Newbie with AG Intex 16x48 with sand filter and SWG

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fareal

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Sep 1, 2015
53
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Hello TFP, what would I do without you.

I bought an Intex 16x48 the end of last year. Got a great deal $100. Oh boy had I only known how much more I would be spending to get everything else going. To make a long story short, in the end it was still worth it!

With the help of TFP and a couple other online resources I removed sod, leveled dirt, brought in some sand, leveled sand, tamped it, setup the pool, pump, SWG. Cleaned up surrounding yard, edging, pea pebbles, mulch. Still a bit of the pretty stuff to do, but almost done.

Last night around 8pm the pool finished filling. (Woohoo nearly spot on with the pool water level and I used a homemade bucket, tubing and stick water level. I'm hoping the pavers under the legs continue to keep everything level.) I added 120lbs of salt earlier in the day and had the kids kick it around and dissolve it. I was planning to add some bleach before the night was over to give it a head start but didn't get around to it. Instead I decided to let the pump and SWG run overnight for 12 hours.

This morning after 10 hours my FC was up to 6 ppm. I guess I don't need the bleach after all.

These are my targets:
FC 5
PH 7.5
TA 70
CH 260 (300 is good too from what I read)
CYA 70
Salt 3300

These are my results from this morning:
FC 6
PH (8.2 at least)
TA 160
CH 300
CYA 0
Salt 2800

My plan is to continue testing chlorine tonight and tomorrow morning, etc, to understand how much is being used per day.

I added 47 ounces of CYA in a sock. Pump is still spreading it as I type. I read that my PH may change after this is added so I guess I'll wait a bit before I add Muriatic Acid to lower the PH.

Also my TA is high but Pool Math says lower PH may impact that as well.

I also plan to add a bit more salt, 10 to 20lbs.

I think I'm on the right track. Any input is welcome. Thank you!
 
Welcome to TFP! :) And great post. You covered things really well and you're on track entirely other than the fine-tuning you've already thought through.

CYA did bring my pH down when I added, so you may be OK. The only number that stands out is your pH which you're on top of. Your TA is high as you say, and with the effort you have planned, you'll find your pH/TA sweet spot as time goes along.

Well done!!
 
We must sound over-the-top to a new member, haha, but truly... it's obvious from your post that you took advantage of all the resources here, which must be very satisfying to the experts who put the time into refining the methods and presenting them in a concise and easy to follow manner. Some first posts are: hey, whacked up my pool, what do I do now?

Love the gold star, Kim!
 
Thank you both!

Tonights test results:
FC 5
CC .5
PH 7.2
275 CH
170 TA
3200 Salt

I didn't test CYA since I just added it today.

Not sure if I should do anything right away to lower TA or wait a bit for the CYA and everything to settle. The pool has only been full for 24 hours.
 
What we do is assume the CYA is there from the moment we put it in, even though it won't show up fully on a test for a few days to a week (good pickup on that). But you know the weight you put in, what number you were shooting for in Pool Math, and that it doesn't diminish in the pool. So for example, say you added enough CYA to get to 50 PPM. You could write, for example:

CYA 50 (just added, not tested yet)

The CYA has driven your pH down a bit, which is handy, but then pH will climb. The more TA, the faster it will climb, so lowering TA is done to slow the pH rise, making pH management tasks occur less often. I'll bet you already know that keeping CSI down (under positive 0.3) helps minimize risk of calcium scaling, including scaling in your SWG. You could start now or later, not too much difference there. Your pH is already down, so you would be starting with aeration.

Method is up to you and you can do whatever fits your life. You can drive it down with the procedure you've seen in Pool School. The key to that method is aggressive aeration. I've tried the "turning up the returns" concept but it didn't work fast enough for my liking. I needed a sump pump shooting an arc of water from one end to the other.

Or you can do it with repeated somewhat aggressive additions of MA. For example, let it climb over pH 7.8 then knock it down to pH 7.2, rinse and repeat.

Or just pick a number for pH and target that, say 7.4 or 7.6, and add MA when you pass pH 7.8. The overall effect is the same, with the first method being fast, the second is medium, and the third is slow.

Finally, there's no independent perfect number for your pool. Your water has a sweet spot, and it takes a while to find it. You'll sense when you're getting close because the pH will move slower than what you've been used to. Some people find pH stabilizes completely, and I haven't learned yet whether it's possible for my pool with an SWG.

I'm relatively new, but what's great about this forum is that the experts will jump in and correct anything I've said that's wrong or misleading, so I'm learning it better all the time by helping out.

And thanks again for knowing to post numbers and how to post them. It is so easy to see where you're at!!!
 
So an old dog can learn new tricks, hey? Only cause of the expertise here! Amazing forum.

I forgot to mention the absolute most important way to raise pH after reducing TA with MA. Get the gang in there and tell 'em to churn it up!!
 
Got my TA down to 100 with small doses of MA and aeration by pointing the return upwards. When PH hit 7.5 or 7.6'ish I would add MA to bring it down to 7.2. Run the pump til returned from work and PH would be up again. Hit it again several times and we're down to 100. I didn't do it consistently at first but got it eventually.

CC has been stable. Learning the FC and how much pump+SWG run time it takes to keep it up.

Had nearly a dozen and a half kids over the other day and oh boy I had to run the pump+SWG much much longer to keep the FC up to keep things clean and clear afterwards. Around 13 hours off and on, testing a few times afterwards. Normally only run around 2 - 4 hours per night, closer to 4 lately I guess due to the consistent heat. All is well again now.
 

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