Wow that pool math calculator is awesome! I guess I need to start stocking up on bleach! I added the required amount. How soon do I test again?
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Florida Build: Project Complete...Officially Pool Owners!
- Thread starter daintilus
- Start date
As long as your pump has been running since you added the bleach, you can retest in about 30 min. Some say 15, but I like to wait 30 so I know it's been stirred well.
I LOVE Pool Math! It takes all of the work out of it!!
nini has you covered oh when to test again.
If you find your numbers are off when you use pool math we might need to tweak your pool size. It is very common to need to do this as you learn your pool.
I have another link for you:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule
I keep a small note book with my test kit to write down all of my test results. After a while you will start to see patterns-weather, temps, wind, rain, ect will affect your water. With the journal you will know what to expect.
Kim
nini has you covered oh when to test again.
If you find your numbers are off when you use pool math we might need to tweak your pool size. It is very common to need to do this as you learn your pool.
I have another link for you:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule
I keep a small note book with my test kit to write down all of my test results. After a while you will start to see patterns-weather, temps, wind, rain, ect will affect your water. With the journal you will know what to expect.
Kim
I LOVE Pool Math! It takes all of the work out of it!!
nini has you covered oh when to test again.
If you find your numbers are off when you use pool math we might need to tweak your pool size. It is very common to need to do this as you learn your pool.
I have another link for you:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule
I keep a small note book with my test kit to write down all of my test results. After a while you will start to see patterns-weather, temps, wind, rain, ect will affect your water. With the journal you will know what to expect.
Kim
Thank you! I tested again when I read your replies. That was about 3 hours later. Now my FC is 1 and my PH is still 8.2. From what I am reading it seems that my PH is too high which can affect the chlorine...am I understanding this correctly? Should I add muriatic acid to try and lower the PH first and then try to raise my FC level? Again...not sure if I'm way off base here. According to pool math my pool holds 15,300 gallons, which is significantly more than what we were told by the PB 11,600. I went with Pool math's figure, so if anything I over chlorinated the pool. I am going to call the utility company in the morning to see if they can tell me how much water was used on fill day. This will give me a better idea of the actual amount.
This is a chemistry lesson for real! If I hadn't invested so much time already learning the lingo, recommended chemical levels etc., i think i probably would have given up already. Now i'm in too deep (no pun intended), I am determined to learn this!
If you have bleach go ahead and add that now. Try to get FC to at least 5 please, anywhere 5-10 is great for now. They will talk to you about dropping PH when they get on (I'm not qualified to advise PH care on new plaster).
I am here for the PH lesson and it will help us learn your pool size as well.
I want you to give yourself over to lowering your PH for a little while. Please use care when using the m. acid. Wear eye protection please.
Use pool math.....put in NOW of 8.2 for you PH and target of 7.8. Add what PM tells you to. Have the pump on high if you can. Let it run for 15 mins. then retest. IF it is not at 7.8 do it again. Keep doing the test, dose, pump run until you get a reading of 7.8. Let me know when that happens.
It will get MUCH easier when we get things evened out.
Kim
I want you to give yourself over to lowering your PH for a little while. Please use care when using the m. acid. Wear eye protection please.
Use pool math.....put in NOW of 8.2 for you PH and target of 7.8. Add what PM tells you to. Have the pump on high if you can. Let it run for 15 mins. then retest. IF it is not at 7.8 do it again. Keep doing the test, dose, pump run until you get a reading of 7.8. Let me know when that happens.
It will get MUCH easier when we get things evened out.Kim
I will check in on you when I can. It might be in the morning as a couple of critters need some extra care tonight.
Kim
Kim
If you're the extra cautious type, you can brush (lightly with softest brush is fine) the bottom under the area where you pour the acid and a little extra in the direction of the water circulation just to "stir" the water. If you do the whole pool it counts as your weekly brushing 
The MA is heavier than the water and sinks, and while the vast majority, okay probably all if your pour slow enough, gets mixed and diluted instantly by the return water flow, but if you ever pour too quickly, it is my belief there is a chance that some sinks and sits on your new plaster. Again, as long as you pour slow enough, this isn't required at all. There are fumes when you pour into the water, so try to have the wind away from your face if possible. Stop pouring and take a break until the wind is cooperative if necessary. A small fan (be safe with electricity near water) or, as I prefer, a significant other or child to manually fan you with a palm frond/branch. Best not to store MA indoors, in direct sun, or next to bleach.
