s at the end of our season should I do that before I close the pool or can I wait till next season?

Thanks for the video, I have been using the Mineral Frog for a long time in my 18 ft round pool, approx 8000 gal. I have had to remover the chlorine pod from it due to high chlorine (around 9ppm)Long story short, I haven't used any chlorine in over a week, tested today at 0.38 ppm. CYA was 80 ppm. Was advised to shock it which I just did and not to add any chlorine tabs. I have seen other videos where some use liquid chlorine without CYA. Was also told about draining the pool. I am kinda confused... My pool has always been perfect up til today's test. Any suggestions on the liquid chlorine? Really hoping don't have to drain. Thank you.

So I just filled my pool up and the thing told me to put 8lbs into my skimmer sifting so I am glad I watched this because just drained my diving pool and filled it up and it’s at 5 ppm

are you familiar with zeobrite instead of sand filters? Do they require special care?

I have a 14’ above ground pool and have had it up since Memorial Day. It is only about 3500 gallons. I got a read on my Clorox test strips Saying my stabilizer was high. So I emptied about 1/3 of the pool and got the levels good again, now one week later my stabilizer is showing at 300 again!! I can’t afford to drain and fill my pool every couple Of weeks. Any suggestions? We only have about 6 weeks left of swimming

I just moved into a house with a 10,000 gaI pool and have been getting constant 0 readings on CYA so I chucked a 4 lb bag in. I check it today with some test strips, and it seems to be just between 50 and 100. It’s not quite dark enough for 100 and it’s not quite light enough for 50. Should I leave it alone? Am I good or should I drain it later in the year?

Can I use trichlor tabs to increase my CYA as well as using a “pool r/x”.

Hello Sir- I am hoping you can help me a bit. I have a 15 x 24 oval above ground pool. I usually open it myself and have had no problems for many years. But this year- as usual I had to add a few inches after the winter season. The water looked very nice. BUt my chemicals have never really been great. No one ever complained about the quality of the water- and I mean no one ever. And we have had many parties in the backyard where everyone goes for a dip. But my chemicals are a bit whack- Why you say- for years I have been using GREENOUT- which is a super chlorinator powder that prevents green water and floating Slow tabs(Tri-chlor that stays in the pool all season long. No one ever told me not to do that so I had no idea since the water looked crystal clear etc. But due to that GREENOUT powder and the tablets my CYA went thru the roof and yet my chlorine levels were NOT very high- so how was it working-if that amount of CYA was in the pool- how did the chlorine worK?. I went on a site called TFP- and they recommended I drain the pool- now I live in NY and water is money. So I drained with my submersible pump for about 6 hours and lost only about 12 inches. I was scared to go any further so i stopped and then the next day i refilled it again with a hose that has a filter attached to it. it again took about 6 hours to refill. I have been adding now ONLY LIQUID Chlorine to stop the addition of CYA to my pool. I think i added to much because using NOW the TF100 test kit- my chlorine shows about 13 ppm. My CYA is about 120- last year my CYA was 175. So draining those 12 inches helped a bit. I do NOT want to drain it again. But I need to get the water to where it used to be. This forum told me that the color of the water means nothing and that the chemicals are more important. They still think i should drain the pool- BUT now they say I can DRAIN AND REFILL at the same time -to save time and water- Someone said to put the submersible pump high in the pool where the CYA rests and put the adding of water by the hose at the bottom so that the CYA gets removed first and so on. Is this a good idea? lastly-- my pool for the first time in years has a slight turquoise color(aqua) but it is mainly clear. But i am so used to seeing crystal clear water(bluish hue- not greenish hue) I did a CC test after the chlorine test and it showed NO organic contaminants. My TA with this kit shows 110- which is OK I think. Lastly a friend of mine said to get rid of the greenish hue- I could use a product called METAL-FREE and that would take out any metals that might be skewing the color. OR as I have always done in the PAST- I added a clarifying agent(NOT floc) just a capful to a bucket of water- and that made my water crystal clear. Now my water started this season about 5 days ago- my regular color- IT is ONLY AFTER my 12" draining that the water color changed and has not gone back to the old color since. So my last question is since my pool seems to always have high CYA and all that why couldn't I have just left it that way and keep adding the once weekly GREENOUT product and STOP using that floating tablets. Maybe that would have ben best? Now if I drain again to the middle of the pool(24 inches) since half my pool (2 feet) is underground) so I cannot go past that level for fear of sides of pool caving in-- and then fill kit again- will i be screwing things up again- I am thinking i should have left well enough alone. As I told this site- nothing in life is perfect and there has to be gray areas. But they say they do it their way an if i don't want to follow it then so be it? Any advice. When I get home from work i will send you some pics of my pool from last year- and some from this year . Hope you have some advice for me. Thank you for listening.

Just a curiosity question. If you need to reduce your cya levels could you just do a partial drain and fill? Wouldn't that dilute the level enough to bring it back into the correct range? Again just a question of curiosity.

