Tips for a new pool owner?

[negativez0]

5 hours later and chlorine and free chlorine are back at zero. The pull was in direct sun for those 5 hours. I just added 3 more cups of chlorine per the calculator.

Alkalinity is up 10ppm, now at 80ppm.
pH is too low for my Taylor kit to show on the color bar. But calculating base demand shows 11 drops. The worthless test strips indicate a pH of 6.2.

Per the Taylor guidebook I would need about 7lbs of sodium carbonate. The pool math calculator says to add 20lbs.

Should I be adding 20lbs? What's the best method to add this to the pool? I still have two socks full of stabilizer in the skimmer

 

[PoolStored]

5 hours later and chlorine and free chlorine are back at zero. The pull was in direct sun for those 5 hours. I just added 3 more cups of chlorine per the calculator.

Alkalinity is up 10ppm, now at 80ppm.
pH is too low for my Taylor kit to show on the color bar. But calculating base demand shows 11 drops. The worthless test strips indicate a pH of 6.2.

Per the Taylor guidebook I would need about 7lbs of sodium carbonate. The pool math calculator says to add 20lbs.

Should I be adding 20lbs? What's the best method to add this to the pool? I still have two socks full of stabilizer in the skimmer

Half-life of chlorine without stabilizer is 50 minutes.

Us 20 Mule Team Borax to raise pH and raise TA a LITTLE. Sodium carbonate is soda ash. It will raise the pH and raise the TA a lot. Use pool math to determine how much. I would raise pH in .4 increments because you don't know where it is. Add the borax, pump and re-test after 30 minutes. Raise again by .4 until your pH starts with the number 7, then leave it.

Please go to this link and BOOKMARK it. For everything you want to add, it tells you HOW to add it. Look up "raising pH" on that page for how to add 20 Mule Team Borax.

Recommended Pool Chemicals

Which should I buy? TFP's recommended pool chemicals are cheap, easy, and won't unbalance your pool water.

www.troublefreepool.com

Rock On!

 

[PieterS]

I just added 3 more cups of chlorine per the calculator.

3 cups seems like very little to me. What is the volume of your pool? If it's an 18' x 34' oval, I suspect it's at least 15000 galloons. Adding 3 cups of 10% bleach in a 15000 galloon pool will barely raise your chlorine by 1 ppm.

 

[bertschb]

3 cups seems like very little to me.

I was just going to say that.

I would add a half gallon of 10% - tonight. In a 22,000 gallon pool that will raise your FC from 0 - 2.3. Your pool won't use much chlorine overnight unless you have algae but I would never want zero chlorine in my pool.

 

[PoolStored]

3 cups seems like very little to me. What is the volume of your pool? If it's an 18' x 34' oval, I suspect it's at least 15000 galloons. Adding 3 cups of 10% bleach in a 15000 galloon pool will barely raise your chlorine by 1 ppm.

I was just going to say that.

I would add a half gallon. That will raise his chlorine from 0 - 2.5

I believe OP has an 18' round pool that is 34" deep. See Signature. Maybe 5700 gallons, maybe a bit more with the dug-in deep end. @negativez0 can you verify the pool volume you are using.

​

 

[bertschb]

I believe OP has an 18' round pool that is 34" deep. See Signature. Maybe 5700 gallons.

He has his pool listed as 22,000 gallons under his name. 18x34' under signature.

 

[PoolStored]

He has his pool listed as 22,000 gallons under his name.

Huh. I'm not seeing that online or iPhone.

 

[bertschb]

Huh. I'm not seeing that online or iPhone.

 

[PoolStored]

@bertschb I must have a cache problem. Thanks for the catch.

 

[negativez0]

Thanks for sharing the half life of chlorine. That's good to know.

I think I'm having an issue with the app. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong. When I use the "Effects of Adding" section it does show that 3 cups of 10% chlorine will only raise the FC by 0.9. However, when I'm looking at the Home Screen and click on FC the recommendation is to add 3 cups to reach the Target Free Chlorine of 3.

 

[negativez0]

Here's where it shows 3 cups. I've confirmed the Pool Information section reflects 22000 gallons for the Pool Volume. Do I need to adjust something else?

 

[PoolStored]

recommendation is to add 3 cups to reach the Target Free Chlorine of 3.

re-read...2 QUARTS AND 3 cups.

 

[PoolStored]

Put 84 ounces into Effects of Adding.

 

[negativez0]

Put 84 ounces into Effects of Adding.

HAHAHAHAHA!!! I'm an idiot.

 

[PoolStored]

HAHAHAHAHA!!! I'm an idiot.

@PieterS and @bertschb for the WIN!!!

 

[Lake Placid]

The longest SLAM in humanity attempted and failed….24 ounces at a time.

 

[PoolStored]

The longest SLAM in humanity attempted and failed….24 ounces at a time.

You are EVIL. But funny.

 

[negativez0]

Oh boy, I'm getting there. Good thing I can laugh at myself and learn from my mistakes We're now up to a half gallon of 10% bleach added for the night.

Back to the pH. I'm going to go buy Borax 20 Mule tomorrow. What am I reading wrong in these two windows?

I understand the first photo to show I need to add 39lbs to reach a Target pH of 7.6. (I do know from you all and reading the Pool School articles that I definitely shouldn't add the full amount at once and should baby step towards the ideal pH.)

The second photo shows the "Effects of Adding" screen and says 39 pounds would raise the pH by 3.1. Am I missing something? I want to make sure I'm understanding the app correctly.

 

[PoolStored]

Oh boy, I'm getting there. Good thing I can laugh at myself and learn from my mistakes We're now up to a half gallon of 10% bleach added for the night.

Back to the pH. I'm going to go buy Borax 20 Mule tomorrow. What am I reading wrong in these two windows?

I understand the first photo to show I need to add 39lbs to reach a Target pH of 7.6. (I do know from you all and reading the Pool School articles that I definitely shouldn't add the full amount at once and should baby step towards the ideal pH.)

The second photo shows the "Effects of Adding" screen and says 39 pounds would raise the pH by 3.1. Am I missing something? I want to make sure I'm understanding the app correctly.

No worries, good to laugh. Learning is fun.

When you get to larger than .4 changes to pH, pool math will tend to not be accurate. Only add enough 20 mule team to raise pH by .4. Pump on, wait 30 minutes, then test again. You don't need to get to recommended levels at this point, just get pH to start with a 7. I'm concerned that there is a disconnect between pH and TA. How did your pH get so low? Can you test TA again? Might be helpful.

 

[Lake Placid]

No worries, good to laugh. Learning is fun.

When you get to larger than .4 changes to pH, pool math will tend to not be accurate. Only add enough 20 mule team to raise pH by .4. Pump on, wait 30 minutes, then test again. You don't need to get to recommended levels at this point, just get pH to start with a 7. I'm concerned that there is a disconnect between pH and TA. How did your pH get so low? Can you test TA again? Might be helpful.

Large addition of MA in first post to reduce TA