New Water Fill

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Ejkeebler

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Mar 15, 2016
50
Fort Mill/SC
Just installed an SWG, I have refilled 70% of my pool and let the pump run most of the time to just keep circulation going. I have at this point only added salt which is now at 3500ppm. I know my FC (.5?)and PH(7.0?) are going to test low when I test it after work today. I know my CYA will be about 50. So here's my question. Where do I start? I thought it was imperative to get the CYA good first around 60-80 to keep the PH more stable. However raising my PH is going to raise my CYA, so I feel like I should raise my PH first.


Should I add Borax (need like 60oz), wait a couple hours and then start trying to raise my FC by adding some sort of bleach? Or do I have to wait even longer, etc, etc...I realize it may be more help after I do the tests this afternoon, but I'm nearly certain my CY is going to be 40-50, PH 7.0 or little less and FC nearly 0.
 
Assuming your water is clear with NO signs of algae, increase FC to about 5 ppm right away to prevent algae. Plain/regular bleach will work great. Verify your CYA too. If it's only 50, raise it to 70 to help protect the chlorine produced by your SWG. Next, verify pH one more time. You ideally want it around 7.5, but a little low won't hurt for a short time, especially if it usually rises quickly in your pool or you have lots of aeration. If you must raise pH, pH can be raised in three ways: borax, soda ash, and aeration. Borax is usually the best choice.
 
Ejkeebler said:
Just installed an SWG, I have refilled 70% of my pool and let the pump run most of the time to just keep circulation going. I have at this point only added salt which is now at 3500ppm. I know my FC (.5?)and PH(7.0?) are going to test low when I test it after work today. I know my CYA will be about 50. So here's my question. Where do I start? I thought it was imperative to get the CYA good first around 60-80 to keep the PH more stable. However raising my PH is going to raise my CYA, so I feel like I should raise my PH first.


Should I add Borax (need like 60oz), wait a couple hours and then start trying to raise my FC by adding some sort of bleach? Or do I have to wait even longer, etc, etc...I realize it may be more help after I do the tests this afternoon, but I'm nearly certain my CY is going to be 40-50, PH 7.0 or little less and FC nearly 0.
Click to expand...
CYA protects the chlorine. It has nothing to do with adjusting pH. Did you mean TA?

I wouldn't sweat things just yet. Get some bleach in there as mentioned above. Then run all your tests and post results here and someone will be along to guide you.
 
So finally got to get my official numbers.

13000 gallons
FC 2
CC .5
PH <7
TA 30
CH 160
CYA 65
Salt 3370

Plan was to add 58oz of 8.25% bleach to raise FC to 5
35oz of Borax to hopefully get PH to 7.5
7lbs of Baking Soda to get TA to 70
and really no idea what to do about the insanely low CH, will test again. CYA stabilizer unfortunately will not be here until Wednesday. Obviously I cannot add these all at the same time, is there a length of time I need to wait between chemicals? should all of them be added through the skimmer? Am I over looking something?
 
Isn't it nice to not be doing things blindly now? Awesome! You seem to have it now with the right idea. No need to wait on these things either really. Add with the pump running near a return jet for the bleach. For the powders, usually you can gently broadcast spread them over the pool's surface and it will work fine. Brush around a bit perhaps. Yeah, make sure about your CH before adding more calcium products. Like a high CYA, the only way to reduce it later is by water exchange, so you want to be sure. Also check the recommended chemicals link in my sig below for more ideas. Nice work.
 
Ejkeebler said:
So finally got to get my official numbers.

13000 gallons
FC 2
CC .5
PH <7
TA 30
CH 160
CYA 65
Salt 3370

Plan was to add 58oz of 8.25% bleach to raise FC to 5
35oz of Borax to hopefully get PH to 7.5
7lbs of Baking Soda to get TA to 70
and really no idea what to do about the insanely low CH, will test again. CYA stabilizer unfortunately will not be here until Wednesday. Obviously I cannot add these all at the same time, is there a length of time I need to wait between chemicals? should all of them be added through the skimmer? Am I over looking something?
Click to expand...
Pump running the whole time. Bleach first. Give it ten minutes to disperse and then add baking soda to get up to 60. Make a lap around the pool brushing to mix things. Go have a beer. Come back and test pH and TA and then adjust pH if needed. CYA isn't critical just yet. 65 is close enough to 70.

The low CH needs to be dealt with pretty quick, too. But enjoy looking at your nice pool for a day or two before you add anything, because there's a good chance it will make the water look cloudy for a day or two after.

General rule of thumb, with the exception of granular CYA: fifteen minutes between chemicals should be plenty. Less if you brush to get things mixed well.
 
so I just tested the CH again and I'm still getting 160.... :( Fortunately its still too cold to swim and might be for a couple more weeks. Only 70 in the pool. So will using something like Peladow increase my CYA? cause I really don't want to go through that nightmare again.

And when you say needs to be dealt with soon, you mean like tomorrow, next week, etc, etc...I probably will just try to order what I need from amazon. Looks like i'm looking at 25-30lbs of it and no clue where to get it. Home Depot?
 

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Ejkeebler said:
so I just tested the CH again and I'm still getting 160.... :( Fortunately its still too cold to swim and might be for a couple more weeks. Only 70 in the pool. So will using something like Peladow increase my CYA? cause I really don't want to go through that nightmare again.

And when you say needs to be dealt with soon, you mean like tomorrow, next week, etc, etc...I probably will just try to order what I need from amazon. Looks like i'm looking at 25-30lbs of it and no clue where to get it. Home Depot?
Click to expand...
Calcium Increaser by whatever name shouldn't mess with anything but CH. I know I won't find Ice Melt anywhere local to me, but I've never had to add Calcium, either. Sometime this week should be soon enough. Don't go driving all over the county hunting for the stuff. Maybe order a bag and have it shipped to the local Ace for free.

Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals will tell you what to look for and how to add it.
 
Well I think I'm in pretty good shape, ran my SWG for 3 hours today about 10-1 @ 50%,

When I tested just now 3 hours later i'm at

FC = 5
TA = 70
PH = 7.2
CH = 150
Salt = 3370

Thinking I should add a little more salt, and maybe a little bit of borax to creep the PH up a little, then in 2 days I can work on the CH. Do these seem like good numbers?
 
I think my water balance is in pretty good shape, but I have 1 concern. My pool very often will have spots on the surface and its very hard to describe. It was hard to get a picture of it, but hopefully someone can provide some insight...I do have lots of trees, but It's not yellow pollen which has been a problem in the early spring and not so much now. Can't add the picture cause I'm over my "quota" so hopefully this link works....

https://goo.gl/photos/m2LnEDKHRM29eRM87
 

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