My CYA is 156. Should I change it now or wait until after the swim season?

Question. I have trouble maintaining the chlorine so I got the water tested in my pool. The CYA was 154 and the pool store recommended draining at least 1/2 the water and refilling. I drained well over 1/2 and had the water retested within a few days. My CYA came back at 158. I keep fighting the light green on the pool walls since my chlorine is so low. I can add a gallon of liquid chlorine but the problem comes right back in a few days. Any suggestions?? Thank you.

When is the end of the pool season in PHX?

I have a pool route.... sometimes its not easy lol

I emptied my pool as the cyanuric acid was off the scale, adding fresh tap water i tested my tap water and its just as high as the water i emptied, as my tap water is my only water source how can i reduce the cyanuric acid.

On adding CYA to a skimmer basket, what if you have an above ground pool and the pump has to be off so water does not spray everywhere, do you put the CYA in the hose that leads to the skimmer? We have an INTEX 32' x 16' x 52" above ground pool.

Thanks for awesome video,, was wondering if this is a fresh startup and I used tap water, I didn't know any better and I put 2 shock bags and chlorine tablets in a float. I tested and I'm very high chlorine, high on free chlorine, very low pH, low alkalinity, low stabilizer,, and I don't know until I go home and read the test strip if stabilizer is cyanuric, oh yeah hardness is low. Would you still go that slow. I'm also thinking of putting cyanuric in last so it won't keep chlorine high when I'm trying to lower that. I'm sorry for all the questions but I'm new. Thanks for everything.

I’ve always kept my cya low. I shock my pool 1x/week and it stays crystal clear. I also empty the basket and scoop leaves 1x/day. I feel like the shock works better and clears the pool faster with little cya?

On the bag it says to run the pump for 48 hours after adding Cyanuric Acid. What do you recommend? I love your videos. They are so informative. Thank you!

Hi, I appreciate your videos! I just drained 90% of my pool and poured in fresh water. Took a sample of my new water to the pool store. My CYA is at 18. They say to add all this Conditioner to my pool. Im afraid to because Conditioner will drive up my CYA. At 18 CYA should i keep it safe and leave it alone

have a vid on harness? this desert water is really hard....

So my pool is at 130 and I am getting algae if i don't keep loading up the chlorine. Thoughts?

Does my new hot tub need cya 30-50 also?

Thanks for the video, what is the best way to lower CYA levels? Mine is super high, I'm thinking about getting rid of the floating stabilized tablets and using liquid chlorine for now, until I figure out a way to lower CYA without draining the pool.

my chlorine read low What do i put in. i’m new but willing to learn

I worry about draining my inground pool because I've heard horror stories about pools lifting out of the ground. We have a large pond at the bottom of our garden and I'm concerned about water actually under the pool. Also from what I've been reading CYA can take days to dissolve not hours.

Hi, I added chlorine to my pool last night but when doing the chlorine test, it gives a zero reading. Could it be because I haven't used any stabiliser?

When you tested that pool and the CYA was 300, why was that pool not green. My CYA is 300, high chlorine and green water. How is the chlorine working in that pool?

When's the best time/season to drain the pool for having high CYA

I used a test strip to check my cynauric acid and the color on the test strip didn’t match any color on the test strip????

Say something about this reading please 🙏🏼 I have a above the ground Pool for only 1 month now, I’m new with this and I’m getting a little frustrating.

I just converted my spa to a salt water system. I noticed the cya is almost none but chlorine levels are fine. Do I need to add cya to salt water system? Mahalo Nui for your help.

Why am I being told to add CYA because my chlorine is too high? Thank you

Hi Kenny, my pool guy is saying a should replace my Tandy filter and says a much better filter is out and he says $1800. Mine still works but it's over 15 years old. Do you recommend replacing it? That's a lot if money for me know. It includes everything, filter and labor. Thank you for your advice

We drained our pool this year as we hadnt had it open in maybe 4 yrs. Now we are having a heck of a time relearning. Every night we had chlorine and by noon the next day it shows none in it. Ive even added 6 gallon atnight and it show none. I bought stabilizer to add im hoping that helps. We add algacide but after a bad rain its green. I just saw a video where you said its a waste of money. I believe it. I just bought phosphate free. It says to run it thru the skimmer on circulate , one cap per 8,000 gallon. I believe ou r pool is 20,000. So id add 2 1/2 caps a week. BUT what about now to get rid of my green pool? I added 4 caps. I hope that does it. Every day we can add the chlorine shock, and ph down, and the next day it will say ph is as high as can be, no chlorine and everything else is not where it should be. Everything too high that shouldn't be or none. Im hoping the phosphate free removes the algae and keeps it gone and the stabilizer helps chlorine stay. The water evaporates a couple inches a day also. A neighbor 2 houses over said hers evaporates bad this year also but she doesn't have a algae problem.