Backwashing and chemicals

[botanica37]

My first opening by myself was yesterday, it took all day and several online searches for manuals and stuff...but the pool is open: a nasty, smelly brown swamp :grrrr: (pondering if I closed it incorrectly?). I am running the filter and took the first set of tests:

FC 0
PH 8.2
TA 60
CH 160
CYA 60
temp 54

So here is what I am thinking:
1. lower the ph first to 7.5

and then not clear what to do first: do I shock the pool and add calcium to get the CH up and the TA or fix the CH first and then shock it? Is there a particular order in adding the chemicals?

and 2. Obviously I need to backwash a lot...but how does the filter backwash with the super nasty brown soup? What I mean is that I am not going to see clear water coming out of the backwash for a while, right?

and 3. On the pool calculator am I correct in assuming that I need to balance the values in the right field so that the CSI shows balanced?

Thanks for the help!

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

Once the pump is running, the first thing to do is lower the PH. Second is to shock the pool and get everything cleaned up. None of your other levels require immediate attention, and can wait till shocking is complete.

Dirty pool water can make figuring out when backwashing is complete more difficult. There should still be an obvious transition from extremely dirty to only kind of dirty, but you will probably need to keep a closer eye on it to spot the difference.

You don't generally need to worry about getting CSI balanced exactly unless you have some special situation you haven't mentioned. As long as you can stay within the recommended levels for a plaster pool from the article at Pool School, you don't need to worry about CSI.