Pre-Opening tests

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S

savdoc2

0
Jun 1, 2008
185
NW MO
We are in the process of opening our pool, but because of a lost screw we can't get everything hooked up and running quite yet. The water level is still below the skimmer and we won't be able to start filling until everything is hooked up. Hopefully this will be done today, but....it could be a few days before it is ready.

We didn't close properly last year, so I have a raging green algae swamp with leaves. I am working to remove as many leaves as the rake will catch. This will take some time too. Here are my preliminary numbers from my test kit that was kept in my basement (stays about 60 degrees down there year around) that I purchased 2 years ago. I have new reagents in the mail.

FC - 0
CC - 0
TC - 0
TA - 110
CH - I don't regularly test this since it is a vinyl pool
pH - 8.2+ it was a very bright pink (usually I have low pH so this is new to me)
CYA - 0
Not sure on water temp - I think I need a new thermometer.

Did I miss anything?

So, onto my questions.

1) Should I add acid to the water even though my pump is not running to bring down pH?

2) Should I add the CYA to get a head start on it since I will need CYA to help me battle the algae bloom? Again, pump is not running so not sure if I should wait to start dissolving the CYA?

Thanks
 
I would wait to add any acid, muriatic or cyanuric, until the pool is up and running for at least 1 hour. Acid is VERY bad for liners. :evil: High pH isn't hurting the liner and it can wait to come down until you can get everything up and running :)
 
If your pool is raging green I would add some bleach. Since you don't have a CYA reading you can assume it is 0. Since you don't have your pump running yet you should try to get some circular motion in the water by stirring your pool with a leaf net or something and add your bleach. Since you will be shocking your pool we can worry about your PH level later because the high chlorine level will give false readings. Your TA is also on the high end of the scale. Its recommended by the experts here that you keep your CH at a min of 50 for a vinyl pool.

You can go here to Pool Calculator to figure out how much bleach you need to add according to the size of your pool. Also reading in our Pool School section of the forum will give you alot of information on how to get rid of your green water.

Try to get out as much debris and stuff as you can until you get your pump running with your leaf net.
When you get your pump running you will need to run it 24/7 until your water clears up.

If your able to post pics ..... we love pics !
 
It is much easier to wait till the pump is running before adding any chemicals. When you are fighting algae, little bits of bleach here and there are totally wasted. You need to really go after it all at once. That is extremely difficult to do without the pump running.
 
Thanks again. I have fought algae before and knew I needed to wait to add bleach until everything is running. I have bleach waiting to be added, but I don't want to waste it. I have brought my TA down in the past as well, and plan to do it again this year. I just want to tackle 1 thing at a time.

I just didn't know for sure if I should start adding the acid's now or wait until everything is running. Thanks for letting me know it is OK to wait!
 
If your water wasn't circulating prior to testing, those numbers may not even be accurate.

Also, I think your TA of 110 is not necessarily high, it may not even be an issue at all... if you normally don't have high PH drift problems, where you find you have to add acid frequently, then you can leave the TA where it is. If you see your PH constantly drifting up above 7.8 and having to add acid every day or so, then yes, lower the TA. My TA has been 100-120 for the last 4 years, it's been a non-issue in my vinyl pool.

When you closed/winterized, did your pool have a CYA reading?
 
I last tested CYA in August last year and it was 40. I did not test it at close. I also didn't let the water warm up any before testing it, so the ) may not be accurate. I will test again once we have filled and have circulation. Also, my numbers might not be accurate as I really didn't want to stick my arm down into the cold, green water so I tested with surface water. Now that I think about it, they are probably not even close to accurate.

I lowered my TA 2 summers ago to 80 when TA was over 200. I believe my fill water is high TA and that makes it rise. We are on a well so we haul in water to not use the well water which is very high in minerals. We are adding a SWG and planning to add borates once I get everything clear, so I think having a lower TA will help with pH drift at that time.
 

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Thanks!!

I have been doing BBB for several years now. Joined the Pool Forum in 2005, (I believe) and have followed all the expert advice I have received there and here ever since. I consider myself far from an expert and keep reading to learn more.

Like so many others we got bad advice from the pool store. They sold us the mineral system with bac pacs (except it was private labeled and had to be purchased from them), told us sand has to be replaced every year and of course said that test strips work fine. After the first season, I no longer use the mineral cartridge and haven't purchased pool store chemicals since (except CYA which I get at Walmart). I appreciate all that I learned from Pool Solutions and what I continue to learn reading posts here.

Still I do have the occasional question.
 
I try to exhaust all the data here on the forum before asking questions though.

I took a picture of my pool but it was shaded so it looks much worse than it is - OK maybe not, it is a pretty dark green. I don't have it uploaded though. I will try to get a pic of it during the daylight so we can track the progress.

Spent another hour pulling leaves out - got sunburned in the process.

We got everything hooked up and we are starting to get more water into the pool. I think I will wait until Friday to start the process of killing algae and returning the sparkle to my pool since I won't be able to test often enough tomorrow, unless you think that testing and dumping bleach 2 times is enough (morning and evening - I might be able to sneak a 3rd time about mid-day. I can make a greater concentrated effort starting Friday.

It will likely be another month at least before the water temp is high enough to swim, so other than wanting to take care of it quickly so not to waste bleach, there is no rush.
 
We didn't get enough water in last night to get things going, so it will be at least tomorrow before I start treating.

So should I run the pump and filter for a couple hours, then test the water for CYA before I start the bleach treatment?

We are supposed to have full sun tomorrow, so I don't want to lose too much to the sun with no CYA. Or will low CYA matter much in the grand scheme of things?
 
Yes, circulate before you test, and allow the CYA test sample to come up to room temp before testing.

Does it matter, sure. Of course the higher the CYA level, the more chlorine you will need, but with no CYA, all the FC will be lost to sunlight, which defeats the purpose (to sanitize right?).

We'll know more about how you should proceed once the water has circulated and you've retested.... :goodjob:
 
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