1st day new plaster pool

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Murray16

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Mar 30, 2016
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Baltimore, MD
Hello,

My brand new pool was just fired up today and I just wanted to get some thoughts on what to do. I've been reading up for a week or so on this site and purchased a TF-100 test kit and only tested the PH and chlorine so far. PH is off the chart high and no chlorine, but from what I've read that is expected.

The guy who turned on the pump put 1 gallon of muriatic acid in and I tested about 6 hours after that and put another gallon in. He told me to go buy some chlorine tabs and put in the Nature 2 chlorinator, but I put 1 gallon of bleach in instead and don't intend to use the N2 system. I went to Home Depot and Lowes and only saw germicidal bleach, it looked like the basic bleach so I got a gallon and will go to Walmart and look tomorrow. Anyone know if the germicidal is the same?

Are there any other tests I should be doing now or anything else I should be adding to it?
 
Wow, you got left high & dry huh? That's been fairly common lately. Well, we can try to help. First, you say your pool was fired-up today (pump started), but did the builder do any of the initial plaster scrubbing and acid treatments? Please review this page: Pool School - Start-up New Plaster. Let us know what, if anything, was done close to these procedures. The important thing before you take any action on your own, is to clearly know if the builder is going to do anything else to protect any warranty work on your pool. That's #1. If they never come back, you have no choice but to read that page I gave you and follow those instructions.

The generic Wal-Mart bleach (Great Value) is perfect. I can't speak for the HD stuff until I can look it up. But be careful. Some of those products have additives, and you don't want that in the pool. Don't forget the stabilizer too, but read the start-up page first. :) Great you have the TF-100 already. You're way ahead of the game with that. Please review the start-up page, speak to your builder one more time (if that's an option), and let us know if you have more questions. We'll be glad to walk you through it.
 
Thanks for the replies. I had read that start up page, but forgot about the different start up procedures. The builder left me a calendar showing to brush twice a day for the first two weeks then once a day for the next two weeks. Add acid every other day (no quantity, so I need to check on that) Backwash every 4 days and then take a water sample to a store in two weeks and see what they say.

The builder did give me some jacks magic Magenta stuff, maybe that is the sequestrant mentioned on the start up page? They gave me another bottle and said to add 8 ounces after one week, 8 after another week and 16 after 4 weeks.

The above is everything for the start up that they've said. I guess I'm half and half on the acid and traditional start up. I hope I haven't screwed anything up.
 
It looks to me like the Germicidal Bleach is just a marketing ploy. The MSDS doesn't indicate anything besides Sodium Hypochlorite, not even any proprietary secret ingredients. If they don't list the strength, assume the worst and figure it's probably at the low end of the strength range given in the MSDS.
 
You are doing fine. Do what they say EXCEPT for taking it down to the pool store. Do your own tests and log them. Share the results here and we will help you if you need it. (I am betting with all of your reading you already know what you need to do.)

Kim
 
Welcome to the forum. :wave:

I would bring the pH under control now. Simple to do with muriatic and you should keep it around 7.5. The brushing (that's a good thing) will exacerbate your pH rise at first so be prepared to use quite a bit of muriatic.

Then, calculate enough CYA to get to 30 ppm. Once you apply that dose, put in enough liquid chlorine to get to 4 ppm and then hold it there.

Do you know how to use PoolMath to accurately dose your pool? Let us know.
 
So I did all the tests on the TF-100 sheet that came with the kit and this is what I got:
Chlorine drop test - didn't do because I thought you had to have some chlorine in the pool at first and chlorine test showed none and PH was very high
CH - 350
TA - 50
CYA - totally clear, never got to a point where I didn't see the black dot at the bottom of the cylinder

I added another gallon of muriatic acid to try and get the PH down. Should I add any more bleach than the one gallon I've added to try and get a chlorine reading?
 

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Take the mineral pack out of your Nature 2. It's best to keep metals out of your water whenever possible. I was able to do it by depressing the tabs, did not have to break any plastic.

W4Digqi.jpg


How to Remove Metal Balls from Nature 2 Fusion
 
Murray16 said:
So I did all the tests on the TF-100 sheet that came with the kit and this is what I got:
Chlorine drop test - didn't do because I thought you had to have some chlorine in the pool at first and chlorine test showed none and PH was very high
CH - 350
TA - 50
CYA - totally clear, never got to a point where I didn't see the black dot at the bottom of the cylinder

I added another gallon of muriatic acid to try and get the PH down. Should I add any more bleach than the one gallon I've added to try and get a chlorine reading?
Click to expand...
Chlorine is a consumable item, so you might as well get used to adding it early on. Without any CYA, any FC you have will be gone within a few hours once the sun hits it. So yes add some bleach and get some CYA (Stabilizer) in there soon.
 
CH and TA are good.

PH, yes keep adding acid to lower it until it gets to 7.5. Add the amount of acid Poolmath says to lower PH from 8.2 to 7.5 with the pump on, wait 15 minutes and test again. Be sure to enter all your other test results in Poolmath, they also affect the PH calculation.

