New saltwater pool start up

[Newdude]

Hmmm... That's interesting

Pretty much all laundry bleaches have polymers added now. There's splashes, scented, or chloromax technologies.

In a pinch, germicidal bleach from the cleaning aisle is typically additive free, but the weaker 6% like laundry bleaches.

 

[Tattooed Nurse]

These say 7.5%. Not scented or splashless. Would this be fine or should I get something else?

 

[Newdude]

See ? That's a disinfecting / germicidal bleach and not a laundry bleach.

Make sure it doesn't have the chloramax technology stamp anywhere and it's good.

Keep your eyes peeled for the pool essentials to return in the pool aisle. Or run the bleach calculator in the upper left menu of pool math to see if HD/Lowes chlorinating liquid (10%) is a better deal. They've been expensive lately so maybe not.

Also, always check the date code. It'll say 24XXX where XXX is the day it was made. I divide that # by 30 in my head, plus the leftovers. Today would be 8 full months (240) plus 24 days. So it would say 24 - 264 if it was made today. (Roughly, a couple days off on the estimate doesn't matter). You want as fresh as possible, 3 months old or less. At 6 months it's likely half strength.

 

[Tattooed Nurse]

See ? That's a disinfecting / germicidal bleach and not a laundry bleach.

Make sure it doesn't have the chloramax technology stamp anywhere and it's good.

Keep your eyes peeled for the pool essentials to return in the pool aisle. Or run the bleach calculator in the upper left menu of pool math to see if HD/Lowes chlorinating liquid (10%) is a better deal. They've been expensive lately so maybe not.

Also, always check the date code. It'll say 24XXX where XXX is the day it was made. I divide that # by 30 in my head, plus the leftovers. Today would be 8 full months (240) plus 24 days. So it would say 24 - 264 if it was made today. (Roughly, a couple days off on the estimate doesn't matter). You want as fresh as possible, 3 months old or less. At 6 months it's likely half strength.

Thank you so much!!! I will definitely check and make sure it doesn't have "Chloramax" on it! Thank you for the formula to check the shelf life of the bleach! I would have never known that!

 

[Tattooed Nurse]

See ? That's a disinfecting / germicidal bleach and not a laundry bleach.

Make sure it doesn't have the chloramax technology stamp anywhere and it's good.

Keep your eyes peeled for the pool essentials to return in the pool aisle. Or run the bleach calculator in the upper left menu of pool math to see if HD/Lowes chlorinating liquid (10%) is a better deal. They've been expensive lately so maybe not.

Also, always check the date code. It'll say 24XXX where XXX is the day it was made. I divide that # by 30 in my head, plus the leftovers. Today would be 8 full months (240) plus 24 days. So it would say 24 - 264 if it was made today. (Roughly, a couple days off on the estimate doesn't matter). You want as fresh as possible, 3 months old or less. At 6 months it's likely half strength.

I found this. Would this one work for new pool start up

 

[TinFoilHat]

Please just use liquid chlorine. I would even pay more for it at HD or Lowes or Ace if it had good dates just to know I'm using real liquid chlorine. Pool stores will have it but don't let them sell you anything else.

 

[mknauss]

Most W Texas water is very high in CH. Test yours.

 

[Tattooed Nurse]

Most W Texas water is very high in CH. Test yours.

Yes sir!! Will do before adding anything. Thank you!

 

[Tattooed Nurse]

Please just use liquid chlorine. I would even pay more for it at HD or Lowes or Ace if it had good dates just to know I'm using real liquid chlorine. Pool stores will have it but don't let them sell you anything else.

We live in a very small unincorporated town in West Texas. We have a Family Dollar, Dollar General, local hardware store and a small grocery store. Nearest town is 80 miles away so it is hard to run to the store and grab what I need

 

[TinFoilHat]

Hmm, that puts you in a bit of a pickle then.

 

[Tattooed Nurse]

It does. Our local hardware store sells the HTH brand of pool supplies. But then again, their supply is very limited as well

 

[Tattooed Nurse]

Brand new pool only been up for 3 days now. I ran out of light last night to finish my test but will do that tonight. Below is what I got in my readings last night. I have only added 2 bags of salt before testing. I did add 2 1lb bags of sodium dichlor to the pool after testing because I started panicking that I'm going to get algae if I didn't get some chlorine in there. Should I get the entire water in balance and then add the rest of my salt? It will take about 11 more 40lb bags of salt according to my calculations to get the level to 3200-3500.

 

[Newdude]

I ran out of light last night to finish my test

Grab a sample and bring it inside. CYA needs overhead sun for best results. The rest can come inside.

Should I get the entire water in balance and then add the rest of my salt?

Salt isn't affected by anything else. You can start working on it anytime you have the bandwidth for it.

Test first, add 75% of the rest to target and creep up the rest of the way after the 75% moxes for a full day. (Cell off)

 

[Tattooed Nurse]

Grab a sample and bring it inside. CYA needs overhead sun for best results. The rest can come inside.


Salt isn't affected by anything else. You can start working on it anytime you have the bandwidth for it.

Test first, add 75% of the rest to target and creep up the rest of the way after the 75% moxes for a full day. (Cell off)

I will go ahead and some more salt then. I didn't realize I could bring my water sample inside and test. The Taylor test kit says to face north to get an accurate reading. I will test CYA outside then. Thank you so much!

 

[Tattooed Nurse]

Pool set up and running for 3 days now. Added 2 more bags of salt. Added 1 pint of muriatic acid to get pH down as to lower TA. Will start SWG tomorrow evening if my test for salinity is in check. Need to get my CYA up ASAP to keep my chlorine levels stabilized. What am I missing here? I mean, I know what needs to come up obviously, but seems like I am missing something here.
TA 300
pH 7.4
CH 250
Salt 2800
FC 2.4
CC 0
CYA 0
Water 75°

 

[mknauss]

Read the Start Up article I have linked to twice.

 

[Tattooed Nurse]

I have added 2 pints of muriatic acid and my TA just will not come down but by 10ppm/day. Any suggestions? Just keeping adding? I'm afraid to add to much in one shot. Current test readings below.

 

[mknauss]

When pH reach’s 8, lower it to 7.4. The TA will fall. No need to push it.

 

[Tattooed Nurse]

When pH reach’s 8, lower it to 7.4. The TA will fall. No need to push it.

Would you suggest to bring it up by aerating or adding borax or baking soda?

 

[mknauss]

No. No need to add any chemicals to raise the pH. That is counterproductive as it also raises TA.
Aeration is not really necessary. You situation is not urgent with lower CH.