New Pool Chemical Step by Step???

[munsterf15]

Hello!

I have a 22' round 12,000 gal Intex pool, SWG filter, that I will be filling tomorrow (hopefully) with city water (live in Minneapolis). I have gone through most of this website and am still not positive what the first steps are after filling the pool. My main questions revolve around testing the water before adding chemicals or if you add a certain amount of chemicals, wait a day, and then test and adjust chemicals. So here are my questions...

1. Do I test the water before adding chemicals, or add chemicals, let it sit a day, and then test? (I feel dumb even asking this but...)
2. Since I have a SWG, can/should I still add some bleach to give the chlorine generation a head start?
3. Should I add CYA right away, or wait on this?
4. Same with PH. Do I add the acid right away?

I guess I don't know what is typically in city water regarding ph levels etc levels...

Thanks for answering my newbie questions.

Marty

 

[censored]

Add your stabilizer first or you will lose your chlorine. Then it is usually PH and then chlorine. You do not have to wait long between PH and chlorine balance. As for the SWG, I will let someone else respond as I am not familiar with them. Welcome to the forum, good luck and get a good test kit!

 

[RobbieH]

SWG off. Add salt. Use bleach to bring FC up to proper amount. Next day, add bleach again to get FC at proper level, then kick on the SWG (as long as all salt is dissolved).

 

[Husky25]

City water probably has some chlorine in it (my tapwater is at 1ppm). That said it will probably burn off to zero in no time once it is exposed to the sun and once the pool is filled, you will most likely have neither chlorine, nor CYA. I would do the tests if only to confirm this as well as pH.

As censored alluded to above, without CYA, you will lose chlorine very quickly. Also, unless Chlorine is added soon, you open yourself up to an algae bloom. You may not be able to see it yet, but that doesn't mean it's not there, which means you should probably meet the 3 criteria to pass a SLAM before starting your SWG.

Finally continue to monitor your pH. When I opened my pool 2 1/2 weeks ago, my pH was 7.8, but stabilizer has a suppressing effect on pH. I needed to add 5 pounds of stabilizer and 4 days later my pH was 6.8.

 

[911medic]

Make sure you have a proper test kit, like the TF100.

Test your water immediately after filling, but you can skip the CYA test, and probably the chlorine test if none has been added before testing.

See what your pH is, as well as hardness and alkalinity, so you know where you're starting from.

Get chlorine in there right away, and get your CYA dissolving ASAP. Check the "Water Balance for SWGs" article in pool school.

You'll also need a salt level test kit, which doesn't come with the TF100. I think the kit you want is the Taylor K1766 (?), but am not 100% sure off the top of my head.

Test the water's baseline salt level and determine how much you'll need to add. Adding bleach does add salt to your water, and you don't want to assume you are at zero and overshoot your desired level.

The pH test is not accurate if your chlorine level is above 10, so if you plan to go that high you'll want to adjust the pH first.

Otherwise, you can add a chemical with the pump running, and probably add the next one within a couple of hours (I actually add sooner). CYA won't show up on a test for a day or so, and salt will take some time to dissolve, so retesting those will require patience. But chlorine and pH show up immediately once well mixed.

Using a good test kit is critical. Don't rely on test strips.

Use Pool Math.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum.

Hold on everyone, please. The VERY first step before you add a single ingredient to your pool is to test the water.....period.

If you are unfamiliar with what to do about the results, post those up on this forum and you will get good guidance.

Again, nix the SWG, nix the salt, nix the pH, nix the chlorine. FIRST and foremost get a complete set of test results for your pool. If your goal is a perfect balance, the ONLY way to get there is to find out where you are.

The backbone of the pool water chemistry we teach is precise testing. You are floundering without it.

 

[Richard320]

What he said ^^^

Except you don't have to test CYA because tap water won't have any.

Assuming you have a test kit and have some results to use to calculate doses, you can have the pool swimmable in a matter of an hour or two. For a kid, anyway. Might be too cold for you. It will be completely balanced in a couple days. That's to allow time for CYA and salt to dissolve.

First you get it all set up as a bleach pool, then you add salt, and then you turn on the SWG.

Fill it up, get the pump running to ensure there;'s no leaks and to mix the water, and then run your tests and post back. We'll hold your hand through the intricacies of poolmath. It's really not all that hard.

 

[munsterf15]

Hey everyone, thanks for the quick advice! I've ordered the T-100 test kit and added a salt test kit to go with it. I've played with PoolMath and have a good idea on how it works. Thunderstorms forecast tomorrow, which is fine, because the test kit won't be here until Saturday. After after your advice, there's no way I'm filling the pool without the kit in my hands.

