SWG just came in...now what

Jul 26, 2015
17
Whitesboro, TX
We finally got our pool up a couple of weeks ago. We have not been doing too much in the way of chemicals because we knew the SWG was on it's way...with a few delays. But it is here! Water is almost completely clear right now with the temps staying in the 90's.

And yes I have been reading Pool School... Great help with understanding all the letters and numbers!

I guess my concerns are - Do we just starting adding salt? install the SWG first, then salt? My SWG directions say not to run it till the salt levels are up... does it even matter which comes first?

Diving off into this personl pool has been a bit anerving so any suggestions will be appreciated as I take the next step.
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

Have you been maintaining the chemistry for the last few weeks? What test kit are you using? Not a good idea to ignore it ... you should have been maintaining it as a chlorine pool from the start. Then with the SWG, you would just need to add salt and install the SWG and let it take over. I think you will now have more work ahead of you.

Post up a full set of test results (using one of the Recommended Test Kits) and then we can get you started.

You can add salt any time you like (could have done it weeks ago), but you should not run your SWG for at least 24 hours after you add any salt.

Given the "almost clear" statement and apparently ignoring it for weeks, I bet you need to follow the ShockLevelAndMAINTAIN Process before you need to worry about the SWG at all.

Have you discovered Pool School yet? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool
Water Balance for SWGs
 
not ignoring so much as not getting too worried about it. Read the Pool School (more than once), bought the suggested testing set up (have tested several times as I learn how to use it), adding 10% chlorine as needed over the past week. It really is clear. Can see the bottom, and haven't been swimming but a couple of times.

I will post new numbers in a bit as I was planning to do that before adding salt....its just 100 degrees outside!
 
OK, well that sounds a lot better than how I interpreted your first post :D

It is 100 here too and we are all outside. It will take you 30 seconds to get a sample of water to bring into the house and test everything :whip:
 
So you have to make sense. (about the heat)

temp 93
FC 1
PH 8.0 (or slightly above)
TA 390 (not sure on that figure...but followed directions)
CH 20
CYA 0
There are directions for testing for salt, but no regents.
I guess my fear, after reading all that pool school stuff, is that I don't want to add one thing and totally mess up something else. AND I am guessing I need to add the recommendations before adding the salt?
 
Which test kit do you have? The recommend K-2006 and TF-100 do not discuss testing the salt that I am aware of.

Well, you should always keep the pH in the 7s
You need to get your CYA up to 70-80ppm, for the SWG ... takes a week to show up on the test. That would have been good to start with 2 weeks ago ;)
You need to add salt, not sure how much since you do not know the current level.
Then you can fire up the SWG.

Why do you question the TA test?
 
K2006 Taylor.

I am like a dyslexic when it comes to numbers....they are hard for me to keep straight (reason for questioning results).

So we will be off to the store for a couple of the needed chemicals (as per the pool math). And begin adding them as soon as I put the SWG into the flow. Should I wait to start using it? or after adding salt can I go ahead and turn it on?
 
You have to wait at least a day after adding the salt before turning on the SWG. The SWG will not be able to keep up with the losses to the sun until your CYA gets added.
BTW, you can get the stabilizer at Walmart or hardware stores in the pool section.
And make sure the muriatic acid you buy is 31% and not the half strength stuff at the same price.
And you can just buy solar salt and save some money ... no need for the "pool" salt which is the same thing.
 
PH 6.8 or 7.8? You have a typo.

Your FC is dangerously low. Here's what you need to do:

If you've not been adding a ton of bleach or anything else to bring salt levels up, it's safe to say you have none. I would still at least let a pool store test your salt if you don't have strips or a drop test, but if you haven't added anything, your water won't naturally have any salt in it.

Your SWG will say how much salt it needs. Usually they operate in the 3200 to 3800 ppm range, with a minimum of 2500 and a max of 4500. But read your manual for your particular unit and it will say. Using pool math, punch in the gallons of your pool, and the current salt level of 0. Shoot for the lowest your SWG likes at first (you can add more later, but you have to drain water to remove if you add too much). Add the bags of salt around the perimeter of the pool. Brush to dissipate. Don't just dump it into the skimmer.

