Sometimes even the best maintained pools are accidentally dosed too high with cyanuric acid (CYA). It can happen to just about anyone. And then the problems start. Once you’ve tested your pool and realized you’re too high it can seem like a trap. How do you get out of this situation? There’s no clear way in most pool operation manuals for how to lower cyanuric acid in pool. However, there are a couple of different ways to lower CYA. In this article, we’ll go over the methods and which ones we prefer.
How To Lower Cyanuric Acid In Pool
While there are many ways how to lower cyanuric acid in pool settings, we prefer our first way. This includes draining your pool and adjusting the amount of CYA in your pool. Later on we’ll explain a chemistry solution that you can also use. Both of these may work and ultimately it’s your choice. We hope you find this guide helpful and feel free to contact us should you have questions.
First Method: Draining Your Pool
First, the tried and true way of how to lower cyanuric acid in pool is to drain the pool down part way. This may sound like a waste of water, and it is, but it’s the best and only way that’s guaranteed. We’d never recommend draining more than 2’ of the water depth at a time. You don’t want to risk popping your pool out of the ground if you have a high water table, so draining 2’ at a time should do it. Drain out two feet, fill it back up and test the water.
If you still have a high CYA measurement, it’s a good idea to drain another two feet out of the pool and refill. This can get expensive, but it’s a necessary evil. If you have a high total dissolved solids (TDS) measurement, you can hit two birds with one stone by draining the pool down to get rid of the CYA. By draining down the pool you will also reduce TDS significantly, assuming your refill water is high quality.
Speaking of which, you may want to hire a pool water delivery service depending on your water situation at your home. If you are on a well, we always recommend hiring a water delivery service to top off the pool. It’s just not worth ruining your well to refill the pool. If you can’t find a pool water delivery service in your area, try calling well drilling companies as they often provide this service also.
If you are on municipal water, you should notify the water company that you’re refilling your pool, and they will likely reduce your water bill. This is because they usually charge for water and sewer based on your water meter. When refilling the pool, there’s no sewer use implied.
Second Method: Adding A Chemistry Solution
Perhaps you don’t want to drain your pool. After all, it can be cost prohibitive. Luckily, much like lowering your pool’s pH, there is a chemistry solution available. It’s relatively new, and has mixed results, but it’s worth a try if you cannot use the drain and refill method. The Natural Chemistry CYA Removal Kit is a two part system with specific parameters.
- Reduces high levels of cyanuric acid
- Two-part system works without the need to drain or dilute water
For starters, you must maintain chlorine of a minimum of 1ppm to 3ppm maximum during the 7-10 day process. The water must be a certain temperature, the chemicals need to be premixed and sit for specific length of time, and so on. It’s a very precise recipe, and most likely those who have failed to find this successful didn’t follow the instructions perfectly.
How To Lower Cyanuric Acid In Pool Summary
In our opinion, when choosing how to lower cyanuric acid in pool, the drain and refill method is best. There’s no mystery chemicals being introduced into your pool system, and we know for sure it’ll work. However, if you have the desire to avoid wasting water or your region makes it very hard to drain down a pool and refill, give the CYA removal kit a try and let us know how it goes.