27x54 pool using chlorine. At this moment it is filling with water. I have my Taylor K-2006. Have not yet tested water in the pool. My question is once I test my water where to I start adjusting first? Chlorine? Alk? Ph? Cya? Got a good idea how to work the BBB method, and have pool calc on my phone. Just don't know where to start. I hope this makes sense.
Setting chemistry question?
- Thread starter deerhunterman51
- Start date
Is this a new pool? Plaster? What is the builder's/ Plasterer's recommendations? Warranty? Startup person?
Welcome to TFP!!!Brian's list is a good start for questions.
Really the path forward depends on those answers and your test results ... no reason you can not test the fill water now.
Please add your pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you.
First test and adjust the pH if needed. Then fumble with the CYA and the socks and get that stuff suspended or sitting in the skimmer. By the time you're done with that, the acid should be mixed well enough and you can add some bleach. Initially, target three. Or you can add the bleach first if you don't need to adjust pH.
Retest on day two and deal with any recurring pH issues and raise FC to whatever is listed for your target CYA.
Recheck the CYA a couple days after it's all dissolved. Maybe a week after adding it.
Retest on day two and deal with any recurring pH issues and raise FC to whatever is listed for your target CYA.
Recheck the CYA a couple days after it's all dissolved. Maybe a week after adding it.
Question 1
Yes new pool
Question 2
Above ground pool
Question 3
built it myself
Question 4
"60 years" will see
Question 5
Me personally
Yes new pool
Question 2
Above ground pool
Question 3
built it myself
Question 4
"60 years" will see
Question 5
Me personally
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,789
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Humm. Still not showing. 
Please try by going to the top of the TFP web page (just under the Pool School button) and select "SETTINGS". On the next page look to the left for a menu bar that says, “MY SETTINGS” and go to "EDIT SIGNATURE" to enter your pool and equipment info there. I don't recall if there's a button at the bottom to "SAVE". Try that though. This link may also help you: Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post.
Please try by going to the top of the TFP web page (just under the Pool School button) and select "SETTINGS". On the next page look to the left for a menu bar that says, “MY SETTINGS” and go to "EDIT SIGNATURE" to enter your pool and equipment info there. I don't recall if there's a button at the bottom to "SAVE". Try that though. This link may also help you: Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post.test results of city water
ph=7.4
ch=.5
alk=160
ch=260
cya=0
Do I adjust ph first with muratic acid to drop ALK aerate back to 90. Adjust ph back to 7.5 Then Add stabilizer (liquid stabilizer), shock pool to 15-20 ppm FC with liquid cholrine, hopefully maintain around 3 ppm with auto chlorination 3" tabs.
Am I even close to understanding this stuff?
ph=7.4
ch=.5
alk=160
ch=260
cya=0
Do I adjust ph first with muratic acid to drop ALK aerate back to 90. Adjust ph back to 7.5 Then Add stabilizer (liquid stabilizer), shock pool to 15-20 ppm FC with liquid cholrine, hopefully maintain around 3 ppm with auto chlorination 3" tabs.
Am I even close to understanding this stuff?
Your alkalinity is fine for now. pH is good. Go ahead and add chlorine, then get a sock or something for half the CYA you think you need and get it started dissolving in front of the return.
160ppm alkalinity is tolerable. Better to lower it slowly over time than to get too worried about it.
160ppm alkalinity is tolerable. Better to lower it slowly over time than to get too worried about it.
The pH may rise just from the agitation of filling, so check it once the water is circulating and if it's close to 7.8, push it down to 7.2. Otherwise skip that step. There's no urgent need to lower TA aggressively. Each time you add acid to lower pH, you'll also lower TA some. Just keep the pH between 7.2 and 7.8. With your high TA, pH will rise quickly, but as you continue to lower pH with acid, it will slow down. There's no reason to rush it and even less reason to stall on adding chlorine.
Since it's a fresh fill, and it's tap water that already has some residual chlorine, there's no need to shock the pool. You don't have algae and never have, and if you maintain it right, you never will. Just target 3 FC since there's no CYA yet and then add the CYA.
It looks like 6 lbs of CYA granules will take your CYA from 0 to 40. So add that via the sock method and assume it's all there, even if it hasn't fully dissolved by day 2 and target 5 FC. In a few days, once the CYA is all dissolved and dispersed, you'll get a better idea of what you need to target for FC. The key point being that you never want FC to drop below 3 before you add more. So... if you target 5 and the next day when you test it shows as 2, you better target 6. Every pool is different, depending on swimmer load, debris load, sunlight, temperature, too many variables to have an absolute value.
After a week, you can recheck the CYA and if you want to add more CYA, then you can do it. But many times pools aren't as big as people think, so it's better to build up to the CYA level than to overshoot. If you do choose to raise CYA to 50, then the minimum FC will also go up.
It'll start to make sense once you start doing it.
You don't want to depend on tabs to chlorinate. Here's something I wrote a couple years ago that explains why not.
We'll take a 16000 gallon pool, because that's what I have. On a fresh fill, prominent national pool chain recommends 2.5 pounds pf stabilizer per 10,000 gallons, which works out nicely to 4 pounds which brings CYA to 30.
With an average loss of 2 PPM/Day or 14 ppm/week, I'll have added 8.6 PPM/CYA if I used trichlor pucks perfectly. And they recommend a weekly "shock" of dichlor between 5 and 10 FC.... 2-3 oz per 10,000 gallons. Split the difference; I'll add 4 oz. CYA went up another .9.
So..by the end of week one, I have added 9.5 more CYA. It is now 39.5. Mimimum FC for that is 3, so I'm probably okay.
