Brand New Pool

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snewo

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Jun 7, 2009
78
An hour NW of Philly
Hi guys, I found this site over the weekend. (Great website BTW) I just had the plaster and water put in yesterday. So here is what I thought I would do and I'm coming here for a sanity check.

The PB (I assume that means Pool Builder...it's not in your acronym list in Pool School) start-up guy will be out next week to start things up. I plan to follow their instructions exactly as far as chemicals and brushing the pool...etc. Their documentation says: 2 weeks before heater use, 3 weeks before water feature use, & 30 days before SWG use. If the PB guy says different I will take that into consideration, but right now thats the plan. 30 days into the pool startup, I was going to exhaust my supply of pool chemicals and go BBB. That, of course, means that I'm going to get the recommended test kits and continually aim for the SWG targets you list in Pool School.

So from a newbie/sanity check point of view - is this what you would do? Am I missing something?

I think I listed all of the important info in my signature, maybe even extra info. but let me know if I missed something.

Thanks in advance for the help!


Snewo
 
I found this website over the weekend, so I definitely didn't ask educated questions during the "sales" phase. I don't know why those two items are in there and I was asking myself the same question while I was out there writing down the model numbers so that I could add them to my signature. I suppose it could be due to the spa? I'll have to wander out to look at the plumbing lines to see if I can tell. Hold on a sec.....OK....Here's how it goes:

Heater->Nature2->SWG->inline chlorine

This is not different between spa and pool, it's the same line.

I'm attaching a picture, don't judge on the landscaping yet, there is much work to be done in that department.


Snewo
 

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I'm assuming that I will have control over the use of those items right? Would that be with the PDA or manual? FWIW I didn't ask for those items to be added, I'll have to ask my brother whether he has it in his pool too. (Same company) Maybe that's one of those things they add in order to get more money out of the customer.....


Snewo
 
OK, here's the update. You were pretty much right. The pool is open now but I barely have any chemicals from the pool company. There are no chlorine tabs in the chlorinator, nothing in the Nature2, and the salt water system is off for the first 30 days. The basic instructions were to add 1 gallon of hydrochloric acid every day for 8 days and then take the water to the pool store. The pool guy said it was for smoothing the plaster and for lowering the ph. I'm not saying that I doubt that it will lower the ph, lowering without a reason for doing it (no tests done yet) seemed wierd. My delivered water was supposed to be balanced ph and already chlorinated FWIW.

My take on it is that I got good physical maintenance instructions (her's how to backwash the filter, here's how to run the vacuum, here's how to run the system, here's how to brush the plaster, etc.) but chemically I got nothing. I would like to get my pool into the target ranges so that when the brushing stops producing clouds in about a week that I'm free to go swimming. So, of course, I have a few questions....

Am I jumping the gun? Should I just brush plaster for 8 days and then balance?
Should I target the chlorine pool ranges for the first 30 days until I can fire up the SWG?
Was he right that the Hydrochloric Acid is for the plaster? I don't even know if I need ph-.


Thanks in advance for the help.
 
as I understand it, the new plaster makes the ph rise. I would do exactly what the pool builder said. the last thing they want is to come out to do some kind of warranty work and have an unhappy customer to boot, so it's in their best interest to put you on the right track. they do it for a living after all. I think the acid helps clear the plaster dust also. others will probably be able to give you more info, but in the meantime have you read the pool school article on new plaster startup? it may helps explains things more also.
 

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Welcome to TFP!!

Congrats on the new pool and on finding us :goodjob: You really should have some chlorine in the water! This month (until you can get the SWCG on line) is a very good time to use tri-chlor pucks in the feeder! The pucks will help keep the pH lower, add cya and chlorine - call the PB (yes that's Pool Builder :wink: ) and make sure that he says it's OK - tell him you're worried about algae on the new plaster and would like to get some chlorine in the pool ASAP. If they put a Nature 2 cartridge in, remove it and use it as a paper weight - that's about the only thing they're good for :lol:

You're right about dosing without testing, however - these guys have built lots of pools and probably know what the new plaster is going to do to the pH and that a gallon of acid a day for the first ~week is OK. The plaster will continue to raise the pH for the first 6 months - year, so muriatic acid is going to be your friend for a while (even after the plaster is fully cured, the SWCGs tend to raise the pH and require regular additions of acid to lower the pH)

I hope you've already ordered your test kit TF-100 or Taylor K - 2006, so that you have it and compare your tests to what the pool store says when you bring them a water sample :-D

Keep the pics and updates coming!
 
Pretty good, thanks for asking. Everything is up and running (SWG too) and working good. We're doing a boatload of swimming. I have a few landscaping tweaks I need to do to keep dirt out of the pool during serious rainstorms, but I already made a major improvement right after it happened the 1st time.

My water is pretty much balanced. I still need to get my CYA up a little more and then I'll worry about dialing in the correct percentage on the SWG. It's working a little harder than it needs to since I'm only at 55 CYA.

I'd say I'm in the home stretch on getting everything exactly as it should be. I'm going out of my way to enjoy the pool too, so that's a plus. My brain is now focusing on some fun things like:

- Sun jars
- projecting a movie across the pool for a movie night
- A potential modification allowing for Solar heat from my shed roof

One of my dogs has realized that he can walk on the sun shelf and keep his head above water, so he's a swimmer. He's enjoying the worlds biggest water dish, no matter how much I try to discourage him. I'm going to avoid borates for that reason alone.

So yeah, these conversations are way better than having to discuss how to de-greenify my pool.
 
I'm so glad to hear that things are going well with your pool and you updated, because, I didn't see your initial post with the pic. I just have to say WOW what a beautiful landscape all across that area, even with the blemishes from the pool building. Just gorgeous.
 
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