Our pool was installed yesterday and it has just finished filling up (city water). The electrician will be out early next week to run the power to the pump. I would run an extension cord, but it has that twist lock plug. Then the town has to inspect the trench for the permit. So, I'm looking at my pool with no circulation for about a week. What do I do? Do I pour some bleach in it daily, cover it with the solar cover and hope for the best? Do I go out there with the skimmer and mix it up like an old witch at the cauldron? I did test my water before the tons of pollen and leaves that have been blowing around settled in it.

FC = 1
pH = 6.8
TA = 40
CYA = 0

Any suggestions? I just don't want to have a green soupy mess await me next week...Thanks!

The pool will get algae if you go a week without chlorine.

You can add chemicals if you don't mind getting a little exercise. You will need to brush the pool throughly, or really get the water going with something like a canoe paddle, right after you add any chlorine to get it to mix in throughly.

I suggest raising PH to at least 7.2 and TA to at least 60. The best way to do that is with soda ash/washing soda/PH Up. Then add 2 ppm of chlorine each evening until you get the pump running. The soda ash/washing soda/PH Up can be added by spreading it across the surface of the pool and the chlorine can be added with bleach by pouring slowly all the way around the edge of the pool. After adding chemicals mix the water up throughly.

Whew! I knew someone had the answer out there! Yes, I will head over to WalMart for a canoe paddle in the morning and also some washing soda. I already have bleach.

Using my numbers in the Pool Calculator, do I need to add the baking soda too with the washing soda to get the TA number up? Is 2ppm chlorine a specific amount, like a cup? Sorry, I'm still a noob at this.

Thanks so much for your help. I'm leaving soon to pick up my daughter and all her stuff from college tonight, otherwise I would get what I need now. (maybe I can have her stir the pool pot!!)

Or if you happen to have a submersible pump, you could toss that in to circulate.

How much bleach you need to add depends on the size of your pool. You said it was 18' around, but you didn't give a depth. Measure the depth of the water (not the height of the wall) and plug that into the pool size calculation near the bottom of the Pool Calculator page and it will give you the volume of the pool. Then you can enter that at the top of the page as the size of the pool and then use the yellow FC section to calculate how much bleach is required to raise the FC level from 0 to 2.

Washing soda will raise both the PH and the TA. Calculate the amount to use based on the PH change you want, and then after it has mixed in, measure the TA again to see where you ended up and find out if you need to use some baking soda in addition.

Ah, I get it now!! Thanks for explaining that to me.