The MA is heavier than the water and sinks, and while the vast majority, okay probably all if your pour slow enough, gets mixed and diluted instantly by the return water flow, but if you ever pour too quickly, it is my belief there is a chance that some sinks and sits on your new plaster. Again, as long as you pour slow enough, this isn't required at all. There are fumes when you pour into the water, so try to have the wind away from your face if possible. Stop pouring and take a break until the wind is cooperative if necessary. A small fan (be safe with electricity near water) or, as I prefer, a significant other or child to manually fan you with a palm frond/branch. Best not to store MA indoors, in direct sun, or next to bleach.
Following up! Did you get it within testing limits last night?
Kim
(LOL on battle and the palm fan)Thanks for checking on me Kim! I wasn't able to test yesterday because I didn't feel like going back out to get the muriatic acid. As soon as I get off work today, I will be swinging by home depot to get the acid and stock up on bleach. I will keep you posted!
- - - Updated - - -
I have 2 children and lots of palms! You might be on to something
- - - Updated - - -
A small fan (be safe with electricity near water) or, as I prefer, a significant other or child to manually fan you with a palm frond/branch.
I have 2 children and lots of palms! You might be on to something
Hallelujah! PH 7.5 and FC 5. I think the PH was higher than 8.2, because it took more muriatic acid than pool math calculated. I also confirmed with the utility company that the pool holds approximately 12k gallons. The water looks much clearer too. I can see all the way to the bottom at night! Thank you, thank you, Thank you!!! to all that chimed in...especially you Kim. I felt like my questions were so stupid when I first started running the tests and you encouraged me to keep going. Okay other than weekly testing and brushing, any thing else I need to know?
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Congratulations!! It turned out beautiful!!
I would recommend testing pH, FC & CC daily, about the same time every day as these will need regular attention. The other tests can be performed weekly.
I would recommend testing pH, FC & CC daily, about the same time every day as these will need regular attention. The other tests can be performed weekly.
I am SO glad your pool is looking SO good! The only stupid question is the one not asked! That is THE one that is most needed in many cases!We have a link just for what is next:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule
Kim
Absolutely beautiful pictures! Congratulations!
I highly suggest logging/writing down at least all your FC and PH readings for a while. It will help you build expectations such as, "1 ppm from bleach FC per day needed when no rain and no swimming" or "kids and I went swimming for under an hour, 4ppm FC daily use" or "PH takes 6 days to get to 8.0" and from these patterns you recognize you can build the basis for potentially testing less than daily, and certainly always having the chemicals you'll need on hand and not have to make extra trips.
Any questions about SWG? (it isn't on max is it?)
I LOVE Pool Math! It takes all of the work out of it!!
I keep a small note book with my test kit to write down all of my test results. After a while you will start to see patterns-weather, temps, wind, rain, ect will affect your water. With the journal you will know what to expect.
Kim
I highly suggest logging/writing down at least all your FC and PH readings for a while. It will help you build expectations such as, "1 ppm from bleach FC per day needed when no rain and no swimming" or "kids and I went swimming for under an hour, 4ppm FC daily use" or "PH takes 6 days to get to 8.0" and from these patterns you recognize you can build the basis for potentially testing less than daily, and certainly always having the chemicals you'll need on hand and not have to make extra trips.
Any questions about SWG? (it isn't on max is it?)
Thanks for checking in! Yes I have started a pool log. I have been testing daily when I can, sometimes even twice a day...and I am surprised at how much the levels fluctuate. The day I posted my PH at 7.5 and FC at 5...by the next day the PH fell to 6.8 and the FC was at 8! I turned the deck jets on to aerate and by Saturday afternoon the PH was at 7.2. The sun is still working on the FC
It was raining all day yesterday (Sunday), so I did not get a chance to test. It will be interesting to see where the levels are after today after all the rain we got. We have not added the salt yet, because we have to wait 30 days per the PB's instructions. So, they will be back out around the 29th to start up the SWG. It is very easy to let this process overwhelm you...my husband has totally checked out on understanding the chemistry. He is still by my side though to help brush and add chemicals per my instructions, but sometimes I feel like I'm about to break and just hand the maintenance over to a pool service company...but I've read too many horror stories of pool guys not maintaining properly which has long term negative effects. I'm also not about to let all this newly acquired knowledge go to waste So for now, I am reading ALOT, taking deep breaths and testing daily!
Oh honey! I am so sorry it is overwhelming for you right now It is a lot at first. BUT your plaster will last SO much longer and you will never have your pool turn green AND your wallet will be much fatter doing it this way. Plus all you have learned!