Do you have any trichlor pucks? You could float a couple if you have them to raise FC and CYA.

If not, get some granular and put 30ppm in a sock or two and hang them in front of a pool return. Maintain FC between 1 and 2 ppm with bleach for now and 4 ppm after you add the CYA.

Leave the pump running. On low if it is a 2 speed or 1700 rpm if it is variable speed.

Have you read this on how to add chemicals? Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals
 
I don't have the cartridge in and didn't plan on putting it in after what I've read on here. I don't have any trichlor pucks, should I get some and add to the chlorinator portion of the N2 system? The pump is running, not sure if it's 2 speed or variable, will look into that. Yes I have read the section on how to add chemicals, just now though.

Pool math said I should add the following:
185 oz of bleach
23 oz of muriatic acid
169 oz of baking soda for the TA
96 oz of stabilizer for the CYA

Should I get some granular to raise the chlorine and CYA levels? Or just stick with liquid bleach?

The amount of acid seems low, any thoughts?

Do I get stabilizer from a pool store, or would home depot or Lowes have that?

Thank you all for your help with this. There is a lot of information on this site so I apologize if I'm asking questions and the answers are on the site somewhere.
 
I buy my stabilizer from Lowes. Any stabilizer is fine. What is your PH level in NOW and what is it in TARGET? As I said in my last post your TA is fine for now.

Have you been adding chlorine, in any form, regularly? You need to add chlorine to your pool regularly, several times per day. Chlorine should never be allowed to drop to 0. Especially if you have not added CYA yet. Or you will get algae in your pool. And you really do not want algae in a freshly plastered pool and your really do not want to have to SLAM a freshly plastered pool.

I really don't want to be harsh here and I understand this is new to you. But, if you have not added chlorine and CYA to your pool, why not? We have been recommending that for days in multiple responses in your thread. Please add CYA to your pool and add chlorine to your pool every day, smaller doses several times per day is best. Or you will get algae in your pool and it will be a much bigger problem.
 
In the pool math I had my PH level as 8.2 and target as 7.5.

I've added 3 gallons of bleach, 1 gallon on each day since it's been running, day 3 is today. I guess I should keep adding (testing in between) until I get a reading?

I added the Jacks Magic Magenta stuff per the manufacturer and thought that was conditioner, but am not really sure.

I'm heading to Lowes now to get some conditioner.
 
Yes definitely. Stay on that pH and work it in stages with acid as needed. As you now know, it will rise quickly, so having acid on-hand is important. The Magic's is your sequestrant agent for metals and to prevent staining. :) The stabilizer/condition is for your CYA. Hope that helps.
 
Yes, Jack's is a sequestrant, as you said in post #4 above and as indicated on the bottle. Stabilizer is CYA, conditioner or cyanuric acid.

When I enter the following in Poolmath I get 32oz of acid

FC 1 now 2 tgt
PH 8.2 7.5
TA 50 50
CH 350 350
CYA 0 30
Salt 0 0
Borate 0 0
Temp 65 what is it?
Goal Level: troublefreepool
Primary Source of Chlorine: bleach
Pool Surface: Plaster

How much FC does one gallon of bleach add to your pool?

Yes, for FC until you get CYA in the pool you should test with the OTO test 2-3 times per day and add more bleach as needed to maintain 2ppm of FC. After CYA is added maintain 4 ppm FC according to the Chlorine CYA Chart. Once you have an understanding of chlorine usage in your pool you can test daily. I recommend keeping a log to refer back to.

For PH, if your test shows 8.2 it is very possible that PH is much higher than that because 8.2 is as high as the test can read. So, you need to add 32oz of muriatic acid with the pump running, wait 15 minutes and test again. Repeat as needed until PH reads 7.5. Then test PH at least once per day an adjust as needed to keep PH below 7.8 at all times. It is important to keep PH below 7.8 or your plaster can be damaged.

In between testing read here, Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
 
Hopefully have you read the post and added some much needed chlorine. You should also work on getting your CYA up. As others have said, test PH daily and keep your PH around 7.5.

My Home Depot/Lowes (Virginia bubs of DC ) do not carry CYA/stabilizer/conditioner, so you *may* have luck at wal-mart. Honestly, it is rare for my local Wal-mart to carry it, so the typical place I can find it is the pool store since pools are seasonal here and pools are not very common to our area. My local pool stores have banker hours and most have limited hours on Saturday and are closed on Sunday, so best to start your search ASAP! Just don't buy any other chemicals at the pool store and don't test your water there unless you are testing for metals.

If you get pucks, you can add the pucks to the Nature 2, but you really should remove the mineral balls from the mineral pack as it will stain your white plaster. My cartridge looked different than pinguy's, so check out my post here: How to Remove Metal Balls from Nature 2 Fusion

Just keep in mind that pucks add CYA, so you need to account for what they will add if you use them initially. Pucks are great for when you go on vacation, but not are good to use everyday.
 

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