Confused how to get our new pool balanced

[uuacallis]

Good Morning,
Saturday was a big day for us, the pool builder was able to set our liner and we had 24K gallons of water delivered to fill up my new pond.

We had to use delivered water because our well will simply not put out that much water. Doing some research, in our area the water delivery trucks all get their water from the same place (The county Fire Hydrants) which is essentially City Tap water.

My plan is to maintain the pool with the BBB method (I have a Taylor K-2006 test kit already), however because there will be a few days a month that I travel and my wife and kids cannot be trusted to do the more intensive testing, I do plan on using Tabs in the feeder when I am not there to ensure proper chlorination. (Yes, I know it adds CYA, I will have to watch it very closely)

So my confusion is about how to properly balance this water out.

As of this morning my levels are:

FC: 4
CC: 0
PH: 6.8 - 7.0
TA: 100
CYA: 0 (The solution never gets cloudy, almost out of the CYA regent already)
Pool Temp: 80
6-7 hours of DIRECT sunlight per day right now

The first day I used Dichlor to shock the pool (knowing it would also add the CYA that I ultimately need some in pool)
I do currently have the Tabs in the automatic chlorinator at a low setting

Since the CYA was at 0 for the last 2 days, I went ahead and picked up the stabilizer over at Walmart. I have put 4 lbs in so far, estimating that I really need about 6 lbs to get between 30-50 ppm. I figured since I was using some Dichlor and the Tabs, better start a little lower then too much. I assume that it takes about a week to register on the test, so I really can't re-do a CYA test till next week anyways right?

Since the PH levels have been consistently 7.0 - 7.2, I followed pool calculators recommendation to add Borax to raise the PH, yet the PH seems to stay low and the pool calculator says I need to add 2 more boxes to get the PH Up. I am fine with doing that, but I want to make sure that is the right thing because I don't have any test for Borates so I wasn't sure if I could end up causing some other problem.

Thanks for your help guys, this is a great resource!

PS-> Below is the picture from this morning of the pool, note the slide won't be hooked up until this afternoon as the builder had to wait to drill the concrete.

[attachment=0:31qtr14p]photo.JPG[/attachment:31qtr14p]

 

[JasonLion]

You are doing very well.

With TA around 100, you can also use aeration to raise the PH, if you have some simple way to aerate the water.

 

[duraleigh]

CYA takes as long as a week to fully register on the test but you can assume your calculated dosage is in there.

pH calcs are never 100% accurate but the test is reliable so you can go ahead and add some Borax to bring your pH up to around 7.4.....I would do it one box at a time....testing about an hour after you dose the pool.

I'm sure your CH is not very high but you should run the test to make sure. Anything up to 400ppm is OK.

That should do it. :lol:

 

[uuacallis]

You are doing very well.

With TA around 100, you can also use aeration to raise the PH, if you have some simple way to aerate the water.

Would running the slide be a simple way to aerate water?

 

[Smykowski]

My plan is to maintain the pool with the BBB method (I have a Taylor K-2006 test kit already), however because there will be a few days a month that I travel and my wife and kids cannot be trusted to do the more intensive testing, I do plan on using Tabs in the feeder when I am not there to ensure proper chlorination. (Yes, I know it adds CYA, I will have to watch it very closely)

Jason and Dave have you started on getting it balanced, so I'll chime in on the travel. I'm in exactly your boat, but I'm away from home about half the month, roughly 3-4 away, then 3-4 home all month long. You can still do it with bleach and no tabs:
Keep detailed records of your testing. Very quickly, you will notice a pattern and you will learn the "pulse" of your pool.

Based on my known/predicted chlorine consumption, I'll dose the pool to the high end of normal, maybe slightly higher, right before I leave. Then I leave instructions with my wife on exactly how much chlorine to add and what day to add it. She's ok with this because it's simple and requires almost no thought, so she can move on to more important things (you know, the children and all the nonsense that comes along with it ). After coming home, I've never had it below my min FC level.
DISCLAIMER: This can only be done with diligent testing and by paying attention to your pool. I do NOT recommend this method until you've spent some time testing and know how your pool behaves.

 

[elwood58]

Running the slide will indeed provide a small amount of aeration. Aeration is all about surface area. If you have an aerator output, or even one of those drop in fountains, it will work faster.

 

[uuacallis]

Actually that works well, the wife saw one of those fountains and put it on the required equipment list by Mid-July.. For now, I guess it's going to be the Borax to get the PH up.

Running the slide will indeed provide a small amount of aeration. Aeration is all about surface area. If you have an aerator output, or even one of those drop in fountains, it will work faster.

 

[Speedo]

Lookin good!

FYI - making a "fountain" can be a bit of fun. At any home improvement store you can find a male threaded adapter and some PVC pipe. My favorite is a loose L shape that I use to extend the return and using the same eyeball while running the pump on high it works quite well.

Here is my thread.