New Pool with 1st Test Results -- need help!

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racharoow

0
Jul 23, 2010
77
Southern NH
Hi All,
Pool was filled with water on Monday, and after dumping the salt in and letting everything run for 48 hours, we now have water that is turning green. We know we need to add CYA, but after testing for the first time, looks like all of our other numbers are low.

SWG is at 50% and is reading at 2.9.

TF-100 results:

FC: .5ppm
CC: .5ppm
TC: 1 ppm

pH: 7.2
TA: 60
CH: 100 (turned red after adding the R-0011L drops)
CYA: 0

Any help with how we should treat the pool tonight would be greatly appreciated! Also, should we turn our pump back on tonight - we currenly have it set to run from 6am - 6pm every day.

Thank you all for your help in advance
 
Get some bleach in there, now!
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And some CYA as soon as possible. Your SWG can't keep up with the demand without the CYA, so you're going to have to help it along by manually adding bleach. pool-school/defeating_algae will explain things. You're a step ahead of most; you have a test kit!
 
Yup...what he said. CYA to 60 and add 2-3ppm of bleach tonight to get some chlorine in the water. Add the bleach in front of your return and keep the pump running for 30 mins.
 
Thanks, Richard & dmanb2b, for such a quick reply! Should we add 1 gallon of bleach or more? We will go do that now.

We'll also add the CYA as the pool builder gave us this as well. Do we need to worry about pH levels right now?

One more note that our salt levels were reading at 5000 - so very high. I assume that will come down over time, or should we be doing something to lower these levels now?

And one more quick question - does it matter if the solar cover is on or off? Currently we have it on.

Thanks so much again!
 
Keep the cover on...no harm. Salt won't come down on it's own as it's not consumed, it only can be reduced via water replacement/dilution, but if the SWG is not giving you a high salt error, then let it be :lol:

I'm guessing your pool is around 16-20k gals, so 1 gal of 6% bleach should boost your FC by about 3ppm and should be fine.
 
OK - DH is adding bleach now. Other question would be should we be adding about half of the container of stabilizer? It is an 8 lb tub...but according to the pool calculator, seems like half might not be enough? I just don't want to add too much! That amount also will not fit in a sock - is it OK to just dump in the skimmer?

So nerve wracking first time around - eek!!
 
racharoow said:
OK - DH is adding bleach now. Other question would be should we be adding about half of the container of stabilizer? It is an 8 lb tub...but according to the pool calculator, seems like half might not be enough? I just don't want to add too much! That amount also will not fit in a sock - is it OK to just dump in the skimmer?

So nerve wracking first time around - eek!!
Click to expand...
When in doubt about pool volume, go low on the CYA. You can always add more later. Removal is not so easy. If it won't fit in one sock, use two. Or a nylon without runs. If you only have one return, tie the second one to a float - a pool noodle has been suggested recently here.
 
Morning Update...added 1 gallon of bleach and about 4 lbs of CYA last night (via sock). This morning just tested FC/CC and pH again and results are:

FC: 4.5ppm
CC: 0ppm
TC: 4.5ppm

pH: 6.8

Woke up to a much darker green pool. I am confused if this is algae or not since our FC went up from .5 to 4.5 last night. After reading about Defeating Algae, it seems like this would not happen...but being a brand new pool owner, I have no clue!


Next questions are:

1. Should we add a bit more CYA this morning or is it better to wait a few days and test for levels and then take action?
2. Pool builder gave us a 'pH Booster' which is 100% Sodium Carbonate - is this the same as borax or soda ash? Should we add some of this in the pool or go out and buy some borax?
3. Do we need to do any of the other tests this morning or just focus on FC and pH?

Thanks again for all of the help!!
 
It is murky (can barely see the bottom). Water was trucked in from our town reservoir (which we think has high levels of iron. it is the same water that comes into our house and leaves orange rings around our sink/shower drains and toilets). The stairs seem to be developing the same sort of orange stain that we see in our toilets (see 2nd photo below).

[attachment=1:3fsif5bh]Green 1.jpg[/attachment:3fsif5bh]

[attachment=0:3fsif5bh]Green 2.jpg[/attachment:3fsif5bh]
 

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Let's estimate a CYA of 30 after adding 4 lbs of stabilizer and an 18,000 gallon pool. If you can get more accurate numbers, more the better!!! If you can check your CYA before starting, plug that in poolcalculator.com and get a better number.

That means 3 gallons of bleach to bring you up to shock level of 10. I would start at dusk and add 4 gallons, then check FC again in an hour. Make sure it's holding at least at 10, maybe good to shoot for 12 and check again in another hour if you can. It is going to suck up the first few ppm of FC really quick.

Keep your pool running 24/7 during the shock process! (You have read about Shock Process in Pool School right? If no, now's the time!) :)

Also, make note of what 4 gallons of chlorine does to your FC numbers, keep them on a chart, you can use these to help estimate your actual pool size.
 
In addition to the shocking, which is well covered, I'm a bit concerned about some of your other numbers.

I'm seeing your pH readings: 7.2, 6.8, 7.5

And, I haven't really seen anything you did to directly effect them. Although you might be effecting the readings with bleech (but not by that much), you may be seeing the effects of too low of TA.

With the SWG, you are not out of the recomended values... BUT...

You also have a low CH reading.

As I can see your CSI has been going from -1.19 to -.54 with your changing pH. Anything lower than -.6 is considered to be corrosive to plaster pools.

If it were me, based on the symptoms I am seeing, I would probably aim for a slightly higher TA (70 or so) -- Adding baking soda. This should stabalize your pH a bit. And for a CH of at least 200, if not 250. This will make it more forgiving if you let your pH or TA drift a bit. Plus, later, when things are more settled, and you understand the chemistry a bit better, add some borates for some additional pH buffering.

You don't have to drop everything that you are doing to correct this. It's just the goals I would set.

In the meantime, I would probably try to keep the pH around 7.5 until you can address the CSI issues.
 
Thanks again for all of the replies - I am starting to feel better that someday we will have clear water :)

Updated test results:

FC: 8
CC: .5
TC: 8.5

pH: 7.5 (have added 48 oz of soda ash this morning/afternoon)
TA: 80
CYA: 20 or less since we could just barely see the dot when our solution was at the top of the tube

We will start adding bleach to bring FC up a bit more and add baking soda as well. We have read on how to shock...so I guess we'll be testing hourly for a bit this evening and see what the readings are.

Is there anything else we should be doing that I have forgotten about?

waskydiver - I will have to research a bit more what CSI is as I am not familiar with the term...but will read up more on it so can understand your concerns more. Thank you!
 
Don't worry about CSI for now...we can tweak that when the pool is clear and you have a reliable kit. Besides, that looks like a vinyl lined pool (or my eyes are getting old), in which case CH and CSI is not a primary concern for now.
 
Vinyl? Hmmm... Looked plaster to me...

Regardless... I agree that CSI isn't critical right now... As I said... no need to drop everything to look at it. Just something to keep on the radar.
 

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