First start up after refilling, need help balancing

[1slowcrx]

After months of prep/painting pool, im preparing to start filling the pool tomorrow and need help balancing along the way. I never owned or balanced a pool before but I'm excited to learn. There's always a 1st for everything. Not sure if i should have posted this topic elsewhere. Im Using a k2006 kit. I tested the water which I'll be using to fill the pool and current reading is alkalinity 140, ph 7.4, calcium 290. I didn't test for metal/Cooper but I bought a bottle of Clorox metal/stain/scale for insurance. I think alkalinity and ph might be good where it's at but I need to bring calcium down to 200? Please provide suggestions. Please keep in mind, it's a PAINTED pool and not replastered. I also have muriatic acid on hand if neeed.

 

[mknauss]

You cannot reduce calcium. Your fill water is 290 ppm, your CH will increase from there due to evaporation unless you fill your pool from a water softener.

You start with 3ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine, maintain that daily. Get 30 ppm worth of CYA dissolving using the sock method. Monitor FC and pH daily. When your pH reaches 8, lower it to 7.2. This will slowly reduce your TA and slow your pH rise.

Once the CYA is fully dissolved, test for it. Then start dissolving enough to get you to 50 ppm CYA. That should be good for the summer. Follow the FC/CYA for your daily addition of liquid chlorine.

 

[1slowcrx]

Can i use flocculant to lower calcium or do I even need to at my level? After balancing ph,alkalinity, and calcium, I was planning to add CYA first to reach 30. Is that the correct steps Or FC before CYA?

 

[mknauss]

The only way to remove calcium is to remove the water with calcium and replace it with water with less calcium. No chemical removes calcium from the water.

FC and CYA at same time. FC burns off daily and must be replenished with liquid chlorine. The CYA granules take a few days to fully dissolve. Be sure to use the sock method to dissolve it.

 

[1slowcrx]

Is there another option for adding CYA? Pool is empty, so it would take about 2days to fill to skimmer level before I can add CYA in a sock, than another few days for it to dissolve.

 

[1slowcrx]

completed pool fill Saturday morning and have been running pump since than as I try to balance everything. so far I've added muriatic acid, borax, cya, and chlorine. I seem to be having an issues with cya. its registering high, off the scale. I'm guessing 150 or more? I put about 3ml of test water in the k2006 kit and black dot disappear. I believe cya is fully dissolve already since I added to skimmer in a sock sat morning. reading as of this morning alkalinity 110, ph 7.6, calcium 250, FC 4, CC 0.2, CYA <150?

 

[jmikeb]

completed pool fill Saturday morning and have been running pump since than as I try to balance everything. so far I've added muriatic acid, borax, cya, and chlorine. I seem to be having an issues with cya. its registering high, off the scale. I'm guessing 150 or more? I put about 3ml of test water in the k2006 kit and black dot disappear. I believe cya is fully dissolve already since I added to skimmer in a sock sat morning. reading as of this morning alkalinity 110, ph 7.6, calcium 250, FC 4, CC 0.2, CYA <150?

nice looking pool!
so, how much cya did you add?

 

[1slowcrx]

I added 10lbs of homedepot pooltime stabilizer. I had 2 5lbs jug and threw it all in there over the course of a day. I think I added more than I should have but I don't think enough to drive the levels that high but I could be wrong. I been reading, and the recommendation is to partially drain & refill. i'm hoping I don't have to go that route. I just filled pool, so this months bill is already going to be skyhigh. this is my first pool and I have kids, so im tring to get the perfect balance so I can learn and make it safe for the kids without any concerns.

 

[jmikeb]

I added 10lbs of homedepot pooltime stabilizer. I had 2 5lbs jug and threw it all in there over the course of a day. I think I added more than I should have but I don't think enough to drive the levels that high but I could be wrong. I been reading, and the recommendation is to partially drain & refill. i'm hoping I don't have to go that route. I just filled pool, so this months bill is already going to be skyhigh.

something is wrong... 10lbs in a 38k pool would only go to 32ppm. i’d be suspect of testing error or bad reagents... please retest

 

[1slowcrx]

I tested 3times already and it was always so high that I cant get an accurate number. I follow instructions to the Tee so I don't believes its testing error. how do you know if reagent is bad? what I can do is take a sample down to leslie's for comparison?

 

[mknauss]

Unless that pool is really deep throughout -- I question the 38000 gallon volume.

I would suggest doing some measuring and calculating!

 

[jmikeb]

I tested 3times already and it was always so high that I cant get an accurate number. I follow instructions to the Tee so I don't believes its testing error. how do you know if reagent is bad? what I can do is take a sample down to leslie's for comparison?

maybe, just to narrow it down. but we do know that it should read around 30 cya

 

[jmikeb]

Unless that pool is really deep throughout -- I question the 38000 gallon volume.

I would suggest doing some measuring and calculating!

yes, 38k is huge! but even if it was half that he wouldnt test that high. also, i assume he used the the same 38k to figure out his chlorine dosage and ended up very close to the 3ppm that you had suggested

just my 2 cents

mike

 

[1slowcrx]

i just recalculated to take into account the steps of spa and the entrance to the pool which is more shallow but for the most part its 6ft throughout. and puts me at about 30k gal.

 

[jmikeb]

i just recalculated to take into account the steps of spa and the entrance to the pool which is more shallow but for the most part its 6ft throughout. and puts me at about 30k gal.

do you remember how much bleach you added to get to 4 ppm? and what strength ?

 

[jmikeb]

i just recalculated to take into account the steps of spa and the entrance to the pool which is more shallow but for the most part its 6ft throughout. and puts me at about 30k gal.

one other thing... if you know how long it took to fill it and you know how many gallons a minute your water is, you can get very close to your total

 

[Oly]

Looking at your picture and knowing those coping blocks are about 12" long, I'm guessing you are over estimating your pool volume.
Post the actual dimensions of your pool.

 

[1slowcrx]

do you remember how much bleach you added to get to 4 ppm? and what strength ?

I added 3.5gal of home depot liquid shock chlorine, not sure on strength

one other thing... if you know how long it took to fill it and you know how many gallons a minute your water is, you can get very close to your total

it took me about 30hrs to fill but I have no club what the flow rate is.

Looking at your picture and knowing those coping blocks are about 12" long, I'm guessing you are over estimating your pool volume.
Post the actual dimensions of your pool.

the spa is 8wx8lx3-5Deep, pool 40lx18w(but tapers to 10ft),3-6deep

 

[jmikeb]

I added 3.5gal of home depot liquid shock chlorine, not sure on strength


it took me about 30hrs to fill but I have no club what the flow rate is.



the spa is 8wx8lx3-5Deep, pool 40lx18w(but tapers to 10ft),3-6deep

if you have two 5 gallon buckets... see how much you can fill in one minute, then it’s easy and mine was dead on accurate

 

[jmikeb]

I added 3.5gal of home depot liquid shock chlorine, not sure on strength


it took me about 30hrs to fill but I have no club what the flow rate is.



the spa is 8wx8lx3-5Deep, pool 40lx18w(but tapers to 10ft),3-6deep

something else is wacky... 3.5 gallons of 10% chlorine should have raised fc to 12 in a 30k pool. but you only got to 4ppm.
it could have been old though