We also found that cyanuric acid is denser than water so it sinks to the bottom of a body of water.
The Leslie's guy told me that CYA tends to float in the water, so it's best to drain off the top. I have a portable sump pump and have been setting it on my stairs, starting at the top, to maximize my removal.
When water evaporates, CYA stays behind and stays in the water for a long, long time. This can be considered a benefit for some…but it can also be a problem down the road, because the CYA will accumulate. For the most part, CYA levels can remain very stable if you're not adding more of it to the water.
As for the "heavier than water" matter, chemgeek, cyanuric acid is heavier than water.
Saltwater pool manufacturers recommend maintaining cyanuric acid levels around 60-80 ppm. This is a bit higher than the 30-50 ppm range recommended for non-saltwater pools. And if you live in an area where your pool gets a lot of direct sunlight, you may even consider bumping your cyanuric acid up to 80-100 ppm.
For diluting, you don't have to use an exact science, but basically, if your cyanuric acid level is 5% too high, then you need to remove about 5% of the pool water.
Degradation also proceeds in 3.5% sodium chloride solution. Consequently, there are degradation pathways widely available for breaking down cyanuric acid discharged in domestic effluents. The overall degradation reaction is merely a hydrolysis; CO2 and ammonia are the initial hydrolytic breakdown products.
CYA is added to Chlorine to stabilize it and keep it from dissipating into gas within a matter of hours in the sun. Unfortunately, Chlorine does eventually evaporate or is used up in sanitizing your pool, leaving accumulating CYA in your pool as you replace the chlorine.
Cyanuric acid does not evaporate from a pool, and the only way to greatly lower a pool's concentration of CYA is to partly drain the pool and refill it with fresh water.
We also found that cyanuric acid is denser than water so it sinks to the bottom of a body of water.
When bacteria get going consuming CYA, it tends to happen fairly quickly. In addition to water dilution, CYA can also drop by being slowly oxidized by chlorine, but that usually takes months to notice. It's possible that some chemicals in the water may make that reaction more rapid, but we don't know for sure.
No, cyanuric acid and baking soda work in very different ways in your pool. Baking soda raises the total alkalinity in your pool. But baking soda does not protect or stabilize your chlorine, like CYA.
Yes both cyanuric acid and muriatic acid are both acids but they serve different purposes for the pool owner. Cyanuric acid has the chemical formula CNOH, whereas muriatic acid is a diluted form of hydrochloric acid, HCI.
The time it takes for cyanuric acid to dissolve is 2 to 5 days. What is this? It's important to be patient during this time and wait for it to fully dissolve before adding more cyanuric acid to the water. Cyanuric acid levels will continue to increase until all of the chlorine stabilizer has completely dissolved.
The problem is that cyanuric acid does not dissipate or evaporate but instead lingers and gathers in the pool water. Over time, the pool technician would be required to constantly re-apply Tri-Chlor or Di-Chlor products to re-sanitize the pool.
Yes, entirely possible. As you point out, there is a testing variance to consider and CYA will naturally degrade a few ppm per month, maybe a little more.
The main reason for high CYA levels in your pool is from using too much stabilized chlorine. When the pool water evaporates, CYA remains in the water, much like other chemicals such as salt and calcium. As an example, 1 lb. of trichlor in a 10,000 gallon pool will raise the CYA level by 6 ppm.
All alkaline materials are buffers. Cyanuric acid happens to be the most common buffer found in pool water. In effect, cyanuric acid helps stabilize both chlorine and pH. It binds with chlorine to prevent photolysis and it keeps pH elevated.
The stabilizer in the Chlorine is the Cyanuric Acid. Each time you add chlorine to your spa, you are also adding CYA to it as well. After so much is added it just builds up more and more, and that is why it is reading high on your strips. There is nothing you can add to lower it, other than fresh water.
Answer: Cyanuric acid shouldn't be at Zero for an outdoor swimming pool because chlorine will deplete faster in hot and humid weather, leading to cloudy water. If your FC is at normal level of 3ppm, raise Cyanuric acid level to 40 ppm and you will reduce chloramine levels that make your water appear cloudy.
You should keep your outdoor pool or spa's Cyanuric Acid level at 0-30 parts per million (PPM).
The CDC's Regulation on Cyanuric Acid: 15 ppm.