Flying Blind for a few days

[Jeffery]

Hello again, I am refilling my pool with tap water as we speak. It looks crystal clear. Hoping I can keep it that way.

Based on advice here, I have just ordered the TF100 test kit that is so highly recommended and should receive it in 5 days or so.

As I go to start my system up for the first time, assuming I get it running, should I be concerned about getting chemicals in here quickly. From what I've read, we can assume there is 0 CYA and 0 FC in city water. Do you feel it's important that I use pool math and start adding these immediately to prevent anything from taking hold?

Or, am I better to wait for the test kit to be certain, and then adjust for PH first as I have seen suggested on another post?

Thanks so much, Jeffery

 

[GreatCanadian]

Are you filling from a regular garden hose? That's a long fill for a 38,000 gallon pool, but nothing negative about it at all. I have a sump pump so what I do as I'm filling for the first time each spring is measure out the appropriate amount of CYA in a sock, put the sump pump in the pool for circulation, and hang the sock in the flow of the current. It takes me over 24 hours to fill my pool, and this gives me a one day head start on my CYA. I add some bleach when the pool is half full and some more when it's full. Usually my CYA has dissolved by the time the pool is filled.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't address your question. Yes, you can assume CYA level of zero for city water. And the chlorine level will be zero or 1 or close to it.
How sure you of your pool size? You don't want to add too much CYA. Too little is fine, but if you add too much you could be in the position of a partial drain and refill.

 

[Waldog]

I would use the pool calc to find out how much CYA to add in a sock in front of the return, and I would also caluclate for bleach and add that amount. If you don't get any CL in the pool it will go green, and quick.

 

[consoleman]

I did a drain and fill a few months ago. I started adding water around 7pm and by 7am the water was slightly green and was maybe 75% full. I tried to add CYA over a few days because i wanted to leave it a low as possible. The lower the CYA level the more quickly the sun will burn through the chlorine. I quickly learned if you don't want to add bleach everyday then its best to use a 50 - 60ppm CYA level (I also got help from the forum). It took me about 3 15oz packs of hth stabilzer at walmart ($20) to get the CYA to 60ppm.

So, I would not worry about the chlorine level since you are going to have to SLAM. I would get your CYA up as soon as the pool is filled and then adjust your PH (PH level is not accurate when your FC is 10ppm) since when you SLAM you will not be able to test for it.

Enjoy your water!!

 

[consoleman]

I don't like the sock in front of the return, Its too slow for me. I fill two socks with the powder, tie up the ends and let them soak in the pool for 30 min. Then I lay on the pool deck and I start squeezing and pinching the sock between my fingers to get the powder out (do not untie the sock) while the sock is underwater. I do this until all the power is out. The water will turn cloudy white where you are, the powder will not settle on the bottom of the pool as a result of this.

 

[Jeffery]

Thanks for the replies. I am running from a garden hose and I think it will be close to 24-30 hours to fill.

I recorded my water meter, so I am hoping this will give me a very good idea of actual volume. It would help if my wife stopped doing laundry.

Pool math says that 38,000 gals, if that turns out to be accurate, requires:

3 gallons or 4.1 (96 oz) jugs of bleach for FC of 5.

203 oz. by weight of stabilizer for a CYA of 40, which is in the mid-range. I understand to err on side of caution here. However, the pool does get full sun.

So you are saying I should get CYA started immediately. (I like the sump idea, and also dump in my FC.) I am not clear on why I need to SLAM. I thought shocking was primarily for water that needed to be remedied and cleared. I imagined I could go right to Maintain. What am I missing there?

Thank you all very much!

 

[GreatCanadian]

I refill my pool every year and never need to SLAM. Yes, squeezing the sock periodically will indeed speed up the addition of CYA. If he adds the CYA and chlorine while the pool is filling he won't have to SLAM. Various approaches, but he doesn't necessarily have to SLAM.

 

[GreatCanadian]

I think you should go ahead and get your CYA in there. But if it were me I would calculate at 33,000 gallons or so... just to be on the safe side..or even 30,000. You can always add more. When you have enough water to hang a sock in front of a sump pump, start on the CYA. That's what I do every year. Your pool is MUCH larger than mine. It took me 24 hours for 8,000 gallons with a garden hose!!

