Cyanuric Acid

When chlorine is used to sanitize your pool, that chlorine must be protected from the sun. The ultraviolet rays from the sun will destroy any chlorine if it is not protected from these ultraviolet rays.

The chemical cyanuric acid, which is typically packaged and sold as Stabilizer (or Conditioner), is the chemical that protects chlorine from the sun. The only way to stabilize (or condition) the pool water to protect chlorine from being destroyed by the sun is by having the required amount of cyanuric acid in the pool water.

The addition of cyanuric acid, when needed, is inexpensive. Chlorine - whether it is from traditional chlorine or the chlorine that is manufactured in a saltwater pool - is expensive. You will definitely want to make sure your pool water has the proper cyanuric acid level so that you're not wasting your chlorine (as well as the money you spent for that chlorine).

When you use one of the following options to sanitize your pool water, you must maintain an ideal cyanuric acid level:

• chlorine tablets (either 1" tablets or 3" tablets).
• granular chlorine.
• salt; the salt is converted into chlorine...a saltwater pool is a chlorinated pool.
• mineral-chlorination (since trace amount of chlorine are paired with the minerals).
• uv-chlorination (since trace amount of chlorine are paired with the uv light).
• ozone-chlorination (since trace amount of chlorine are paired with the ozone).
• ion-chlorination (since trace amount of chlorine are paired with the ions).

You will not use cyanuric acid with bromine.

You cannot use cyanuric acid with biguanides.

But for any sanitizer option that uses any amount of chlorine - as listed above - you must use cyanuric acid.

And the required level is crucial. Too little will not protect the chlorine from being destroyed by the sun. Too much will prevent the chlorine from doing its job of sanitizing the pool water.

Information about cyanuric acid, primarily its ideal level in the pool, has been debated often recently.

Within this pool manual, the following information is available about cyanuric acid: