Yet another newbie checking in.

[DodginAlgae]

Hi gang,

Just got our first pool filled today. I've been reading a ton here on the site and am just loving all the info.

As usual, I do everything in the wrong order. I ordered the TF-100 kit, then became a Donor here. At any rate, here are the numbers.

FC 2
CC 0
TA 360
CH 190
CYA 0
PH 7.2

CH is high because we just have hard water. We have a water softener, but the external hose bibs bypass it. If I end up with any scaling, I'll replumb one of the bibs to use the softened water and do some replacement at that point. Of course the chlorine that came with the pool is the calcium based stuff, so I'll be looking to put that on craigslist soon.

Started off adding in a healthy 182oz of 6% before letting the kiddos in. Took about 3 minutes to pour that in near the return jet and it had a couple of hours to mix around before the ladder was together and everything ready to go.

TA seems high, I'm thinking I might have to add some muriatic acid to bring the PH level down and then let aeration take PH back up from what I'm reading? I believe that will help lower TA.

Only aeration source I currently have is the kids playing in the pool.

I added another 134oz of 6% bleach over about 2 minutes (trying to get FC up to around 6) and put in the first 2lbs of 4lbs of granulated stabilizer that came with the pool in a sock in the skimmer. Once the sock is limp I'll test again, but planning on another 2lbs of stabilizer, then I'm out of granules and will only have the liquid left they gave me and will switch to that. Shooting for 40 or so CYA to start and see how it goes.

Well, I that's about all I can think to say for now. Thank you all again for making this journey much less scary and getting me off on the right foot. And to think I almost let the pool store talk me into Baquicil.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. :lol: Your grasp of your pool chemistry is very good. Before you lower TA (there is an article in Pool School on how to do it), please redo the TA test.

This time, wipe the dropper tip with a damp paper towel about every 3 drops or so when putting in the R-0009. Very new kits develop static between the squeeze bottle and the R-0009 itself and cause the drops to "jump" off the tip before they are fully formed. The damp towel will eliminate that. That effect will go away in a couple of weeks.

Your TA may still be too high but hopefully not so much.

Your other numbers and plans look very good.

 

[DodginAlgae]

My goodness when will I ever learn to just follow directions? Dripping wet having just been in the pool and not wanting to go inside and dry off to get a paper towel, I read the directions to wipe off the bottle between drops . But I said to myself, "Self, just be careful a second drop doesn't fall in. That's all they are worried about." Stupid me. What you are saying makes perfect sense. A don't remember a ton from my Chemistry class back in 1988, but I do remember that following exact directions are very important.

Thanks for the reinforcing the tip to wipe off the dropper. I'll retest this evening and report back. Great test kit, great site. I almost think I'm enjoying the chemistry more than the actual pool!

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Thanks for the reinforcing the tip to wipe off the dropper. I'll retest this evening and report back. Great test kit, great site. I almost think I'm enjoying the chemistry more than the actual pool!

I suspect you'll see some of that TA come down. My own pool "dropped" from 180 to 120 when I improved my test techniques. There were two things I did - I started continuously swirling the vial with my right hand and using the bottle with the left. I also started holding a patch of wet paper towel in my right hand where I could rub the tip of the bottle between drops.

Perhaps as much as 10ppm of this drop could be due to acid added before changing methods. Later after getting the 120ppm baseline the acid amounts from pool calculator seemed to have the expected impact so I suspect the majority of the change from 180 to 120 was fixing my measurement errors not actual TA loss.

 

[DodginAlgae]

Ok. Reran the TA test wiping after *every* drop.

Now, with the more accurate testing it reads TA=270.

PH was still around 7.2. It is just the the little color block tester to check that, right? I didn't see any other method in the instructions.

Also we have maybe 10 - 15 little two legged bug thingies swimming around in there. Not sure how to deal with that, didn't see it in pool school.

FC 4.5. Adding another 4 cups of bleach before I leave. Pool calculator says that should get me up near 6.

Have a funeral to attend tonight, so that's all the time for the pool for this day.

Tomorrow night I'll add muriatic acid to reduce pH to 7.0 and then aerate back up to 7.2 and rinse, lather, repeat to get that TA down.

I didn't measure CYA because I just started adding the 4lbs stabilizer last night, so I understand it will take up to a week to get an accurate CYA reading.

I figure I'll just take the FC back to 6 each night and I shouldn't have any issues as long as it never goes under 3 which is the bottom range for the 30 CYA that the stabilizer is working toward.

Fun stuff. Thanks again everyone for this site, it's an amazing resource.

 

[duraleigh]

add muriatic acid to reduce pH to 7.0 and then aerate back up to 7.2

aerate back up to around 7.8 (sometimes stopping at 7.6 and then dropping back down is a bit quicker overall.)

 

[DodginAlgae]

Ok, project "TA Reduction through Aeration" is going well. After about 24 hours of running the small fountain and the kids swimming for several hours, Got the pH up to 7.8. Add MA to drop pH back down to 7.1 and started aeration again. First go round reduced me from TA=270 to TA=230. Looks like I didn't buy enough MA, as I started off with purchasing only 3 gallons.

Had an interesting conversation at the Pool store, as they had the best prices on MA that I could find locally. He remarked that I must really know a lot about pools and asked how long I had been a pool owner. I told him, "Just a week. But I've been getting a really great education over at troublefreepool.com" He replied that BBB was a great method and they fully support and recommend it if people are willing to buy a great test kit and actually follow the program.

He also remarked that in 2012 it would be foolish of them to think that people aren't going to do research and solve some of their own problems, but also that some just don't care to do any work themselves. He said he hoped I didn't feel as if I had been "Pool stored".

Other than the fact that they offered me a Baquicil (funny how that rhymes with imbecile) option, I feel they have treated me very fairly.

How great would it be if pool stores would stock great test kits and offer training classes to new pool owners? Then again, some idiot would probably sue them when he didn't follow directions and greened out his pool and then blame them.

At any rate, found the conversation interesting. As always thanks for the wonderful community here.

 

[fast1971chevelle]

WOW.....that is truely a rare pool store employee and I'm sure he is right there are a lot of lazy people who don't want to bother taking care of their own pool because they think it is too hard or they have way too much money!!!!!!!