Just opened

[kidsluv2swim]

okay, we just opened our pool, which was installed in late july/early August of last year. We are in Mass so we only had about 5-6 weeks with it open before closing it. This was our first real opening. Thankfully I found this site just as my pool was being built. I admit it took a little practice but last summer, even though short, went well. Anyway, we opened yesterday to a beautifully clear pool we had no problems setting up the filter :-D and here are my test results after bringing up to shock level last night:

TC 10
FC 0
PH 7.8
TA 60
CH (not tested)
CYA 40

Am I missing something? It looks pretty good to me... Can it really be this easy? Should I increase my TA or will that increase now that the filter is running and the return valve is up? Do I need to test CH with a vinyl liner? Is it even possible that it cost me only about $7(bleach) to open my pool? Am I missing something?

Holly

 

[reebok]

as far as chlorine goes, fc should be 10 I hope (not 0).

 

[duraleigh]

Holly,

You're not missing much. BBB is all about simplicity, testing , and understanding what to do after interpreting the tests.

Let your FC drift on down to about 3-5ppm and keep it there all summer and you have a TFP!

Nice work! :lol:

CH not necessary.

 

[kidsluv2swim]

as far as chlorine goes, fc should be 10 I hope (not 0).

Yes you are right, I switched them.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

IT's that easy.

CH is not an issue in a vinyl pool provided your PH doesn't go above 7.8. Your TA is a tad low.

What was your shock target? Did you test after adding the bleach, did the FC hold overnight?

If you increase the TA to 90, using baking soda, that won't increase the PH very much, and if the PH goes over 7.8 a little bit of MA (less than a cup) will put the PH and TA into perfect ranges. The PH may be reading that high because of the chlorine level. When the FC drops a bit retest the PH.

Use the pool calculator to determine proper dosage, if you want to tweak these numbers.

Congrats on a Trouble-Free Pool!

 

[kidsluv2swim]

My target level was 12, but I did add a slightly more than I was supposed to, maybe 25ozs more. I did not test directly after adding the bleach because it was late and the mosquitos were eating me alive!
I will retest ph and FC later and see what I get after a full day of sun.

Thanks for all of the help! This site is great!!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Well it sounds like you might have had an overnight loss, but since you didn't test after shocking we don't know the end result.

Tonight, put on bug spray and test 30 minutes after the last bleach addition. That result should be compared to the a.m. test. If you lose less than 1ppm of FC and your CC is .5 or less, you are done shocking and you can let your FC level drop to normal.

 

[kidsluv2swim]

Well it sounds like you might have had an overnight loss, but since you didn't test after shocking we don't know the end result.

Tonight, put on bug spray and test 30 minutes after the last bleach addition. That result should be compared to the a.m. test. If you lose less than 1ppm of FC and your CC is .5 or less, you are done shocking and you can let your FC level drop to normal.

Let me make sure I have this right. I should test, then bring up to target shock level and test again 30 min later? Then compare to AM results?? Like I said, I am still a bit new to this :?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Well it sounds like you might have had an overnight loss, but since you didn't test after shocking we don't know the end result.

Tonight, put on bug spray and test 30 minutes after the last bleach addition. That result should be compared to the a.m. test. If you lose less than 1ppm of FC and your CC is .5 or less, you are done shocking and you can let your FC level drop to normal.

Let me make sure I have this right. I should test, then bring up to target shock level and test again 30 min later? Then compare to AM results?? Like I said, I am still a bit new to this :?

Yes exactly.

Because there could be a dosing error, or there could be a situation with bad bleach, like its not as strong as you might think it is. So say you target for 15, add enough bleach that you think you would reach 15, but you didn't test to confirm you reached it. Say in reality you only got as high as 12. Then in the morning you test and got 12, you assume you had a loss of 3ppm, when in reality it held. Does that make sense?

So always test 30 minutes after the last bleach addition, and compare that result with the morning result.

 

[kidsluv2swim]

Yes, that does make complete sense! Thankyou!
What would be a reasonable loss overnight?

 

[reebok]

pool-school/shocking_your_pool

 

[steve1969]

Hi - I just opened this week too, after having a TFP last summer. I was "shocked" to get the following test numbers:

FC = 0
CC = 0
pH = 7.2
TA = 60
CYA = 70
Salt = 3200

Last summer, I battled the pH and TA for a good month or so because the SWG kept my pH rising all the time. I expect that the pH will start rising again once I turn on my SWG, but will the TA stay down? Also, I expected that the CYA would have dropped over the winter - but it didn't - is that normal? Thanks, as always.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Hi - I just opened this week too, after having a TFP last summer. I was "shocked" to get the following test numbers:

FC = 0
CC = 0
pH = 7.2
TA = 60
CYA = 70
Salt = 3200

Last summer, I battled the pH and TA for a good month or so because the SWG kept my pH rising all the time. I expect that the pH will start rising again once I turn on my SWG, but will the TA stay down? Also, I expected that the CYA would have dropped over the winter - but it didn't - is that normal? Thanks, as always.

Unless you add Baking Soda the TA should stay where it is, and the PH may not rise like it did last year - lower TA helps keep it in check. CYA doesn't always drop over winter. No clear explanation why it happens to some and not others. Get some chlorine in there!