What are initial start-up procedures for permanent AGP?

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S

Sportsman

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Jan 27, 2010
233
Central Valley, CA
Sorry if found elsewhere but I've read pool school, AGP, this board, etc. and can't find steps for initial start-up of a permanent AGP. (I read temp pool start up in pool school).

I have TF-100 on hand. Pool will go up Monday, 9 August unless unforeseen circumstances prohibit. I've read all of pool school and understand the basic terminology and chemistry. I have CYA, Trichlor Pucks, and Dichlor granules on hand from the pool store when I bought the pool months back. I've bought bleach and baking soda and plan on going BBB from start. Will use city water. No hardness issues though tends to have sulfur smell at times and unfortunately this week has been one of those.

Questions:
1. Since I have Dichlor granules and need to establish a base CYA level anyway, can I use trichlor for initial start-up? Will the pool calculator assist with that? (pucks will be kept for vacations).

2. Whether dichlor or bleach, am I just adding chemicals and testing daily for four days like a temp pool?

Any assistance or proper link is appreciated.
 
Hey,

You are way ahead of the game by having a test kit on hand prior to the fill.

Test your fill water and post those results. That will give us an idea of what adjustments, if any, will be necessary.

Now, your questions....

1. Dichlor is fine for start-up if you like. The pool calculator will tell you how much to dose to maintain your FC level and the CYA in the dichlor will continue to build. You will probably have enough CYA in the pool to switch to bleach within a month.

2. Well, sort of. After you post your fill water results, you'll know the changes you may need to make. YOu start making those changes once the pool is full. Here's sort of an idea of the sequence I would use.

1. Pool half full...start putting in enough bleach to keep pool sanitized......maintain about 3-5ppmFC daily. (use bleach until pool is full and you can get pump running...just stir it around...you don't want dichlor to settle on the bottom.)

2. Pool Full...Adjust pH

3. Start to add and monitor dichlor keeping FC around 3-5ppm (CYA continues to rise on it's own)

4. Adjust CH if necessary.

5. Adjust TA if it is w-a-a-y out of limits or if pH rises annoyingly.

6. CYA reaches 50ppm so time to switch to bleach
 
I used a walmart test kit (that I'd already bought) on my tap water tonight and my pH is approx. 8 and TA is 230 ppm! Guess I'll be making adjustments from the start.

Pool School levels did say something about high TA and lots of sun. I'm in Central Valley CA so I'm full sun EVERY day. It won't rain again until October at the earliest and rarely more than haze in the air - whatever effect that has.
 
Well then you won't need the baking soda or Borax, LOL

Pick up a couple of gallons of Muratic Acid today, you're gonna need to lower that PH (and eventually the TA). Once the pool is full and the pump is running, enter ALL of your test results into the Pool Calculator, and then calculate how much muratic acid you need to lower the PH down to 7.2. High TA causes the PH to drift up. Every time the PH reaches 7.8, you will add enough acid to lower it to 7.2. Eventually the TA Will drop into range.
You can speed this process up by adding aeration, here are the steps:
Lowering Total Alkalinity

You must have misread - it was probably high CYA and lots of sun. The TA wouldn't be an issue with sunlight.

Enjoy the new pool!
 
Of course I already bought the borax and baking soda! I have to head out to the local big box hardware to get a couple fittings today. I'll add muratic acid to the list. I'll have to read up on how to work with it. Was hoping to skip that one but of course it would be what I need. I'll test again of course before doing anything. I read last night that initial use of the test kit can result is false high TA but combined with pH, I'm sure that TA is high in my tap water, even if the count of 240 was slightly inaccurate.
 
Adjust your pH (if necessary) and then focus on keeping adequate chlorine in your pool. Making your adjustments in the sequence I suggested is more likely to help you keep your priorities straight and chlorine will ALWAYS be your priority.

Test with fresh reagents from your new kit and THEN decide what adjustments are necesssary.
 
duraleigh, that's my plan, thanks. BTW, I used to be at Camp Lejeune. Raleigh is a beautiful city. On my options for places to retire.

Back to pool: I'm trying to decide on placement of my pump/filter. Electric is where it is so my options are limited. I initially placed electric for the SW end because aesthetically that was best. Now I've read that the skimmer should be on opposite end of prevailing winds so I need it on SE corner. It's doable and will still be in back corner of yard aesthetically but it will mean that the plumbing will run 12 feet horizontally and approximately 15 feet with the vertical to skimmer/return. I plan on hard plumbing but may use flex hose tomorrow and deal with the plumbing later, at the latest when I close the pool for the winter. Regardless I'm using enough pvc to insert a stainless sleeve for bonding the water and a shutoff valve on both runs.

Question: is 12-17 feet too far for pump? 1.5 HP Hayward Power-Pro Matrix. Single speed but may change out to dual speed next year.
 
Sportsman said:
I read last night that initial use of the test kit can result is false high TA but combined with pH, I'm sure that TA is high in my tap water, even if the count of 240 was slightly inaccurate.
Click to expand...
That's true for the TF100 kit but that is not reported with using the HTH 6-way kit, which is usually pretty accurate. Still, I agree you should have your TF100 shortly and retest your numbers with it, wiping in between each drop with a damp cloth for the TA test. Then determine the best course of action.
 
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