Pool has too much stabilizer

[KDA]

We moved into our home in August so we did not do much to the pool through the winter. Now we are trying to get it ready for the summer and I'm learning how little I know about pools. Had one as a kid in the 70's and remember many hours of skimming, vacuuming, adding HTH clorine, etc. Much has changed with the pool sweeps and controls.

Back to the problem. We added some shock and brushed the surfaces to fight some algae that was appearing. We took in a sample of pool water to a local pool supply store a couple of times. They tested the water. It came up with a stabilizer level of 130 ppm the first time and 110 ppm the second. Their advice, drain down some of the pool water and refill. I did some reading on the internet (some on this forum) and found that to be the universal answer. So we will probably drain the pool somewhat this coming weekend.

I do have a question about draining. I read in some places that the stabizer has a high specific gravity and collects near the bottom of the pool. Many say this is a myth. A pool service owner told me that the opposite is true, that the stabilizer collects near the top of the pool and therefore the pool should be drained using a pump that collects water from near the top. He showed me the trash pump he uses. If he is right, I would need to rent a pump to get the best result by draining the water from near the top. If not, I can use the pool pump to drain the water directly from the bottom. The answer that makes the most sense to me is that the water is a homogeneous mixture but as I've said already, I know very little about this. So, should we drain the pool and refill? If so, should we drain using the pool equipment (from the bottom) or via an external pump that can drain fromt the top?

[chem geek]

The CYA is likely to be well mixed. Once it is dissolved, it's just like salt or other dissolved substances that tend to stay will mixed, especially when the pump is circulating the water. Drain from anywhere you like. Just note the following chemical facts that are independent of concentration of product or of pool size:

For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Dichlor, it also increases CYA by 9 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Cal-Hypo, it also increases Calcium Hardness (CH) by at least 7 ppm.

[KDA]

Thanks for the answer and the information. Looks like I have some reading to do to try to understand the chem balance desired and how to achieve it. Thanks again.

[Denniswiseman]

When you get your stabiliser level correct use sodium hypochlorite (bleach) for chlorine
This will not build up your stabiliser level and save on partial draindowns