I bought a house with a pool, and the pool guy I had almost completely drained my pool. He was trying to drain half to get cya down. He also forgot to turn off the pump but thankfully I remembered and saved the pump from running dry. This guy is a total flake and took my clean pool and turned it into an algae ridden swamp. There is maybe half a foot of water in the deep end and it's pretty nasty and the connected spa is full. I have read through pool school and didn't find an article on how to start with an empty pool. I have the taylor k-2006 test kit and I'm extra motivated to do this myself. Where should I start? Should I drain the tiny bit of nasty water left? I know a trip to to the pool store is in my future to get cya, liquid chlorine, etc. Any help greatly appreciated.
Starting with almost empty pool
- Thread starter hyness
- Start date
Is it just green or is there a lot of debris in the item?
If there's not a lot of debris I'd just fill it back up and shock it to get it clear.
If there's not a lot of debris I'd just fill it back up and shock it to get it clear.
That looks worth some cleaning up before filling, though there is nothing there that couldn't be cleaned up afterwards.
Starting up after a fresh fill is fairly easy. Add 2 ppm of chlorine the first evening. Adjust TA and PH if needed as soon as full and the pump is running. And start adding CYA the first or second day. Then you can take your time adjusting CH, if it needs any adjusting.
Starting up after a fresh fill is fairly easy. Add 2 ppm of chlorine the first evening. Adjust TA and PH if needed as soon as full and the pump is running. And start adding CYA the first or second day. Then you can take your time adjusting CH, if it needs any adjusting.
Sorry I should have mentioned that I have a DE filter and a Whisperflo filter. I'm guessing I'll need to add DE too?
Ok, pool is almost refilled. Please forgive me but I don't understand...
Does that mean add enough chlorine to go to FC 2 using the pool calculator using CYA 0? I have the K-2006 test kit but should I bother testing anything since I'm starting with fresh water?
Yes, that what Jason was meaning. Fill water won't have any CYA in it so just use the PC to figure how much bleach it takes to add 2 ppm FC to the pool.
There is still algae in the pool. I can see green stuff stuck to the walls and the on the bottom of the pool. Should I still do FC 2 or should I do the shock value of FC 10? Pool is full and I'm off to dollar tree to get a measuring cup.
You will want to start the shock process since you have visible algae, but will use less bleach if you get the CYA up to around 30ppm first.
From what I have read it can take a full week to register a CYA change. If so, does that mean I raise the CYA to 30 ppm and wait a week before adding bleach?
No. Just get the CYA started dissolving and then start the shock process (starting with a shock level of 10ppm FC) Once the CYA is dissolved, assume it is active and raise your shock FC level to that of the expected new CYA. Then after a week, check your true CYA level and adjust as required.
Make sure you set the pH before starting the shock process and then ignore the pH until you are done.
Make sure you set the pH before starting the shock process and then ignore the pH until you are done.
Ok, so I'm going to add 30 oz of stabilizer to get to CYA 30 according to the pool calculator, using a sock and sticking it in the skimmer. I'll measure the pH and see what I need to fix that. I will report back with numbers and what I did. Thanks again everyone for all of your help. I'm excited to be taking control of my pool and not be at the mercy of flaky pool guys.
30oz looks correct. You can also hang the sock in front of the return jet if you want to keep the skimmer open for debris. And squeeze it a couple times whenever you walk by.
Ok, placed sock in skimmer for now. Tested pH (my first test!) and it was very pink. I couldn't tell if it was 7.8 or 8.0. Recommended level is 7.5 to 7.8, so I'm probably a little high? Is it close enough to start shocking?
Retested using a sixth drop as recommended in the extended instructions and it's definitely lighter than 8.0, I'm going to say its 7.8 which I believe is at the top the scale
Ok, off to Lowe's to get muriatic acid. I'm kind of scared about handling that stuff, but I'll be extra careful. How long after adding it should I wait before retesting?
Edit: replaced censored word, sorry I'll watch my languange
Edit: replaced censored word, sorry I'll watch my languange
You can test 30-60 minutes after adding it with the pump running.
I lower the bottle into the pool so that the opening is just above water level and then pour slowly from 1-2" above the water in front of a return jet in the deep end. The bottle just floats, so it is easy to control and not likely to splash.
I lower the bottle into the pool so that the opening is just above water level and then pour slowly from 1-2" above the water in front of a return jet in the deep end. The bottle just floats, so it is easy to control and not likely to splash.
Ok, added the muriatic acid (very carefully), waited about 40 mins, retested and the pH is now down to 7.2! I'm kind of amazed, the very rough estimate I got for my pool must be fairly accurate. Anyway, now adding 100 oz of 10% bleach to get FC to 10. When should I check the chlorine level? Wait another 30 - 60 mins? It's starting to get dark around now.