Your CYA is zero so you will need to get that up. SWG's like in the 50 to 80 range. I usually run mine lower just so if I ever did need to shock the pool it wouldn't require so much Bleach. 60 or 70 is a good safe number. But like salt, shoot low to start with as to remove CYA you have to drain water. Since we are going to be doing a OCLT at some point, let's target 30 for your CYA right now. So, using pool math again, enter 30 for your CYA. That's enough to get you started. Add the required granular stabilizer (CYA) in a nylon sock and hang it in front of a return. Squeeze it periodically over the next day to help it dissolve. Once you put it in, don't test for it until at least a week because it takes that long to fully dissolve and show up reliably on a test. Just assume you have 30 CYA going forward.

Now, you need to add Bleach. Using pool math and the CYA/FC chart Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart target 4 to 5 for your FC. Using Pool math, add enough liquid bleach 8.25% to reach your FC level. Unlike CYA and Salt, better to overshoot a little on FC than undershoot and allow algae to grow.

Lastly, verify your PH. If it is 7.8 you're on the edge of acceptable. You can add a little Muratic acid to bring it down to 7.5. If it's 6.8, you need to bring it up with some baking soda. 6.8 is much worse condition than 7.8 so important that you tell us what your pH is.

After you add the Salt, CYA and Bleach, let all this circulate for two days. Keep testing your FC and keep it at 5 or slightly above. I'm concerned that with your low FC right now you may have algae starting, so better to keep your FC up right now.

After a couple of days if your pool remains clear, do an OCLT test. Here you will be verifying that you don't lose more than 1ppm of FC overnight. If you don't then you don't have algae or other organics growing. If you do, you need to SLAM (follow pool school).

If you pass OCLT, then add the remaining Stabilizer (CYA) to bring your level up to 60 or 70 and turn on your SWG. Monitor your FC for the next few days to make sure your pump and SWG output is sufficient to keep your FC above 5. Add bleach if you need to subsidize.

After a few days, test your salt level again and add a little more to bring it to the nominal range of your SWG.
 

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Update. First, thank you for the help.

Added suggested chems and half the recommended salt.
Water still clear this morning. FC tested at 1....added more bleech. And will test again when I get home.
PH was down to 7.8. (Yay)
Have the softener hanging in a sock so I think I am getting there with that as well.
I'm going to add another 1/4 of salt today and not start the SWG for 24 hours.
Ordering salt test online since we couldn't find anything in store.

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Well it has been a week...very adventurous too. Current numbers

Temp - 92 (all day sun)
FC- 6.2 (after all day sun and before SWG turns on)
PH 7.6 (lowest I have been able to get it!)
TA 250 (Can't seem to get this down below 200)
CYA 80
Salt 3000

My PH / TA have consistently stayed high...We have been through 3 gallons of MA in the last week. Always adding what the pool school says based on the numbers. Can we actually get too much MA in there? (hubby is worried)
What could be causing the PH to refuse to drop to 7? Which is where I believe it needs to get to get the TA down...

Any suggestions appreciated. Oh and the water has stayed crystal clear for the entire week.
 
My PH / TA have consistently stayed high...We have been through 3 gallons of MA in the last week. Always adding what the pool school says based on the numbers. Can we actually get too much MA in there? (hubby is worried)
What could be causing the PH to refuse to drop to 7? Which is where I believe it needs to get to get the TA down...

I've been asking this in another thread, and was told to keep doing it until TA comes down... and sure enough, once the TA got to about 70, the acid routine finally slowed down. I was dumping half a gallon in every day, and was starting to wonder if I'll have to find a place to bulk order the stuff :).

So, don't worry, you'll get there, too. My TA was at 140 and it took about two weeks of lots of acid and lots of aeration to bring it down. I imagine it'll also take a while to get down from 250...
 
Quick question. Having a couple of the Grand kids over and wondering if I should hit the boost on the swg before we swim. It has been holding steady at about a 7 am and 5 just before pump comes on...

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Gonna close out this post with a greatfull thank you for the help. Pool is balanced and clear and, so far, everything is working great. So glad I found this site and all the easy to understand directions and helpful people.

Thank you!!!

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