new to a pool

[germ]

I just closed out on a house that has a in-ground pool and my father-in-law sent me the TF-100 kit as a welcome home gift.
and i just tested my pool for the 1st time:

FC: 4
CC: 0
TC: 4
PH: 7.2
TA: 100
CH: 500
CYA: 20

that is what i got ( if i did the testing right, followed the direction that came with the kit) i put the info in the poolmath section but it gave me a headache ( felt like i was doing drug cal. in school again for the first time )
but if i read it right i just need to add about a gallon of bleach and about 6 lbs of borax.. and the pump thing, i'm lost.

p.s. im a pool virgin, so go slow





..

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! I'm not sure why you want to add the borax. If your CH is correct then you have an increased risk for calcium scale. You can avoid calcium scale by either draining and refilling with lower calcium water, or by keeping the pH around 7.0-7.2 and the TA around 70ppm. Before you do anything test the CH in the pool again. Sometimes you need to wipe the tip of the bottle between drops to insure the drops are a uniform size, and you need to swirl it well between drops. If the CH is still high (over 350) after the second test pull a sample of your tap water (or well water if that is what fills the pool) and test the CH level. That will tell you if a series of drain and refill cycles are an option to drop the CH level in the pool.

The water looks a bit cloudy. Once you make a decision about the CH we can talk about slamming the pool to clear the water.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Yay Dad for being so thoughtful and generous!

How are you chlorinating now? Pucks? Powder? Liquid chlorine?? I don't see a salt water generator....?

I agree with Zea that the pool looks slightly cloudy, but your numbers are passable (even with high calcium you can learn to manage it if you don't want to replace water). Don't add anything to the pool without checking in here first.....we'll help you get it sparkling clear.

Welcome to the TroubleFreePoolCare way!

 

[germ]

thanks for all the help now and in the future,

zea3 - i meant to say stabilizer not borax, sorry look at the wrong line was trying to do this all at work and on lunch break..

yippee- they left a boat load of pucks 3in style for chlorinating, but i'm going to put them to the side for now because ACE Hardware had bleach on sale for a buck fifty and i bought 2 cases of it.
and yes i'm trying to not replace much of the water because we still have two mortgage payments at the moment.

and when it come to testing do i do it at the same time or does it mater..

 

[YippeeSkippy]

As a new pool owner learning the ropes, I would suggest doing daily testing as well as follow up testing any time you add any significant chemicals so you can monitor the response and see the change. As you learn your pool's personality, you'll be able to back off the testing, perhaps every other day for example. You'll get to where you just *look* at your pool and can tell what it needs or doesn't need.

Unless....

You're performing a SLAM Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain procedure because you'll test much more frequently then.