No specific brand, It's just known as "chlorine stabilizer" which acts as sunscreen for your chlorine.
Intex Saltwater System
- Thread starter Trish
- Start date
No specific brand, It's just known as "chlorine stabilizer" which acts as sunscreen for your chlorine.
The salt we talk about on here is water softener salt and should be available at Lowes, Home Depot, most hardware stores, and many grocery stores! Also I have seen Morton pool salt at Walmart this week for just over $5/bag.Trish said:
our walmart has the pool salt also, but i didnt find it at the pool section. i found it over where the topsoil and mulch section is. big pallet of the salt, and noone probably know it is even there. i almost missed it myself. costs the same as the water softener.
Trish said:
Trish,
As was said earlier, Cyanuric Acid (CYA) helps protect your chlorine from being lost to sunlight. It's usually called stabilizer or conditioner at the pool store. The big thing you want to make sure of is that the ingredient list shows cyanuric acid as the main ingredient i.e. 99% cyanuric acid. Go ahead and get the granular kind, it's cheaper. Also, since you can't find the salt you need at the other stores, you might want to pick up your salt at the pool store too.
Everything else you might need can be found at Walmart, your local supermarket, or hardware store - bleach, borax, baking soda or washing soda, and muriatic acid (if needed).
If you'd like to get a good idea of what you might need as far as BBB, go ahead and do a complete set of tests on your fill water before you fill the pool up, and post the results here. We can tell you what you'll need to get so you can have it on hand when you do fill the pool up.
- Apr 8, 2007
- 1,616
- Pool Size
- 17450
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
You should be able to get your salt in most small town grocery or hardware stores as well as most rural people have hard water anyway so that is usually well stocked in small towns. Got mine at Hardware Hank for $4.39 a bag right in town. No pool store or big box required.
MikeInTN said:
Ok, here goes my first test resullts! I did this on my tap water...Looks like it's gonna be ANOTHER week before we have the time to set the pool up and be here to monitor it!
Please advise what I need on hand to get started
FC 2
CC 0
TC 2
pH 7.8
T/A 190
CH 20
CYA No clue... LOL! Filled test tube to the top and could still see the balck dot
Temp 81
THANKS!!!!
1. Bleach/liquid chlorineTrish said:Please advise what I need on hand to get started
FC 2
CC 0
TC 2
pH 7.8
T/A 190
CH 20
CYA No clue... LOL! Filled test tube to the top and could still see the balck dot Don't waste your reagents. CYA is not in your fill water.
Temp 81
2. Muriatic Acid
3. CYA
4. Salt
5. Calcium increaser
Trish, please update your sig to include your SWG :-D
To speed things along in opening, add the salt to the bottom of the pool before you put the last wall up and water in, 40 or 50 pound bags can be fun to hoist up over a railing. It will start dissolving as soon as you start filling with water. Same thing with the CH up( where do you find water that soft???) For the CYA(stabilizer) calc. what you need and put it in a "sock" (a knee-high nylon stocking,) tie a knot in it if you want, and hang it in there too. Don't start the SWG on the first day, use bleach to establish a FC level, and check it at least twice a day, because the sun will eat it up until the CYA is dissolved and working. I'd wait at least 4-5 days to do the CYA test, it might take that long to totally dissolve and mix.
If the temperature is good, I'd hop in as soon as it's full and you've checked to make sure you have some FC and proper Ph! Enjoy!!
If the temperature is good, I'd hop in as soon as it's full and you've checked to make sure you have some FC and proper Ph! Enjoy!!
HELP!!!!!!!!!I need somebody to hold my hand! LOL!! We are exhausted and sunburned!! It is 98 degrees here at 4:30 in the afternoon! The pool is warm...
It's been a LONG weekend...We put the pool up yesterday, filled it 3/4 of the way and discovered a leak at the seam, we emptied the pool, put it back in the box as best we could :grrrr: and exchanged it this morning for another one...Put the pool back up today and it's almost full
I need "baby" steps!!
1.) We are adding 140lbs of Morton Pool Salt (is that right)
2.) We are hooking up the filter and running for the next 24hrs (is that right)
3.) After 24hrs we hook up the Saltwater Generator (is that right)
4.) When do I need to test the water again?
It's been a LONG weekend...We put the pool up yesterday, filled it 3/4 of the way and discovered a leak at the seam, we emptied the pool, put it back in the box as best we could :grrrr: and exchanged it this morning for another one...Put the pool back up today and it's almost full
I need "baby" steps!!
1.) We are adding 140lbs of Morton Pool Salt (is that right)
2.) We are hooking up the filter and running for the next 24hrs (is that right)
3.) After 24hrs we hook up the Saltwater Generator (is that right)
4.) When do I need to test the water again?
1) 140 lbs is probably too much salt. The water will already have some salt in it, even if you just filled it up. I would add perhaps 120 lbs of salt, or even 100 lbs. It is easy to add more salt, difficult to remove salt that is already added.
2) Yes.
3) Yes.
4) Now. You should test the water and figure out what you need to add to get it balanced for use with the SWG. You will certainly need CYA, and may well need something else. See this article at Pool School for some suggestions about appropriate water balance for a SWG.
2) Yes.
3) Yes.
4) Now. You should test the water and figure out what you need to add to get it balanced for use with the SWG. You will certainly need CYA, and may well need something else. See this article at Pool School for some suggestions about appropriate water balance for a SWG.
JasonLion said:
Jason,
Thank you soooo much for the quick response! Below are the results where I tested my tap water..are these good for today or do I need to take a sample (it's just plain water right now)from the pool and re-test?
