Cyanuric Acid (CYA), known as a pool conditioner, can stabilize the chlorine in your pool and protect it from the sun's UV rays, ensuring that the chlorine works effectively for a long time. If your pool does not have enough chlorine stabilizer, 90% of the chlorine in the pool will be lost within 2 hours when exposed to UV rays. It is therefore important to maintain the right level of CYA to help the chlorine kill bacteria, algae and contaminants.
What causes low CYA levels?
If you are not using stabilized chlorine, the CYA level in your pool may be too low. Generally, you can use SDIC or TCCA, which can hydrolyze to produce CYA. This can help prevent the chlorine in the pool from being destroyed by UV rays. However, calcium hypochlorite and liquid chlorine are non-stabilized chlorine without cyanuric acid and do not contain CYA. In addition, excessive splash-out or water leakage in the pool can also lead to lower CYA levels.
What happens when CYA levels are too low?
- Increasing chlorine consumption
If the CYA level is too low, the chlorine in the pool will quickly break down and you need to add more chlorine to keep the pool clean.
- Causing water problems
Lower CYA levels result in the loss of chlorine. Because the chlorine will quickly break down under the sunlight, even manual chlorination usually does not always keep the chlorine concentration at the lowest level. So it can create more bacteria, viruses and contaminants in the water. Unclean pool water can also cause algae growth.
- Chloramine accumulation
Lower CYA levels can result in insufficient free chlorine, then organic pollutants will accumulate, including swimmers' sweat, urine, and feces. When you add chlorine next time, it will create chloramines. Chloramines are not easily broken down by UV rays, and can then produce an unpleasant smell that irritates the respiratory tract, if severe, can trigger asthma.
How to raise your CYA levels?
If there is too little CYA, you can add an appropriate amount of Cyanuric Acid Powder, granules or tablets, which will slowly dissolve in the pool water; or CYA can be dissolved in NaOH solution and then added in the water. After that, you need to retest the pH level. If it is higher than 7.8, it needs to be adjusted with acid. It is important to note that NaOH is corrosive, and you must wear a mask, safety goggles and chemical-resistant gloves when handling it.