Old Pool, New Water - What to do?

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Smykowski said:
In response to your other question about lowering CYA with backwashing, it won't be enough. In a clean pool, the sand filter will get dirty very slowly. I backwash mine once every 4-6 weeks. If you only use tablets, you'll probably need to replace water more often than that.
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Okay, so taking this with a grand assualt...

As I mentioned, I purchased the TF-100 kit and got the XL package as well so I have enough to play with. The more I read about tabs, the more I dislike them as well. Bleach, baking soda, CYA and calcium hardener will be my goto chems.

So thinking through this logically, once the pool is established and clear, I'll need to test the FC daily. If low, add (Clorox) Bleach. *Any specific one?*
Other than that, it's pretty hands off as the PH, CH, TA, and CYA won't change much as I'm not draining / refilling and not using tabs / powdered shock.

Is this basic logic correct?
 
The PH does tend to drift around slowly. FC levels require constant attention. In most pools PH only needs occasional adjusting, but in a few pools PH will also be constantly changing. You should certain start out testing PH daily. If it proves to be stable you can check PH a bit less frequently.

TA, CH, and CYA should all be fairly stable and are normally only tested once a week.
 
Store brands are equally good as Clorox, especially for pools. It's quite common for liquid Chlorine to languish on shelves of small harware stores and home centers as well. It's best to buy store brand bleach wherever it moves quickly. This insures you getting the freshest possible. Bleach degrades over not too long a time.

Plain, un-scented store brand bleach at 8.25% is what you want. Some are also labeled easy pour, and outdoor bleach. These can contain soaps or thickeners you don't want.

At first pH and FC daily. For FC use the FAS DPD kit daily until you are able to predict what levels you will have with fair accuracy. This will come faster than you ever imagine. It will change some with weather/Sunlight and bather load. Pretty soon you'll be able to have a very good feel for what the pool needs, even prior to testing. Until that becomes comfortable, do at least daily testing of these two critical parameters.
 
I wouldn't go out and buy Calcium until you determine if you need any since vinyl pools don't require it for the pool itself. Cement pools require calcium so that the water doesn't leach calcium out of the cement itself which causes breakdown. Each persons water supply varies in calcium content. Mine is quite soft (40ish) whereas the water out west in AZ is chock full of calcium and too much can be a problem, especially since the only way to get it out of the pool is to drain and replace with calcium free (or lower) water.
 
YippeeSkippy said:
I wouldn't go out and buy Calcium until you determine if you need any since vinyl pools don't require it for the pool itself. Cement pools require calcium so that the water doesn't leach calcium out of the cement itself which causes breakdown. Each persons water supply varies in calcium content. Mine is quite soft (40ish) whereas the water out west in AZ is chock full of calcium and too much can be a problem, especially since the only way to get it out of the pool is to drain and replace with calcium free (or lower) water.
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Ah, I think I do remember reading that somewhere that Vinyl pools don't require Calcium. So even if my water is softer, do I still need it?
 
Check with your local pool store for their chlorine prices. You will have to "rent" their jugs but in the end it comes out cheaper. I get mine from the local Ace Hardware store. Pool stores tend to have 11% chlorine so make sure you factor that in when you are pricing it.

I use around 7 cups of chlorine each day. It goes up and down on need due to sun, rain, use, etc. Over time you will learn your pools needs.

You are doing a good job learning how to care for your pool!

Now for when you SLAM it to get it clear go ahead and load up on the store brand of plain, unscented bleach. As much as you can fit in your truck.

Good luck and let us know when you are ready to start!

PLEASE take a pic as we LOVE to see green to clean!

Kim
 
eric.mathison said:
Okay, so I think I'm all caught up on my reading. Now, I'm ready to start slamming the pool according to http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/3913-Turning-Your-Green-Swamp-Back-into-a-Sparkling-Oasis.

Couple questions:
1. CYA will take a week to completely dissolve in a sock. Do I need to wait the week before I start slamming?
2. What is the waiting period for PH adjustments before I can add Bleach?
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1) No. Just assume it's there already.
2) Half an hour with the pump running ought to be sufficient mix time.
 