It will all level out as your plaster cures. The PH will do crazy things then it will stop moving so much.
The worst thing about a pool service is they only come out once a week. They push every thing up in hopes it will last until they come back the next week or they use so many pucks (that add CYA) that your CYA will get too high for you to keep up with the FC and you will end up draining your water and risking your plaster.
Kim
It is a lot at first. BUT your plaster will last SO much longer and you will never have your pool turn green AND your wallet will be much fatter doing it this way. Plus all you have learned!It will all level out as your plaster cures. The PH will do crazy things then it will stop moving so much.
The worst thing about a pool service is they only come out once a week. They push every thing up in hopes it will last until they come back the next week or they use so many pucks (that add CYA) that your CYA will get too high for you to keep up with the FC and you will end up draining your water and risking your plaster.
Kim
Daintilus, Kim is right! My pool was filled about 18 months ago. I was so overwhelmed and exhausted from the build. But the encouragement from tfp members and my PB's right hand man, kept me going. At one point I really believed this dog was just too old to learn new tricks!!
One thing that helped me was focusing first on the FC and pH. I reported my numbers for everything on tfp, so I didn't get into trouble but I mostly did those 2 on my own. I also read more and more about FC and pH - and NOT much on the other chemicals. On those I just did exactly what these guys told me to do without giving those any thought. So I got to know FC and pH as well as I could. Once we became close 'friends' (lol!!) and I felt confident , I widened my circle of friends - chemicals - one at a time, reading about it, keeping notes, and trying to make my own decisions what to do. All with the help of Pool Math and still posting my numbers to confirm I was doing things correctly.
You sound like me - stubborn and committed to being in charge of your water, so that puts you half way there! Keep breathing and remember, after getting to know FC and pH well, take the others one at a time letting the experts here tell you what to do about the ones you're not comfortable with yet. And for this old dog? Looking back now, I'm surprised it all came pretty quickly! I'm still learning and fine tuning, but that part is fun.
No question is silly, and there are many here for you hoping to help!
Take care,
Suz
One thing that helped me was focusing first on the FC and pH. I reported my numbers for everything on tfp, so I didn't get into trouble but I mostly did those 2 on my own. I also read more and more about FC and pH - and NOT much on the other chemicals. On those I just did exactly what these guys told me to do without giving those any thought. So I got to know FC and pH as well as I could. Once we became close 'friends' (lol!!) and I felt confident , I widened my circle of friends - chemicals - one at a time, reading about it, keeping notes, and trying to make my own decisions what to do. All with the help of Pool Math and still posting my numbers to confirm I was doing things correctly.
You sound like me - stubborn and committed to being in charge of your water, so that puts you half way there! Keep breathing and remember, after getting to know FC and pH well, take the others one at a time letting the experts here tell you what to do about the ones you're not comfortable with yet. And for this old dog? Looking back now, I'm surprised it all came pretty quickly! I'm still learning and fine tuning, but that part is fun.
No question is silly, and there are many here for you hoping to help!
Take care,
Suz
You're doing great! Just keep it one thing at a time. No need to look at the whole picture. Just one thing at a time. You totally got this
The worst thing about a pool service is they only come out once a week. They push every thing up in hopes it will last until they come back the next week or they use so many pucks (that add CYA) that your CYA will get too high for you to keep up with the FC and you will end up draining your water and risking your plaster.
Kim
You are so right Kim... After the pool was filled, I watched on camera as the pool service guy on week 1 and week 2, dumped a whole bunch of chemicals in my pool (we got pool service for 2 weeks compliments of the PB). I realize this now to be muriatic acid, but it looked like the container held a good 2-3 gallons, and I remember thinking that seemed like a whole lot for the size of the pool. I guess they thought we would be keeping them on after the 2 weeks and was shocked when I told them that we would be maintaining the pool ourselves since we are pool newbies. I wish I could go back in time and test the water during those first 2 weeks just to see where the levels were, but I guess it's all water under the bridge now.
That's me...stubborn as a mule! I feel like this is personal now, I refuse to let it beat me! I get so nervous when I see the daily changes in the pH and FC levels and automatically think that I must be doing something wrong, and I am going to totally destroy my pool. I am just trying to master the FC and PH for now, and they are becoming "friendlier". The more I learn, is the more relaxed I become and
for all the wonderful support.Thanks for the encouragement...I have good days and I have bad days. I am definitely focusing on FC and PH for now as they seem to be the most crucial for safe swimming. Once I feel pretty good about those I will move on to the others.