First year opening with BBB!

[mdpennin]

We successfully maintained a sparkling pool last season using the BBB! Now, it is time to open our pool for the first time ourselves and I just want to make sure I do everything right. We have a 30,000 gal inground pool with vinyl liner and automatic pool cover. Here are my readings: Ph 7.0, Cl 0, FC 0, CYA <20 (couldn't see the dot with the vial full), TA 220

What should I do first...and second...and third!

Could someone just get me going? I appreciate the help in advance because I know someone will respond (you always do)!

 

[Elizabeth Jacobs]

adjust your ph and TA. then shock.

 

[jblizzle]

What does your water look like?
What was your CC level?

I would leave the pH on the low side if you are about to start the shock process (and TA can be dealt with last).

I would add about 10-20ppm more CYA (which should put you between 30-40ppm) and at the same time raise you FC up to shock level. If the water is clear and you have no CC, perform the OCLT to see if anything is in the water. If you fail, then continue the shock process.

 

[mdpennin]

CC was 0 also. Our water is slightly cloudy. Thanks for your input.

 

[mdpennin]

When I opened, we had no CYA and no FC

When I opened, we had no CYA and no FC. I added 4 pounds of solid CYA and probably 15 gallons of bleach. I did that on Tuesday (3 days ago). I still have CYA that is registering and no FC. I thought that the pool would probably not hold onto bleach until it had CYA. Is that correct? Should I wait for my CYA to register before dumping more bleach. I was attempting to bring it up to shock level but I felt like I was throwing away my money b/c it was not holding onto any of the bleach.

 

[JasonLion]

You need to shock the pool. The process is throughly described in the Pool School article on how to shock your pool.

You can't retest CYA for a week, but none the less you treat the pool as if the CYA has all dissolved starting 24 hours after to originally added it.

If you are worried about losing chlorine to sunlight, do most of your shocking in the evening. Regardless, adding more chlorine to shock level as often as possible is the key to successfully shocking the pool. If you add chlorine less than twice a day you are giving up whatever progress you have made up to this point.