04/28/2026
Let's talk about chlorine tabs. 💊
If you're using 3-inch trichlor tabs as your only source of chlorine — you're not alone. Like, 90% of pool owners do this. They're convenient, they dissolve slowly, they smell like a pool is supposed to smell.
Here's the problem nobody tells you about: every single tab you drop in your floater is also loading your water with cyanuric acid (CYA). A little CYA is actually good — it protects your chlorine from burning off in the sun. But when CYA builds up too high, your chlorine stops working properly. Like, at all.
The industry calls it "chlorine lock." Your test strip says you have chlorine. Your pool doesn't care — it's still growing algae anyway.
And here's the fun part 🙃 — there's no chemical fix for high CYA. The only cure is draining a significant portion of your pool and refilling it with fresh water. In Texas. In the summer.
The fix? You need more than just tabs. Liquid chlorine, cal-hypo shock, salt systems — there are options that sanitize without stacking CYA every single time.
This is literally one of the first things we look at when we test a pool. High CYA is one of the most common — and most preventable — problems we see.
💧 HydroLogix 365 manages your full chemical program so your water stays balanced all season long — without the surprise drain job. Reach out if you want to know where your CYA actually stands.
Just text us at 877-335-6449 with any questions you have or to schedule a professional water test.
Our tests include chlorine, pH, alkalinity, CYA, calcium harness, phosphates, salt (if you have a salt system), and total dissolved solids. Nobody else tests all of these things in their standard water test.
