Hey guys, Brand new member and pool newbie. We live in Rock central in Texas LOL, so I bought the kids a small above ground pool for the summer. Just got it set up and almost full now. I am starting to look at the chemicals and levels needed. Did a quick test with a strip that came in a kit we bought. PH was 7.5 but we are on well water and the Alk is 250, actually probably higher. I read to use Muriatic Acid which I happen to have some for my masonry company. But with the high levels I have I was worried about having to add too much to the water. I did a quick calculation and to get down to around 110 I would have to add about 5 quarts. The pool is 6000 gallons. Its 16ft round and 4ft deep.
The kit I bought had a bottle for PH, a bottle for chlorine and a bag of Shock. I didn't use the PH since it was ok, I added 2 oz for Chlorine and will test it to fine tune it. Not real sure what the Shock is used for other than as a type of cleaner.
So your help is greatly appreciated.
Correct me if I missed it, but I don't see that you have yet put any significant chlorine into the pool... 2 oz. initially, plus a 'couple more oz' later doesn't really get you far in 6000 gallons. Or, at least, it won't last long without CYA (cyanuric acid) stabilizer in the water, and you will have to add more chlorine frequently, as sunlight and bathers use up what is there. Without adequate chlorine levels, your pool is likely to start growing stuff (algae) pretty quickly. Do you have any kind of test kit, maybe one of those two-chamber deals with one side for chlorine (reads up to 5) and the other for pH? Those can quickly be picked up at any pool place as well as many/most hardware stores, and will help you keep on track short-term. Long-term, one of the recommended test kits (someone has probably already linked to a description) will allow you to manage the pool, know what to add, and when to add it.
Take a look at PoolMath
http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html to see how much bleach is needed for your pool. With 0 CYA, your recommended goals for FC (free chlorine) are between 1 and 3. I have PoolMath set for my 5500 gallon pool at the moment (similar in size to yours), and it shows almost 3 cups of 6.25% bleach to add 2 ppm of FC (just as an example of the kind of quantities I'd expect you to need for your pool). Even if your are using 'liquid pool shock' -- i.e. stronger bleach -- you'd still be using ~ 1 1/2 cups for 2 ppm.
If the bag of 'shock' you have happens to be dichlor, you could add some of that to start getting CYA into the water (PoolMath, down near the bottom, has an option for entering different types of chemicals, and it will tell you how they change pool chemistry -- dichlor adds both chlorine and CYA to the water). Don't make chlorine levels too high, however, if you expect to have people swimming in the pool.
And read up in Pool School, as previously suggested, so you can start getting a better understanding of how to run and maintain your new pool. Have fun!
