New Owner, Start up questions

[NewPoolYork]

Hi All,

Long time pool school and forum reader but didn't have a pool until today. I am now the owner of a 13,500 gallon 24' round and I have a few questions.

The bulk of the water 12,000 gallons was trucked in and the rest was topped off with the household water hose (municipal). I am running through what I believe are the correct steps, but I probably should have asked before doing anything.
TF100 kit untouched water test result were:
FC - 0
CC - 0
pH - 7.8
TA - 180
CH - not tested
CYA - 0


I am now
1. sock dissolving 4lb of stabilizer to get my CYA to 40. (pool calc. called for 4lb 8 oz.)
2. Added 121oz of 8.25% bleach (pool cals called for 102 oz; I figure the extra would not hurt with no CYA in the water)
3. waited and hour then Added 54oz of 31.45 muriatic acid.

My hope was to reduce PH to 7.2 to lower TA and then aerate to raise the PH back to 7.5

Test After:
FC - 8
CC - .5
pH - 7.4
TA - 170
CH - 100
CYA - not tested


So now for the questions:
1. Should I continue on the path of lower PH and aerating?
2. Is there a preference on muriatic v dry acid?
3. Water has a green tint after adding chlorine. Based on what I've read here I think it's metal in the water. Should I order ProTeam Metal Magic now or wait?
4. Is there a post that reviews how the most common chemicals should be introduce to the pool? e.g. sock, skimmer, near return, etc

Thanks.

NewYorkPool

 

[tim5055]

I'm going to hazard a guess and say that on a new fill you probably don't have copper in the water (green). Take a look at it in the sun tomorrow.

I prefer muratic acid because of it's lower cost.

Your numbers look good and you have a good plan moving forward. I don't know if I would mess with the pH/TA jsut to try to reach a magic number. Give it a little time and see how your pool reacts to where it is.

Here re your "ideal" numbers
FC per CYA
pH 7.5-7.8
TA 70-90+
CH 0-350 (Don't add)
CYA 30-50

 

[pooldv]

Most fill water starts with a hint of green and clears up in a few days. I agree that letting everything settle in for a few days is a good idea. Sounds like you have a good handle on it. Are you familiar with the Chlorine CYA Chart to make sure you maintain an adequate chlorine level?

Welcome to TFP! Great first post!

This Recommended Pool Chemicals article covers some of what you are asking about adding chemicals. CYA is really the only one with the sock trick. Everything else is pretty much pour in the pool in front of a return with the pump running.

 

[NewPoolYork]

Thanks for the feedback.

The green appears to have gone away. I don't know why and would really like to understand. Should I just chalk it up to new water?

Today test after the pool returned to blue are:
FC - 7
CC - 0
pH - 7.2
TA - 180
CH - not tested
CYA - (sock dissolve in progress)

Should I work on the TA or just leave it be for now? Not sure what I can do beyond wait since the PH is already at 7.0.

It's suppose to be 90 degrees this weekend and my sons are chomping at the bit to get in the pool. Any reason I should keep them out? My original thought was to get a full week of testing done to get a baseline for how the pool levels behave. Basically reduce the number of variables until I got a handle on the water.

 

[Patrick_B]

You really can't do anything about the TA until the pH comes up, but its fine in your pool, (with your numbers) where it is anyhow. Let them swim, and enjoy it.

 

[Richard320]

Your CH is low enough that you're not in any imminent risk of scaling. I'd just adjust pH down when it rises to 7.8 and TA will come down over a period of time.

If you've read the How-to on lowering TA, you'll have seen You shouldn't lower TA just to reach a target number.

 

[NewPoolYork]

Thanks for pointing that out. I'm sure I read it in the past, but missed it on my recent review. I skipped straight to the "how-to".