New Remodel - Where To Start

[doloskeeter]

Pool was filled two weeks ago, I'm using 3 pucks in the in-line chlorinator, monitoring PH closely. I finally got the right test for chlorine and CYA test so I'm ready to move on. The pool was maintained by a pool guy, but I'm going to maintain it myself especially since it needs so much TLC right now.

.5 FC
.5 CC
1.0 TC
PH 7.8
TA 79
CH 226
CYA - zilch

I read on a previous post where I can buy some stabilizer from Home Depot but I don't know the name of it -- and gather I should increase it to 10 or 15 and then let the pucks slowly increase it to 30. From there, I don't know what to do.

 

[BoDarville]

Welcome to TFP!

When buying stabilizer, check the ingredients and look for 100% cyanuric acid (CYA). That's the only ingredient that should be in there. The brand name is much less important.

I would suggest using the granular stabilizer (CYA) to get the pool's CYA up to 30 ppm. This will happen much faster than using pucks. For your 14K gallon pool, you will need about 56-58 oz of granular CYA to get to 30ppm. Place the granular CYA in an old gym sock and hang it in front of a return jet. Use a piece of sturdy lawn furniture to tie it off or tie it off to the handle of an old bleach bottle filled with water, sand, or gravel. Give the sock an occasional squeeze to speed up the dissolving process. It may take several days for the granules to dissolve. After adding the stabilizer, aim to maintain chlorine at ~ 4ppm as a target.

Once you are at 30 ppm, see how the pool's chlorine (FC) demand (depletion) is. if your pool gets a lot of sun and the FC is being depleted too quickly you may need to raise the CYA level. At that point, you can temporarily use the pucks to slowly raise it while simultaneously adding chlorine. I would raise CYA in 10ppm increments and see how the FC demand is at that level before raising it further. Note also that you will need to bump your target FC level up slightly whenever you raise CYA. Refer to the Chlorine/CYA Chart.

At some point, you will need to switch to liquid bleach as the primary chlorine source over the pucks. Continued use of trichlor pucks will eventually raise the CYA level too high until it eventually reaches a point that it is impractical to maintain a proper chlorine level.

Before you go much further, I would suggest familiarizing yourself with ABC's of Pool Chemistry and PoolMath (see menu towards top of page or link in my sig).

 

[doloskeeter]

Do I run the pool 24/7 while those granules are dissolving?

And to verify what I think I read, after the stabilizer is dissolved, get the chlorine up to 4 ppm as a target using bleach. Don't use the pucks until I determine if the CYA needs to be increased from 30 ppm as the pool gets sun all day long.

I've been all over this site, read and re-read, it sinks in more every day but I don't have any confidence yet.............

 

[BoDarville]

Since you are adding a fairly hefty dose at one time, running the pump 24/7 would probably be best as that would help dissolve the CYA in less time. When I add CYA (rarely) I am topping it off and therefore am adding a much smaller dose of stabilizer. Under those conditions, I run the pump a couple of hours or so above my normal run time until it dissolves. Another thing to note...as the water warms up, it will dissolve faster.

I would get the FC up to around 4 ppm immediately after adding stabilizer - no need to wait for it to dissolve. However, wait between 5 and 7 days before testing the CYA even if it dissolves before then. If it does not dissolve by then (unlikely), then wait a few days after it has dissolved before testing it. But, from an FC dosing standpoint, assume all the stabilizer is in the pool from the moment you add it.

Once the CYA is at 30 ppm, I recommend holding at that level and see what your FC depletion rate is. Since FC will be consumed by sunlight even in a well-managed pool that is free of organic contaminants, you might need to increase the CYA. A general rule of thumb is if you are losing more than 50% of FC daily under your normal operating conditions (meaning no unusually high bather loads or other unusual circumstances) and your pool gets a good amount of sunlight, then you should consider adding more CYA. Add in increments of 10 ppm. I am conservative with adding CYA since it is much easier to add than it is to get rid of it if the level gets too high.

 

[BoDarville]

...and gather I should increase it to 10 or 15 and then let the pucks slowly increase it to 30.

I realized I never directly addressed this point. If you tested your CYA on a pool that was not recently refilled or had not undergone a substantial water replacement and got a result of "zero", the CYA could be anywhere from 0-20 ppm since readings below 20 usually do not register on the test. In that case, you would dose the stabilizer to increase the CYA 10-15 ppm, and retest after a week. If your CYA at that point was at least 20 ppm, you could use pucks to slowly raise it to 30 ppm.

In your case, you started off with a new fill. Fill water, whether coming from a municipality or a well, would not have any CYA in it. Therefore, you would be starting at true zero. The pucks you have added since your refill will have added a negligible amount of CYA, especially if they have not completely dissolved. Therefore, you would dose using granular CYA to hit 30 ppm, remove the pucks from the chlorinator, and use liquid bleach for chlorine. If you later determine a need to increase CYA, you can go with the pucks to raise it slowly.

BTW, if you remove the pucks and they are not fully dissolved, you can dry them off, wrap them in plastic wrap, and put them back in their bucket for later reuse. I do this with any partially-dissolved pucks when I get back from vacation.

 

[doloskeeter]

Plan is to get CYA in it tonight. Sock method, 56-58 oz of granular stabilizer, probably run for 30 minutes and then put in 116 oz, or 1.2 jugs of 6% bleach. Remove pucks. Run the pool 24/7 again until the stabilizer dissolves.

From there, it's the TFP method which is under Pool School and test test test. I'll be in touch I'm sure.

I'm hoping Home Depot has it because other than Leslies Pool Supply, the only place close to me is Dickson Brothers and they close at 6 PM.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[anonapersona]

s OK to go into Leslie's, you can buy things there. In fact it may be wise to start testing the staff, they may be smart about pools or they may be high pressure salesmen. But I'd try Walmart first for stabilizer as the HTH brand they carry is fast dissolving.