Cyanuric Acid - What You Need To Know

In this video I'll tell you what you need to know about Cyanuric Acid
What names it goes by - What it does for your pool water - How to test the level of it in your pool and How to adjust the level of Cyanuric Acid (CYA) in your pool water.

As I said in this video here's are links to:

Thanks for watching

DIY Pool Care

[lindarobb]

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!

[garyblizzard]

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.

[penguinbriar]

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.

[alfredtoyo]

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.

[johnvrabec]

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.

[carloscarpinteyro]

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!!

[lila.I.S]

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.

[carlosabreu]

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

[mariannemisiak]

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

[carolbrault]

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?

[tinal]

Thank you 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!!

[oldtimesjoy]

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

[Usernameprincess]

Simple and clear thanks for making these videos very helpful!

[brendenbrandi]

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!

[kellycote]

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

[allies.]

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

[aulranchquilts]

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.

[popeye]

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.

[maelynbees]

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.

[daefash]

Another great Video from Pool School. Thank you, Subscribed