Dream House but drained pool!

[Saltynoob]

My wife and I close friday on our new house.
House inside and out very nice.
Yard and pool need work.
House was bank owned and pool has been drained and covered, some dirt and debris in deep end.
Pool has a System 3 media filter, Aqua Rite controler and Turbo cell 15.
From what I measured pool will hold aprox 22,000 gals.

Once I remove the wood and plastic make shift cover and clean out dirt and debris, what then?
Do I run a hose over there and open the valve?
Add salt as I fill or at the end? And how many bags? Is the salt the same from Lowes as it is from the pool supply house?
Is conditioner different for salt pools?

I'm not a complete pool rookie but I'm real close to it.
Thanks for any help.

 

[Optica]

Salty,

Congrats on the new house. First..where are you located and how much swim season do you think you have left?

Before filling the pool, take time to inspect the pool surfaces for cracks or damage, look over the pool equipment and piping for anything broken. Have you tried the pump (briefly, as you do not want to run it dry for any length of time, maybe open the pump filter bowl and fill it up with a hose, replace cover and try pump and see that it moved the water you added. Didi the previous owners leave pool equipment like an automatic pool cleaner, leaf nets, brushes, vacuum head, hoses, chemicals?

First off be sure to read pool school (top right button on every page here). water chemistry, test kits, balancing water and shocking..read it all. Go online and download owners manuals for your equipment if the previous owner did not leave them for you. Try out the pool calculator so you are comfortable using it and understand what it is telling you.

Order a quality test kit like the TF100 or K-2006 (see test kits in pool school) so you will be ready to test your fill water which will give you a handle on what you will need after the fill. Start getting stocked up on bleach or liquid chlorine, Muriatic acid, Stabilizer, Salt if you planning on running the SWG, and other items you will need depending on your fill water.

Adding salt and starting your SWG will be one of the last things you do. First you must get the water balanced. Until then, plan on using liquid chlorine or bleach to maintain your free chlorine levels in the pool.

If all looks good and you are ready, start filling your pool. We can help you with any questions or problems as they come up. Post pictures of your pool and equipment if you can.

Good luck and welcome to TFP!

 

[htownjeeper]

At least it's not green! You'll get great advice here. And the test kit is a must!

 

[Beamup]

Depending on water prices in your area, you might want to check with your water utility or a local pool store as to whether you could get a water truck in to fill the pool. This could be cheaper and more convenient than using the hose.

 

[Saltynoob]

We are in central california (102 today) so we have a little swim season remaining.

All pump, filter and pool seem to be solid and in good shape.
Pump does run, home inspector tested.
Only issue we found in the pool was a heavy white ring on the tile all the way around (clean while empty?).
Old owners left nothing but pool has a pop up sweep system.

Sounds like I need to fill pool, test and then adjust as needed.
I do want to run the SWG, so I should try to hit recommended balance for SWG and hold before adding salt?
Why are CYA levels so much higher with salt and should I wait to bring that level up till I add salt?

 

[Optica]

OK,

Good news your pool equipment is in good shape. You will still need a good pool water test kit as recommended on this site. It would be nice to test your fill water before hand to know if there will be any issues like super hard water or very low hardness. I guess you could take a sample of tap water to pool store and have them test it to get you a general idea.

I think you will still want a pool brush and leaf/bug net.

SWG's seem to work better with the higher recommended level of CYA. You end up running at lower FC levels than non SWG pools. Some say its the super chlorination that happens right at the cell allows the overall FC to be lower in the pool. You will want to get the CYA in as soon as possible as it will help you maintain proper FC levels with bleach until salt is added and the SWG is turned on and dialed in.

Plan:
get test kit, salt test strips
Test fill water if you can, get supplies based on results..baking soda, borax, muriatic acid, calcium hardness increaser, bleach, salt.
fill pool & start running filter
add chlorine (bleach or liquid chlorine) to maintain proper FC
add CYA to get to 70-80ppm (adding CYA changes the FC level you need to maintain)
get water balanced (PH, TA, CH)
add salt to get to the recommended level for your SWG model
fire up SWG and tune
enjoy sparkly clear pool water!

The calcium scale/mineral deposits around the tile line can be cleaned off using pumice stone. The cleaners with acid require water to be in the pool to minimize the chance of drips staining the plaster below the tile. Try the pumice stone first and then move to other cleaning methods if needed.