FC 2
CC 0
TC 2
pH 7.8
T/A 190
CH 20
I have purchased "stabilizer and conditioner" from the pool store...it says 96% Cyanuric acid and 4% inert ingredient. Is that ok, I went back and read the post and it said to make sure the Cyanuric acid is 99%... I have also purchased muriatic acid...
THANK YOU!
Your TA is a little high, so I would lower the PH to 7.2 to start reducing TA. You can also get started on adding the CYA. 96% is fine, 99% is better but the difference is very minor. Watch out for things like 50%.
Thanks Jason, we just put 100lbs of the pool salt...
Sooo I need to go ahead 24oz of Muratic Acid and the 5lb container of Stabilizer to the pool? I tried to use the pool calc...
THANK YOU!
Sooo I need to go ahead 24oz of Muratic Acid and the 5lb container of Stabilizer to the pool? I tried to use the pool calc...
THANK YOU!
5 lbs of stabilizer seems like too much to me, I haven't read thru the recent posts but the Pool Calc tells me it would put your CYA at 110.
Do you know how to add CYA?
Edit: Okay, I get 3 lbs, 3 oz by weight of CYA. That will take you up to 70.
Do you know how to add CYA?
Edit: Okay, I get 3 lbs, 3 oz by weight of CYA. That will take you up to 70.
frustratedpoolmom said:
Do I put the 3lbs 3oz of CYA in a sock??? I can't really visualize this at the moment but exhaustion has set in...Can we swim with the CYA floating in a sock in the pool?
Is the 24oz of Muratic Acid correct? How and where do I add it?
Yes, you put it in a sock, and either tie it off in front of the return flow or in the skimmer, wherever it will dissolve the quickest. Yes, you can swim with the sock. (I manipulated it with my fingers to help it dissolve quicker. I still have skin on my fingers 
)
Wait 5-7 days before you retest the CYA, but after 24 hours after it has dissolved, assume it's there, and raise your FC levels according to the CYA chart. You are going to keep your FC levels according to the "non-swg" section, until the SWG is operational. Once it's working, you can use the SWG section. Does that make sense? Anytime you are not using the SWG (for any particular reason) make sure you maintain the FC levels on the non-swg section. shock levels are the same regardless.
)Wait 5-7 days before you retest the CYA, but after 24 hours after it has dissolved, assume it's there, and raise your FC levels according to the CYA chart. You are going to keep your FC levels according to the "non-swg" section, until the SWG is operational. Once it's working, you can use the SWG section. Does that make sense? Anytime you are not using the SWG (for any particular reason) make sure you maintain the FC levels on the non-swg section. shock levels are the same regardless.
Just got back from walmart... I got the knee highs (my husband kept asking me what a knee high was and I just ignored him..I thought he was being funny...when I put them in the buggy I realized that he really didn't know! LOL)...
Ok...sooo ALL i've added so far is the 100lbs of salt...filter has been running since last night...we are starting the saltwater generator this evening but....I re-tested the salt this morning and it is barely registering on the AquaCheck strip this morning..3 lines UNDER the one mark...
1.) Do I need to go ahead and add more salt...How much?
2.) I need to add 24oz of Muratic Acid?
2.) I need to add 3lbs 3oz of Stabilizer in a knee high?
Do I need to add bleach this morning even if we are starting the saltwater generator tonight?
Sorry to be so high maintenance...I really appreciate the help...
Ok...sooo ALL i've added so far is the 100lbs of salt...filter has been running since last night...we are starting the saltwater generator this evening but....I re-tested the salt this morning and it is barely registering on the AquaCheck strip this morning..3 lines UNDER the one mark...
1.) Do I need to go ahead and add more salt...How much?
2.) I need to add 24oz of Muratic Acid?
2.) I need to add 3lbs 3oz of Stabilizer in a knee high?
Do I need to add bleach this morning even if we are starting the saltwater generator tonight?
Sorry to be so high maintenance...I really appreciate the help...
The salt level should be reading higher than that. You added over 2,000 ppm of salt, so the reading should be at least that high. The two primary possibilities are that you did the salt test wrong in some way, or the water is not mixing throughly. If your return can be aimed, you should point it down and to the side to promote through mixing. Also, read the salt test instructions again and make sure you did the test correctly.
24 oz of muriatic acid is a good place to start. You probably need quite a bit more than that, but add that much, give it an hour to mix in, then test PH again. Continue adding acid till your PH is around 7.2.
Yes, right around 3 lbs of stabilizer.
I would add 2 ppm of chlorine this morning, and if for any reason you don't have the SWG running tonight, add another 2 ppm of chlorine tonight.
24 oz of muriatic acid is a good place to start. You probably need quite a bit more than that, but add that much, give it an hour to mix in, then test PH again. Continue adding acid till your PH is around 7.2.
Yes, right around 3 lbs of stabilizer.
I would add 2 ppm of chlorine this morning, and if for any reason you don't have the SWG running tonight, add another 2 ppm of chlorine tonight.
I just added 23oz of 6% bleach, 24oz Of Muriatic Acid, 3lbs of Cyanuric Acid (Stabilizer) by the return...
My husband I are are interpreting the directions on the AquaCheck salt test strips differently...Does the end with the yellow strip (that goes dark) go in the water or stay out of the water? :?
My husband I are are interpreting the directions on the AquaCheck salt test strips differently...Does the end with the yellow strip (that goes dark) go in the water or stay out of the water? :?