By Aiden ArmstrongAlmost every pool owner who has bought Pool Cleaning Chemicals has bought Swimming Pool Chlorine Tablets. Commercial pools use chlorine tablets, too. The main ingredient in these tablets, besides chlorine, is cyanuric acid (CYA). Chlorine gets used up fairly quickly, especially in the presence of outdoor sunlight. Thus, chlorine tablets with CYA are desirable for outdoor pools. Without CYA, you would have to add so much chlorine to an outdoor pool that no one would want to swim in it.
Your Pool Water My Contain More CYA Than You Realize
Pulsar® provides Swimming Pool Supplies for commercial pools. Pulsar® has all the main supplies Commercial Pool Cleaners need. The treatment of most commercial pools includes chlorine, muriatic acid, dichlor, trichlor, and CYA. Of course, dichlor and trichlor are about 50% CYA by volume. Combination products also often contain CYA, so your pool may have much more CYA than you think. Unlike chlorine, CYA in pool water does not break down. Instead, it just builds up.
When you test the Pool Cleaning Chemicals in your commercial pool, you are testing the chlorine and muriatic acid. Although many pool chemicals are technically acids, it is the muriatic acid that lowers the pH of the pool water, preventing algae growth. Therefore, testing the pH of the pool water will not tell you how much CYA is there.
How to Reduce the CYA in Your Pool When There Is Too Much
Unfortunately, there are no other chemicals you can add to pool water to neutralize the CYA. The only way to get rid of rid is to drain out some of the water from the pool. This can present an inconvenience for commercial pool owners since it can mean temporarily closing the pool.
The best defense against excessive CYA buildup is to be aware of how much CYA you are adding to the pool in the first place.
