First Swim

[kbradford]

Pool company just started up our pool for the first time! They added some chemicals and did a quick scrub, and said we’d be good to swim in an hour.

Now an hour later and the water looks fairly cloudy. I tested with some hottub strips I have and chlorine and alkaline and good, but Ph is off the charts high.

Is this really safe to swim? I know they rushed to get our pool open for a party this weekend, and said they’d be back Monday to fine tune. But I don’t want to get anyone sick.

 

[mknauss]

Not likely to get sick. May get skin and eye irritation.

You need your own proper test kit.

 

[dBsooner]

Any idea how high? You can always get some muriatic acid from Lowe's and lower your pH slightly.

But you need a good test kit to really know where you stand. Strips and pool store tests are flawed.

 

[kbradford]

It’s bright pink on my hottub strip, so bright it’s not even on the scale. I have a real test kit arriving Monday.

 

[mknauss]

You can add enough acid to lower the pH by 0.4 points. I would not do more without real data.

 

[kbradford]

Got a real test kit and ph is over 8.4. Added half a gallon of muratic acid. Should I see results overnight?

 

[PoolStored]

Got a real test kit and ph is over 8.4. Added half a gallon of muratic acid. Should I see results overnight?

30 minutes

 

[kbradford]

Do I have to mix it around? It's been a couple hours and still coming in 8.4+.

 

[PoolStored]

Do I have to mix it around? It's been a couple hours and still coming in 8.4+.

Do you have the pump running? You should always add muriatic with the pump running. Pour in a pencil stream over a return. With pump running, should mix in 30 minutes.

Got a real test kit and ph is over 8.4.

Which test kit?

 

[kbradford]

Yah, pump is running but only 1 skimmer is working so just slow going. Test kit is a Pentair 2-way that came with the equipment, getting a better one tommorow.

 

[PoolStored]

Which one are you getting tomorrow?

Do you have pool math? You should get it. Link-->PoolMath
It will help you with chemical additions.

For now, I'll help you...how big is your pool in gallons?

 

[kbradford]

Thanks! 25,000 gallons.

 

[PoolStored]

Sorry, missed you have one coming...corrected my question.

 

[PoolStored]

What is the concentration of your Muriatic...should say something like 31.45% or some number of degrees baume on the package...or post a picture of what you have.

 

[kbradford]

Yah, it's 31.45%. About 3 hours ago I added half a gallon. Didn't budge, so about 30 minutes ago I added the rest of the gallon.

My builder texted me and said high ph was fine to swim, but to add a gallon of muratic acid to help. So I've pretty much done that at this point.

 

[PoolStored]

Is this a plaster pool?

 

[kbradford]

Yes

 

[dBsooner]

 

[PoolStored]

Without knowing what startup procedure he is using, I would follow his instructions. Any advice we might give could alter his startup and potentially damage your new pool. I (we) don't want to do that...get instructions from him for chemistry expectations and we can guide you to follow them...

As Marty said, you are not likely to get sick. May get skin and eye irritation from the high pH.

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

 

[PoolStored]

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