Beginner Chemical Purchase

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garroyo130

Well-known member
Mar 24, 2023
81
Austin, TX
New to the forum and to pool ownership and after calling a couple of service companies, planning to do my own cleaning/chemicals. We had our pool started up a week ago and they did the initial service. I have a TF Pro kit on the way so testing should be covered. I've read through the pool school beginner articles but was wondering what everyone would recommend as far as types and quantities of chemicals for a beginner to purchase? Also what is the best place to purchase?


Details about pool:
12,000 gallon
No heater, no swg
2hp Jandy ePump currently running 24hrs and doing about 3.5 turnovers/day

Any assistance is appreciated!
 
Hey garroyo and Welcome !!!

Great choice on the test kit, you don't even need to know what it means for now, we'll teach you as we go.

For now, you need chlorinating liquid and Muriatic acid. MA is found at pool stores or the pool or paint aisle of anywhere that has either.

Walmart has Pool Essentials chloinating liquid in the $5s in the pool aisle these days. Lowes has the same for $7 each and Home Depot has HDX for up to $7 - $10 per gallon in their pool aisle. Check the date codes for fresh supply.

Chlorine Date Code Decoder - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com


Which plaster start up proces are you following for the first month ?
 
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We have a pebbletec finish and were told we didn't need to do anything special as far as start up.

As a follow up question, is there anything you would recommend blindly adding to maintain the pool while I get the test kit?
 
garroyo130 said:
is there anything you would recommend blindly adding to maintain the pool while I get the test kit?
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Yes. 5ppm a day of chlorine per PoolMath.

If no CYA has been added in any form, you can assume it's 0 and can work on getting it up to 30, also per poolmath. Get granular CYA / stabilizer available all the places that have chlorine. Make sure the bag says 100% and hang it in a sock, Carrot on a stick like, in front of a return. Squeeze the sock after a while and it will come right out.
 
lots of important articles in one place
👇
Pool Care Basics
Since they seem to have left you in the dark 👇
www.troublefreepool.com

Start-up New Plaster

The first few months are the most criticle for a newly plastered pool. We're here to share best practices to ensure the plaster will last for many years.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Do you have a list of what they added/did?
 
I may have misspoken. I believe what was used was ecofinish with pebbletec.

I don't have a list of what they added/did. The only thing I saw was muriatic acid.

As far as adding chlorine, is all chlorine made equal? I noticed on the pool math app there were various options. Anything in particular anyone would recommend?
 
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garroyo130 said:
As far as adding chlorine, is all chlorine made equal? I noticed on the pool math app there were various options. Anything in particular anyone would recommend?
Click to expand...
The ones I rec'd are 10% chlorinating liquid. Household bleaches are the same Sodium Hyperchorite but 5%-6% and almost all now have polymers added like splash less, some or another technology or grape flavored. Said polymers can cause foaming and cause issues so we generally try to avoid household bleach. Now on the cleaning aisle, instead of the laundry aisle, is 'disinfectant bleach which has no additives but is even weaker than household bleach for a similar price. Stick to the 10% at WM/ HD / Lowes/ Ace / etc. Or the 12.5% at the pool store if the price is right.

And use the date decoder above to make sure it's fresh. At 6 months in most cases, it's half strength from degradation.
 
liquid chlorine (listed as bleach in poolmath) is what you want to use-
all the other forms of chlorine add other things & affect other parameters besides fc.
www.google.com

How to Chlorinate Your Pool

Before chlorinating your pool, you should know these simple tips. Learn the best way to add chlorine to your pool.
www.google.com www.google.com
 
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Setup your pool details when you fire up the app the first time and then click the FC tab.

Select 0 for current level and 5 for target level. Then select 10%, 128 oz (gallon), etc an it will tell you at the bottom to add XX ounces.
 
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garroyo130 said:
I'm starting to question the claims I've seen about $200/year on pool chemicals ...
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Prices have doubled or more from 2+ years ago. Chlorine was in the $2 range when I got here.

SWG maths are becoming more and more favorable for the smaller pools. Big pools always made out with ROI.
 
Also for liquid chlorine- check around at farm stores & pressure washing supply places for bulk amounts.
You should add liquid chlorine slowly infront of a running return away from the pool wall. Brush the area.
 
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