Free Pool, lots of problems but I'm getting close!

[Spazonu]

Hello,
I have found this site to be a great resource. I was given a 24 ft, above ground pool. After weeks of moving dirt, putting the pool up, taking it down, etc, I have finally gotten the pool up and filled. The filter ran for a day and cleared up the water nicely. I bought a startup kit online and started following the steps but I think I didn't need to do them. I used Doheny's metal out to the recommended level(12fl oz) and one bag of super shock plus, then a little water clarifier.

The water seemed to take a step backwards as far as clarity goes. I have the TF-100 test kit and ran all the tests this morning. The water is more clear than yesterday. I want to use the TFPC method. I haven't added any bleach yet, or any CYA(the stuff i have is called stabilzer 100) Here are the results.
PH - 7.5
FC - 5
CC - .5
TC - 5.5
TA -260
CYA - 0 (I ran the test and could see the black dot the whole time)
CH 600

I added a littler Lo'N slo(sodium Bisulfate this morning to try to lower the ph a little and I hooked up a shopvac that i have blowing air into the poo to aerate it. I will retest in about an hour and see where I'm at.

Should I wait to add bleach and Cyanuric acid until I get my TA down? Thank you for any help anyone can give. Let me know if you need more information. I really want to get this baby up and running as soon as possible. I have a 6 year old daughter and twin 4 year old boys who have been asking and asking and asking when they can finally get in the pool! Thanks again,
Josh

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! By trying to chemically lower pH and aerate the pool at the same time you are not going to get anywhere. Aerating raises pH, so you have two methods fighting each other. Now if you are trying to lower the TA you would drop the pH to 7.0 and then raise it back up to 7.8 by aerating so you can drop it back down to 7.0 and the cycle continues until you have TA where you want it. Your TA is high and your CH is high, so lowering TA to 70-90 ppm would be a good idea In your case lowering the TA will help stabilize a lower pH. Keeping a lower pH (7.0-7.2) will prevent calcium scale from forming. Do not use any more products containing calcium. Check the labels before you put anything in your pool.

You can go ahead and add the CYA now. Use a clean, white sock with no holes and put about 4 pounds of CYA in it. Tie the sock closed and place it in the skimmer basket so it has full water contact but does not block the flow through the skimmer. Squeeze the sock periodically to help the CYA dissolve.

 

[Spazonu]

Hi, welcome to TFP! By trying to chemically lower pH and aerate the pool at the same time you are not going to get anywhere. Aerating raises pH, so you have two methods fighting each other. Now if you are trying to lower the TA you would drop the pH to 7.0 and then raise it back up to 7.8 by aerating so you can drop it back down to 7.0 and the cycle continues until you have TA where you want it. Your TA is high and your CH is high, so lowering TA to 70-90 ppm would be a good idea In your case lowering the TA will help stabilize a lower pH. Keeping a lower pH (7.0-7.2) will prevent calcium scale from forming. Do not use any more products containing calcium. Check the labels before you put anything in your pool.

You can go ahead and add the CYA now. Use a clean, white sock with no holes and put about 4 pounds of CYA in it. Tie the sock closed and place it in the skimmer basket so it has full water contact but does not block the flow through the skimmer. Squeeze the sock periodically to help the CYA dissolve.

I added a few pounds of CYA (all that I could fit in there at once) and did a couple rotations of PH Minus (Sodium Bisulfate) and then aerating to bring the PH back up. Here are my levels this morning.
CL - 3
PH - 7.2
FC - 4.5
CC - .5
TC - 5.0
TA - 220
CYA - less than 20(when I got to the top of the cylander the black dot got blurry but it was right at the top)
CH - 425

I added another couple pounds of CYA (stablizer) this morning to hopefully get the CYA number up. I started to get the TA down (from 260 to 220) and CH down (600 to 425) Should I keep doing what I'm doing? Thanks for your help.
Josh

 

[zea3]

CH usually only comes down with an exchange of water. It is possible that your first test result was off, since it can be a tricky test to conduct correctly, and sometimes static electricity on new bottles of the CH test reagent causes a smaller than standard drop to form which could give a false high reading.

Yes, just keep doing what you are doing. After the current CYA dissolves don't add any more for a few days even if testing still shows low. Retest the CYA after a couple of days and then add more if it still reads too low.