New pool - initial CYA dose

[barelylegible]

THANKS for the great resource you have here!

I've read through the Pool School.

I did get a little ahead of myself though and now am beginning to questions my initial decision for getting CYA level up after filling the pool. (After I read the Pool School)

We have a 14' x 48" Intex Ultra Frame (~3800 gal).
Direct sun for 6-7 hours a day.

I used ~26oz by volume of the following product and used a test strip about 2 hr later (Ordering a "real" test kit tonight).
The ingredients are 99% sodium dichloro s triazinetrione dihydrate, 1% other.
It is in granular form and I dissolved in 5gal buckets of water before adding to the pool. The pump has been running since ~20 hours ago)

http://www.aquachem.com/mp/v/index....110VgnVCM10000053d7010aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

The test strip showed 2hr after adding chems (Not very helpful...)
FC : 10+ (Way brighter pink than the 10 on the bottle)
CYA : 0-50 range (Closer to 0)
PH : ~7.0 (Roughly)

Questions time

My main questions is how long should I wait before I should get an accurate reading of the CYA?

Is there a (rough) estimate as to how long it would take to get to a normal / swimmable FC level?

Am I asking too many questions before I have a real test kit and can give you good info to base answer off of?

Lastly, we plan to put in a SWG in < 1 month. Should I get the CYA at the level for the SWG or wait until it's installed to raise the CYA level?

Should I just use bleach for FC until I get the SWG installed?

Even though it's not super helpful I'll retest with Strips tonight and update...

 

[jblizzle]

The easiest way to estimate you CYA now is to use the poolcalculator.com

For a 3800 gallon pool, 26 oz of Dichlor raised your FC by 28ppm and your CYA by 26ppm and lowered your pH by 1.08

Hard to know what to do until you have your test kit.

I am guessing you pH is low and should be raised. And your FC may be VERY high still.

For a CYA of 30ppm, the shock FC level is 12ppm ... It would be safe to swim if FC was less than 12ppm and your pH was in the 7s

I would not raise the CYA up for the SWG until you have it installed and ready to go.

And yes, just use bleach for now (although you could use likely use a little more dichlor to raise the CYA a little more ... once you understand how much dichlor to use to get to desired levels ... probably should not put it all in at once though.)

 

[barelylegible]

... probably should not put it all in at once though.)

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, I realize that now.

As long as it shows up obviously <50 CYA on the strips I'll use the dicholor.
After that bleach until SWG is in place.

Borax to raise PH, right?
I will go gradually until I can get better test results. (Lower FC)
Does a high FC give high or low PH results?

 

[jblizzle]

With FC > 10ppm, the pH drop test reads high (although I am not sure if it affects the strips in the same way). So, I am not sure if you should try to adjust the pH until your FC comes down ... Borax or soda ash will raise pH.

You do not want to get much above a CYA of 50ppm for now, so do not use more than about 25oz of dichlor.

 

[barelylegible]

Sounds good. Thanks.

Tested about an hour ago with strips and same results as yesterday for the most part.
It'll probably take a few days for FC to get down...

Should I run the pump ~5 hours a day as recommended in the pool manual?
I'm not sure the exact reason other than just keeping the water moving, filter small debris out... is this a good enough reason?

Ordering the TF100 now.

 

[jblizzle]

You should run your pump the amount of time needed to keep your water filtered and clear ... may be more than 5 hours, may be less.

While waiting for your test kit, add you pool info to your signature and your location in your profile as that info can help with recommendations in the future.

 

[barelylegible]

Alright, so test results in. I got the K-2006.
Only thing new I've added is ~30 ounces of borax.
I'll start off by saying I know that a 10+ FC can give a high PH reading, but I went ahead and did it anyway since it was so close.

FC 11.5
CC <0.5
PH 6.9-7 (With one drop of Base demand I got to about 7.3) Possibly high due to FC reading.
TA 40
CH 30
CYA 25*** NOT TESTED - but I added enough Dichlor to get to 25. I want to wait til I'm close to estimated 40-50 to test.

I was wondering if I could get some critiques of the following thoughts.
For determining how much to add of what I'll use the Pool Calc.


Add more borax to get PH up (I can wait until tomorrow night when FC should be down < 10 to test again).

Wait a few more days for FC to come down before adding anymore chlorine as FC 10 is shock level for CYA 25.

When doing daily maintenance of chlorine, use the Dichlor until I get to the CYA I want.

Keep an eye on PH and as Dichlor lowers, use borax to raise.

Don't worry about CH since pool is vinyl?

Add Baking Soda to get to the ~70 TA


Thanks for the help!

 

[barelylegible]

:?: See above? Please?
Please forgive bump...

 

[Bama Rambler]

Bump forgiven... We need a nudge sometimes because the forum is so busy.
With a TA of 40 ppm I'd get that up and then work on the pH. At an FC or 11.5 you're close enough that the pH test won't be affected very much if at all.

The rest of your plan looks solid.