New pool - chemicals

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leadfootmitchell

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Jun 5, 2012
8
18x52 intex ultra. 1st year pool owners.

I've read pool school. I sent my husband out to buy

1) Bleach
2) Dichlor
3) Polyquat

He went to walmart. We ended up settling on items 2 and 3 with HTH Super Algae Guard and HTH Shock 'N Swim. He would not go to a pool store :roll: So, should I return these items to Walmart and do the shopping myself?

Thanks!
 
The last time I looked at the wal-mart pool chemicals most contained copper, (you don't want copper) read the ingedients and let us know. If you want to avoid a pool store, and you have one in your area try Lowes, the one here sells dichlor shock (note they also sell shock that is not dichlor, so you have to read the labels).

I would not worry with polyquat
Ike

p.s. Wal-Mart usually has bleach
 
Isaac-1 said:
The last time I looked at the wal-mart pool chemicals most contained copper, (you don't want copper) read the ingedients and let us know. If you want to avoid a pool store, and you have one in your area try Lowes, the one here sells dichlor shock (note they also sell shock that is not dichlor, so you have to read the labels).

I would not worry with polyquat
Ike

p.s. Wal-Mart usually has bleach
Click to expand...

Ha ha, Ike. I'm pretty sure he purchased the Clorox at Walmart.

I'll take the HTH stuff back. Luckily we have a lowe's right next to Walmart!

Why would you not worrty with Polyquat? The Beginners Guide for Seasonal and Temporary pools lists it as a "weekly" maintenance item.

Thanks!
 
I think he thought you opted out of the bleach because your post says you got items 2 and 3. I am doing the same thing with mine in a few weeks when it gets installed. Good luck and post your numbers as you get them. I am interested to see what it takes.
 
Yeah, you don't need the polyquat and you can also skip the dichlor and use CYA and bleach instead. Walmart sells HTH stabilizer which is CYA. Just plug your numbers into the pool calculator and pour the amount of CYA needed to reach 30 into a sock. Hang it on your ladder or next to your water return.
Add bleach to get to 2ppm the first day.
After 24 hours you can assume the CYA is there and add amount of bleach to reach 4ppm.
 
leadfootmitchell said:
18x52 intex ultra. 1st year pool owners.

I've read pool school. I sent my husband out to buy

1) Bleach
2) Dichlor
3) Polyquat

He went to walmart. We ended up settling on items 2 and 3 with HTH Super Algae Guard and HTH Shock 'N Swim. He would not go to a pool store :roll: So, should I return these items to Walmart and do the shopping myself?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Pick up everything you need at Walmart&save some money..Stabilizer;that's the only pool chemical that you need..Great Value Reg. Bleach $1.64gal...Great value baking soda...Box of Borax laundry booster.That's all you need except the investment in a full water test kit..TF-100 is the best..Will pay for itself the first summer.The main thing is educate yourself on pool school&test your water&it will stay nice&sparkle all the time.People think owning a pool is easy.Well,it's not easy.But,you can make it easy.Good Luck
 
aa62579 said:
You might wait on baking soda or borax until you know your TA and pH. I have never needed either, but instead need muratic acid.
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Never have used it..My ph never goes high.On well water&ph straight from the hose is 7.2...Seen a posting today city water at 8.0..Someone need's to check there water testing..No way ph from a city resource would be that high...There is no reason for ph to be that high from a water resource.
 
OK, now I'm thoroughly confused.

No Polyquat or Dichlor? We found Dichlor at the local pool supply store. Told husband to get 4 pounds (8000 gallon pool) according to Pool School - Beginners Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools. The lady at the pool store told husband not to buy 4 pounds of Dichlor for our size of pool - she said we would never be able to swim in it. ??? So, he only bought one pound.

So, if we use bleach and CYA, no dichlor is needed? Looks like I need to read some more!

One a positive note (I guess) - the pool is filling with water as we speak. I tested the pH - it's right at 7.2. When should we add the bleach? When should we add CYA and/or Borax? If we add CYA, it looks like that will drop the pH so I guess I'll need to get some Borax.
 
Ok, sorry to get you confused, the problem is there is more than one way to get to where your going.

You can use Dichlor initially to raise both your chlorine level and your CYA level then switch to bleach after using a measured amount of dichlor over time, (this is what is described in the seasonal pool instructions if memory serves)

Alternatively you can use dry CYA stabilizer and start out with bleach right away

(you could also use a combination of the two, but that just makes the math harder)

If your NOT going to use dry CYA stabilizer and use Dichlor switching to bleach when you run out, 64 ounces (4 pounds) is the correct amount, so back to the pool store, you will of course want to add it over a number of days. The problem is here the pool store lady probably thought you were planning to add it all at once doing their fake shock like thing, in which case she would be right, you would not want to add 4 pounds of dichlor to your size pool in one big dose.

Ike

ps if by chance you already have 1 pound of dichlor AND dry stabilizer by mixing the 2 ways to get where you need to go, the math works out as slowly add the 1 pound of dichlor in 3 or 4 doses over a number of hours, testing between each dose to stay at safe swim levels with your test kit to make sure your chlorine level does not get too high, then add 28 ounces of dry stabilizer in an old sock hanging in front of the return line.
 

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leadfootmitchell said:
Well, we were hoping to swim in it right away, so I think the bleach and adding CYA is the way to go?
Click to expand...

It's certainly my preferred method.

You can go ahead and get the CYA in there while the pool is filling up = just hang the sock on the ladder so that it is not resting on the bottom or side of the pool. You can add some bleach while it is filling if you can manually stir it in some - think boat paddle or at least adding tiny amounts as you walk around the edge of the pool, but I normally wait until my pump and filter are turned on to get it circulating.

This year we had to do our fill over 4 days due to some well issues so I chose to put a floater with some tri-chlor tablets (called pucks on this site) in it. I didn't want the water sitting there for 4 days without anything in it. The tri-chlor (like di-chlor) adds both CYA and chlorine, so I had to factor that in later to determine how much CYA I had added with the pucks.

Make sure to retest the pool water before you add borax. My pool pH and tap pH do not match. Aeration in the pool combined with a high TA cause the pH to rise. What is the TA of your tap water.?
 
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