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eric.mathison said:
Okay, so taking this with a grand assault...
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Thank you for starting my day with a nice chuckle. I don't know if you typed that on purpose or just didn't know that the idiom for having a little doubt about the truth of a matter is "taking it with a grain of salt", but I sure did enjoy reading it the first time!

At any rate, I like your idea of first pumping the muck off the bottom with a sump pump before really doing much of anything, but I'm wondering if it might be easier just to scoop it out with a net (or even a plastic snow shovel if it's that thick!) I am also wondering where you got the idea that lowering the water level in an above ground vinyl pool is bad on a short term basis, because the sump pump would pump more muck faster if you didn't keep adding water.

I would urge you consider converting to a saltwater pool and using a chlorine generator. Apart from ease and long term cost, the main reason is that you are not as likely to get high CC, which is that "chlorine smell" that burns your eyes that is frequently found in non-saltwater pools.
 
Vince-1961 said:
Thank you for starting my day with a nice chuckle. I don't know if you typed that on purpose or just didn't know that the idiom for having a little doubt about the truth of a matter is "taking it with a grain of salt", but I sure did enjoy reading it the first time!

At any rate, I like your idea of first pumping the muck off the bottom with a sump pump before really doing much of anything, but I'm wondering if it might be easier just to scoop it out with a net (or even a plastic snow shovel if it's that thick!) I am also wondering where you got the idea that lowering the water level in an above ground vinyl pool is bad on a short term basis, because the sump pump would pump more muck faster if you didn't keep adding water.

I would urge you consider converting to a saltwater pool and using a chlorine generator. Apart from ease and long term cost, the main reason is that you are not as likely to get high CC, which is that "chlorine smell" that burns your eyes that is frequently found in non-saltwater pools.
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Ha! I didn't even realize the similarity there. What I meant was, I am going to put everything I can (grand assualt) into the post. Completely different from the meaning of a grain of salt. Lol. Funny though and thanks for mentioning it :)

As far as the sump pump, I mainly wanted to dilute the water a bit. I was con tinuously filling at the same rate as well around 8 gpm. So essentially this was a slow filter of the water to waste. I pulled a lot of the algae off the top as well, but I'm still going to have to brush and shock to kill everything.

I plan to get a swg in the future, but need a lot more education on them.
 
Vince-1961

CC can happen in any Chlorinated pool. Typically that situation is most prevalent in indoor pools that are mis managed. Any pool with high CC is mis-managed from a chlorine standpoint.
 
The CYA can dissolve quite quickly if you help it along by kneading the sock. Once it's dissolved from the sock is when you want to give it a week before re-testing. Once you put it into the pool it's recommended you go ahead and use whatever target number you're trying to get to as the number for your chlorine level until that week is up and you get a chance to re-test.
 
If the seals gone then that moisture will soon cause the gauge to get sticky or fail.

If you need testing materials you can order a really nice gauge from them too. I found out you want to keep it out of direct sunlight as it will over the summer darken the fluid. I have a drink cup over mine as the equipment doesn't have any protection.

http://tftestkits.net/Pressure-Gauge-Glycerin-filled-2-5-Bottom-Mount-p77.html
 
Well, I got the new parts ordered. They'll be in next week. In the meantime, I went ahead and tested this swamp and here are the results, and no surprise (it's been drained and closed for over a year):
FC: 0, pH: 8.2 (I remember my aquarium needing 8.2), TA: 30, CH: 25, CYA: 0

What it seems, is the pool is indeed a swamp or oversized aquarium. If I remember correctly, the previous owners just filled it with tap water for a quick sale and I honestly haven't touched it since we bought the house, so the CYA value is probably correct.

I see an issue though. I need to get my pH to around 7.2 for slamming. With TA so low and pH so high, how can I get them balanced? Do I adjust TA first, further increasing pH? Or use acid to lower pH and decreasing TA?
 
You get the pH down to 7.2 or so and then you SLAM. After the SLAM is done and you've completed the OCLT then you start to raise your TA with baking soda. You might need to adjust the pH down after adding the baking soda.
 

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