Hello all, I have been taking care of my pool for about 2 years now and for the most part its been fine. I deal with some scaling and algae blooms here and there but nothing has gotten out of hand. This year the blooms were starting out pesky so I took some water in to test at Leslie's. My CYA level was 140 and last year it was 100. I made the mistake of continuing to use trichlor tabs in my in-line chlorinator. I have since learned I can simply stop using that method and just use liquid chlorine or cal hypo until my CYA levels come down. I know dilution is the best solution for this issue but I would have to drain half of my pool so wanted another option. I first used yellow treat in July of 2021. I bought a single 2lb container and used around 2/3 of it a on a couple treatments probably within that year. All of 2022 I do not believe I used any. This week I used the rest which was around 10oz or so which was the rest of it. I then decided to implement the No Mor Problems into the mix of which I did a total of 17oz after the initial treatment and then a single maintenance dose. All of that being said, I have read a lot in the forums about the sodium bromide issue turning into bromine. My first question is based on how much I just added, what would my current PPM be for bromide/bromine in the pool (17,300 gallons)? Also, although sodium bromide is not recommended, I have a big CYA problem and my FC demand is pretty high. At this point is it either dumping tons of chlorine in my pool or risk building a bromine load that will never dissipate aside from a total drain? The blooms are gone for the moment and im sure the sodium bromide did the job. However, I don't want to cause more problems. It seems clear to me that the initial reason for my algae blooms not going away was my CYA level was so high that my normal amount of cal hypo I was using was not getting me to super chlorination. Anyways, I am looking for some good alpha on if my pool water is toast or if I can simply wait it out for the CYA levels to drop and the bromine to dissipate. Thank you!
Yellow Treat / No Mor Problems: The Bromine Dilemma
- Thread starter misterlunski
- Start date
By the way, you don’t need to manage phosphate levels, so that is one less reason to hit the pool store for testing.
I find it hard to believe my CYA just happened to have a clear trajectory downwards of the tests are faulty. It's not hard to deduce that it would continue to drop when I switch to liquid chlorine with backwashing and rain. I live in Texas and the heat evaporates pool water faster than most places.The Leslie’s test is just as subjective.
I’m just referencing countless reports of how bad they are at testing. It’s certainly logical for the CYA to go down over time with lots of backwashing and extended heat but trends are not the same as accuracy. Trends will be the same for 200-150 and a 100-50 but there’s different actions needed for those two scenarios.
It’s totally cool if you like the pool store and it doesn’t bother anyone if that’s the case. It’s just that so many people have been burned that we’re trying to help you avoid the future pain/$$$ of the most likely outcome of that decision.
It’s also possible that you’ve found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow so to speak. If so, the place should be branching out in franchises cause they’ll be rich.
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You do understand that evaporation removes pure water and leaves things like CYA, salt, and calcium behind, yes?
I have never purchased any chemicals from the pool store and take care of my water on my own. I am not sure why this keeps being implied that I depend on the pool store to tell me how to treat my water. Bottom line is I was told my water was toast and it wasn't.
Because you put sodium bromide in your water. And your poor understanding of water chemistry sounds very much like what one would learn from the pool store. And you promote pool store testing as valid.
I'm not sure what you're trying to say. Doesn't matter if you got sodium bromide from Amazon or Leslie's, adding it to water was based on a poor understanding of water chemistry pushed by pool stores. You believe that bromide "gasses off" despite being a salt. You seem to believe that various other chemicals "evaporate" from water as well. And you are pushing these methods and incorrect beliefs as sound and factual. Doesn't really matter whether you learned these things from a pool store employee or are self-taught, you are promoting bad water management and we are going to correct that for the benefit of others. You could benefit from it too, if you'd care to listen.
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I was referring to the test results you said came from the pool store. Doesn’t matter where you buy chemicals, it’s the test equipment that matters.
Here’s the statement that I got that impression from. Sounds like there’s just a misunderstanding. No offense intended.
Ok- but I said “one less reason to have to go there for testing.”
I was actually told about the algaecide with bromide in it from someone who used to take care of my pool before I took it over myself. My CYA levels have dropped without having to drain half of my pool so clearly I'm doing something right. Pretty amazing how many members of this site get off on talking condescending to new members.
I'd challenge you to take three samples to 3 other pool stores (pref not Leslie's so they don't just look you up in the 'puter) and you'll almost always come away with 3 different results.
-did they forget to calibrate the machine?
-did they rinse everything properly between customers?
-do they need to make a sale to meet budget??
The thing is, you are hearing advice from a couple of real chemists. They do understand this stuff real well.
Please understand that sometimes information does sound clipped and not sugar coated. I'm sorry to be guilty of that myself.
-did they forget to calibrate the machine?
-did they rinse everything properly between customers?
-do they need to make a sale to meet budget??
The thing is, you are hearing advice from a couple of real chemists. They do understand this stuff real well.
Please understand that sometimes information does sound clipped and not sugar coated. I'm sorry to be guilty of that myself.
I understand there is a lot of great advice here but at the same time assuming that all pool stores have faulty testing is not substantiated either. The CYA test from the Taylor test kits can be very subjective itself to anyone's naked eye. I don't mind relying on the same machine to test my CYA at a pool store. It's the only reason I visit the store and my chlorine effectiveness has been improving over the past several months so it makes sense that CYA levels are dropping like the tests are showing.
I am moving this thread to agree to disagree. TFP has science backed methods that work. We teach pool care using the methods that have worked in thousands of pools.
That's their worst test, proven time and time and time and time again. It tells you nothing and only makes you doubt yourself.
Don't take my word for it. Read. Read and read and read. There are literally *thousands* of threads here about pool stores botching the CYA test, of the nearly 2.5 million posts here. And also of them botching everything else too. If you read enough posts by honest to goodness real world members, you'll start to notice a pattern.
Its up to you if you recognize that collective wisdom, or chose to ignore it.
The sitch’ is pretty simple from where I sit. Your CYA dropped due to water exchange from the backwashing, etc. over a relatively long period of time. You didn’t get a green swamp while it was sky high as a matter of luck. Relying on luck is often a bad strategy. The advice you were given to exchange the water was good advise. You rolled the dice and won this time. I haven’t followed all the details but my sense is you still have a bromine pool. You may still roll snake eyes sooner or later and it would seem that you are having to use more chlorine than you’d otherwise need to due to the way a bromine pool works. The folks that have given you advice are both highly knowledgable and are genuinely trying to help you. You don’t have to accept the advice, of course, but appreciate it as you would anything else freely and generously given.
I agree that the CYA test can be very subjective, at least more at first, but the way to get good at it is to do it and develop confidence in your results. Even if your subjectivity level is off by 10 or 20 ppm, you’re still in a reasonable ballpark. If you’re more comfortable letting the pool store corroborate your testing, more power to you. But if the results vary by a lot, trust your own testing, or if you just can’t, bring your reagents to the pool store and test side by side and let them explain why the difference. Maybe they’re good at it and can help you get better at your own testing; maybe they suck at it and are pointing you in a wrong direction — toss up on that lol.