Another question about sand. The owners manual for the SWG calls for No. 20 silica sand or glass sand with particle size range .45-.85mm and a uniformity coefficient less than 1.75. After searching Home Depot, Lowes, Fleet Farm and Menards, I don't see any sand that has those type of specifics listed. Will I be sorry if I just use sand box sand, or does anyone have an ideas where to get this specific of a sand?

Thanks again.

 

[Richard320]

You may have to visit the dreaded pool store for the sand.

If it's too small, it will pass through the laterals and end up in your pool.

My findings on how not all sand is created equal

 

[munsterf15]

Richard320,

So the HTH pool filter sand from Ace Hardware worked just fine for you?

 

[Richard320]

Richard320,

So the HTH pool filter sand from Ace Hardware worked just fine for you?

Not my article. I have a DE filter.

But the author reported success once he had the right stuff in his filter.

 

[Davejavu]

Welcome to TFP. Congrats on the new pool. I noticed you have 3 posts so far and are a gold supporter. Let me say I appreciate you (and everyone else) who support this ad free site. Without financial supporters, helpful sites like this one can not exist.

 

[kimkats]

Richard320,

So the HTH pool filter sand from Ace Hardware worked just fine for you?

That is the sand I put in my filter when we first set it up and have had NO problems with it. NO playground sand though.

Kim:cat:

 

[911medic]

Richard320,

So the HTH pool filter sand from Ace Hardware worked just fine for you?

I just put that sand in my new sand filter a few weeks ago. I did get a bit of sand in the pool, but I may not have backwashed it thoroughly enough before filtering initially, so that's probably on me.

 

[compumasta]

I will third that sand recommendation. I put the HTH pool sand from Ace Hardware in my 650lb filter and have had no issues for the last month or so that it has been in there. No sand in my pool, and it works perfect.

 

[duraleigh]

I want to thank munsterf15 and Davejavu for their absolute faith in what we are doing here. It takes a bit of a leap to be new to a site and contribute so willingly, folks, Thanks!

I hope each of you has an opportunity to redeem your $25.00 discount at INYO pools. (Info on supporter page) They are proving to be a helpful resource for us and have a great staff.

 

[kimkats]

When added new sand or doing any filter stuff with a sand filter like a backwash don't forget to do the rinse cycle before going back to filter.

Kim:cat:

 

[munsterf15]

Hey guys,

I just got the pool filled. Took 20 hours. Dang. Here are my readings.

PH 7.5
CL 0
FC 0
CC 1
TA (never got the test to turn red. I stopped adding drops after 27)

I used the TF-100 test kit.

I have not turned on the SWG yet (as per your instructions).

Thoughts?

Marty

 

[Richard320]

Hey guys,

I just got the pool filled. Took 20 hours. Dang. Here are my readings.

PH 7.5
CL 0
FC 0
CC 1
TA (never got the test to turn red. I stopped adding drops after 27)

I used the TF-100 test kit.

I have not turned on the SWG yet (as per your instructions).

Thoughts?

Marty

Did the TA test at least go some shade of green initially? If so, then you have really high TA and you'll be battling pH rise for a few weeks. It might be worthwhile to review the video. Same reagents, same test, just maybe a different test tube for yours.



At any rate..

Get some bleach in there to the target of 3 FC.
Add the CYA to get to 70ish. You can raise it to 80 later if you want, but aim low in case your pool isn't as big as you think.

The day after you added the CYA sock, target 7 FC and recheck that pH and TA. You'll want to get that TA down a little if indeed is is well over 200.

Anytime the pH is between 7.2 and 7.8 and you've got some FC in there, it's safe to swim and to add the salt. Many people like to let the kids frolic through the salt crystals. It helps dissolve them quick,

When the CYA is all dissolved and the salt has been dissolved for 24 hours, fire off the SWG. Just don't forget to maintain Fc levels with bleach until the SWG can get going.

 

[munsterf15]

Last night I added 160 pounds of salt. 3 pounds of stabilizer. 96 ounces of bleach.

Now (about 15 hours later), my readings are:

ph 7.5
Cl 2
FC 2.5
CC 0
TC 2.5
CH about 350
TA 500
CYA - no readings yet
Salt - 1350

2 questions.

1. What now?
2. Can (should I turn on the SWA)?
3. Is this safe for the kids to swing min? They will be home from school in 2 hours and are chomping at the bit.

Thanks again!

Marty