I actually tie the sock right to the outlet of the sump pump and lay the pump and sock on a bath math with suction cups stuck to the bottom of the pool. Just to keep CYA from direct contact with the liner. That may not be necessary in your pool as it isn't vinyl.

 

[consoleman]

Sorry, your right. I only had to SLAM because I work until 6 pm and by that time the water turned slightly green and CC went up. Keep in mind if you add bleach and have no CYA the sun will deplete it fast.

 

[Jeffery]

Okay. So the fill on my pool was only 28,000 gallons on the water meter. This after at least 4 different pool renovators ballparked it at 38,000 to 40,000. Maybe this was a sales tactic but I am shocked at how much smaller it is. The good news is that I did not jump the gun on CYA.

So, this is my current plan in action. Please let me know if this works.

Added 1.7 (121 oz) jugs of bleach to attain FC of 5.
Adding 150 oz by weight of hth stabilizer by sock method of GreatCanadian to achieve 40 CYA.

Once I get the test kit, I'll start to confirm these readings and add chlorine as need. I'll run pump daily and after a week of the CYA check and adjust PH.


Is that on the right track? Last question of the day: My father is an old pool school guy and was nice enough to buy me like $500 worth of chemicals as a gift, including so dichlor tablets. I told him I was not planning to use them and they screw up your pool and he looked at me like I'm out of my mind. If I am aware that they are going to slowly raise my CYA and monitor it, would I be okay to use these up? Or will I be banned from TFP for life?

Thanks!

 

[yeggim]

...Is that on the right track? Last question of the day: My father is an old pool school guy and was nice enough to buy me like $500 worth of chemicals as a gift, including so dichlor tablets. I told him I was not planning to use them and they screw up your pool and he looked at me like I'm out of my mind. If I am aware that they are going to slowly raise my CYA and monitor it, would I be okay to use these up? Or will I be banned from TFP for life?

Thanks!

There's really no ban on adding things here. There's some things that are not required and/or create more problems than they solve. Algaecides that contain metal is one example. It's all about knowing exactly what is in the substance and what it will do to your water once added. Down at the bottom of PoolMath there's Effects of adding chemicals. Very handy for figuring out what different chems will do to the pool.

I've had people give me bags of shock they no longer wanted. That's what they call it. I know that it's bags of Dichlor. I used a couple bags to raise my chlorine and CYA to my desired level when I opened this year. It also lowered my PH which was a little high. I'll use a one pound bag towards the end of the season for chlorine maintenance and to replace some CYA that's lost by backwashing and splash out. It's all about knowing what each chemical is and what it does once added to water.

 

[Divin Dave]

It sounds like you have a decent understanding of the pool chemistry and what adding stuff, like that shock, will do to it. You are way ahead of the game. Once your testk kit gets here, it will be easy as pie.

the pool math also has a volume calculator on it. you can add shallow end + deep end divided by 2 as the average depth. Id be interested in knowin of the pool math matches up with your water meter, minus the lanudry! LOL !

Okay. So the fill on my pool was only 28,000 gallons on the water meter. This after at least 4 different pool renovators ballparked it at 38,000 to 40,000. Maybe this was a sales tactic but I am shocked at how much smaller it is. The good news is that I did not jump the gun on CYA.

So, this is my current plan in action. Please let me know if this works.

Added 1.7 (121 oz) jugs of bleach to attain FC of 5.
Adding 150 oz by weight of hth stabilizer by sock method of GreatCanadian to achieve 40 CYA.

Once I get the test kit, I'll start to confirm these readings and add chlorine as need. I'll run pump daily and after a week of the CYA check and adjust PH.


Is that on the right track? Last question of the day: My father is an old pool school guy and was nice enough to buy me like $500 worth of chemicals as a gift, including so dichlor tablets. I told him I was not planning to use them and they screw up your pool and he looked at me like I'm out of my mind. If I am aware that they are going to slowly raise my CYA and monitor it, would I be okay to use these up? Or will I be banned from TFP for life?

Thanks!