Week two, up to 49 CYA.
Week three, 58.5. Minimum FC should be 5, but they recommend 3 as ideal, so the pool looks a bit hazy. So I'll toss in a little extra dichlor "shock" to jack FC up to 10. Which adds another 6.4 CYA. Keeping count? We're up to 64.9 now.
That caught the algae just in time.. we had two weeks of good luck. A steady diet of pucks and 4 oz. "shock" each week only added another 19, up to 73.9 now.
Week 6 it started looking funky, so we "shocked"it once again. CYA is up to 99.3. But minimum FC to keep algae at bay is 8, and we're still holding things to 3, because prominent national chain's preprinted sheet shows that as ideal. So algae got a toehold and the pool has a bit of a tint. So we throw two whole bags of dichlor in which jacks it another 7.6. By the time week 7 is over, we're at 116.4, because we had pucks in the floater the whole time.
So...in 7 weeks, from 30 to 116.4. Let's say there are no more algae outbreaks because they sold me a huge bucket of phos-free and another of yellow-out monopersulfate "shock" Nothing but the pucks and the extra 4 oz of dichlor "shock" weekly. So the next 7 weeks added 66.5, which brings the total to 182.9 CYA.
Now if we didn't understand this and things looked a bit hazy, we might throw an extra puck or two in the floater every couple weeks, which will drive it over 200 easily.
With an average loss of 2 PPM/Day or 14 ppm/week, I'll have added 8.6 PPM/CYA if I used trichlor pucks perfectly. And they recommend a weekly "shock" of dichlor between 5 and 10 FC.... 2-3 oz per 10,000 gallons. Split the difference; I'll add 4 oz. CYA went up another .9.
So..by the end of week one, I have added 9.5 more CYA. It is now 39.5. Mimimum FC for that is 3, so I'm probably okay.
Week two, up to 49 CYA.
Week three, 58.5. Minimum FC should be 5, but they recommend 3 as ideal, so the pool looks a bit hazy. So I'll toss in a little extra dichlor "shock" to jack FC up to 10. Which adds another 6.4 CYA. Keeping count? We're up to 64.9 now.
That caught the algae just in time.. we had two weeks of good luck. A steady diet of pucks and 4 oz. "shock" each week only added another 19, up to 73.9 now.
Week 6 it started looking funky, so we "shocked"it once again. CYA is up to 99.3. But minimum FC to keep algae at bay is 8, and we're still holding things to 3, because prominent national chain's preprinted sheet shows that as ideal. So algae got a toehold and the pool has a bit of a tint. So we throw two whole bags of dichlor in which jacks it another 7.6. By the time week 7 is over, we're at 116.4, because we had pucks in the floater the whole time.
So...in 7 weeks, from 30 to 116.4. Let's say there are no more algae outbreaks because they sold me a huge bucket of phos-free and another of yellow-out monopersulfate "shock" Nothing but the pucks and the extra 4 oz of dichlor "shock" weekly. So the next 7 weeks added 66.5, which brings the total to 182.9 CYA.
Now if we didn't understand this and things looked a bit hazy, we might throw an extra puck or two in the floater every couple weeks, which will drive it over 200 easily.
Richard320,
Thanks a million for your input. I will start by adding liquid chlorine first to get around 3-5 ppm. I will be using liquid conditioner and I will use pool calculator to see how much I need to adjust it to 30 ppm, and pour it in front of the return. Keep an eye on PH since TA is high PH will rise faster, and by lowering PH occasionally I will be lowering TA. Also using liquid chlorine to keep FC around 3. Daily PH and FC testing, and weekly TA, CH, CYA testing. Am I on the right track?
I purchased the inline chlorinator for chlorine maintenance only in vacation or extreme work conditions. (do you think this will be ok)
I think I can handle this. With a little help from guys like you on this forum.
Bought an intex last year with no pool experience or research. Was able to keep that baby somewhat clear and algea free just on walmart test strips, reading the back of chemical labels, and just eyeballing water looks. With the filter it came with. So after 6 months of troublefreepool research and youtube. This aught to be a breeze.
Thanks a million for your input. I will start by adding liquid chlorine first to get around 3-5 ppm. I will be using liquid conditioner and I will use pool calculator to see how much I need to adjust it to 30 ppm, and pour it in front of the return. Keep an eye on PH since TA is high PH will rise faster, and by lowering PH occasionally I will be lowering TA. Also using liquid chlorine to keep FC around 3. Daily PH and FC testing, and weekly TA, CH, CYA testing. Am I on the right track?
I purchased the inline chlorinator for chlorine maintenance only in vacation or extreme work conditions. (do you think this will be ok)
I think I can handle this. With a little help from guys like you on this forum.
Bought an intex last year with no pool experience or research. Was able to keep that baby somewhat clear and algea free just on walmart test strips, reading the back of chemical labels, and just eyeballing water looks. With the filter it came with. So after 6 months of troublefreepool research and youtube. This aught to be a breeze.
Looks like a good plan. There is really no need to test the TA or CH or CYA weekly. Maybe monthly after the initial balance
Check the pH as soon as you've got water circulating, because it might go up during filling. You can use liquid conditioner, if you've already bought it, but it's more expensive than the granules and the extra thirty bucks will buy a lot of bleach.
Your minimum and target FC levels depend entirely on your CYA level. If you set CYA to 30, then your minimum should be 2. If you go to 40, then minimum FC is 3. Your target depends on your test results. If you set up poolmath in the very last (yellow) row, it will autofill the FC levels for you after you plug in your now numbers.
Like I said, once you start doing, it will click and start to make sense. Don't get so far ahead of yourself.