This start up is a disaster!!!

[Rokihunter]

Back ground- pool was plastered with Stonescapes mini pebble on Saturday, acid washed and started fill. outside temperature was close to 60 when plastering and dipped to low 40's at night. PB put in a sequestering agent. Pool was completely filled at 2 am Sunday night. Electricians came Monday, to wire equipment pad. Since the pump was not running Monday the PB dumped a gallon and a half of acid in and I brushed. Today is Wednesday and pump is still not hooked up, though he promised it would be running today. Tested PH yesterday and at least 8.2 so I added another gallon of acid yesterday and brushed. FC is 0. The outside temp got to 29 last night and only a high of 48 today. I have the TF-100 kit and pool holds 15,000 gallons. What is my priority when he gets the pump running today(hopefully). I will post my current PH levels from this morning soon. So as soon as I get my PH to at least to 7.5 I will then put in a gallon of chlorine and then will work on my CH level. Also, do I need to bring the pool water samples into the house to warm to room temperature before testing? Thanks in advance for the help!!!

 

[Texas Splash]

You have a couple good things in your favor:
- TF-100!
- Chilly water which will resist/slow-down algae

Bringing the water indoors before testing is a good idea. Sounds like you're doing your best, just make sure to really brush & stir anything really well as you wait for the pump to be connected. Your builder may have warranty-specific start-up guidance, so make sure to follow & document what they say. But if you have the green light to do things on your own, FC & pH will be priority #1. Last thing you want is algae and have to worry about a SLAM before plaster can cure. In addition, keeping that pH below 7.8 will be important with that new plaster.

You probably know to wait on the SWG/Salt for about 30 day according to the TFP Pool School - Start-up New Plaster page.

Once the equipment is up & running, feel free to post a full set of results and we can compare notes.

Have an nice day.

 

[Rokihunter]

Finally got the pump running this afternoon whoohooo!!

Remote isn't here yet and still have some more to hook up but it is filtering and pool lights. So here are my numbers but I have not done CYA yet

FC 2
CC .5
CH 125
TA 30
PH 8.2

added some acid so will check again in the morning, I will also work on raising the CH tomorrow After I get that to 250 than I will work on TA. How do I raise the TA, can I do it on running my sheers or do I add baking soda?

I also ordered my Doheny Dolphin tonight, can't wait to start using.

 

[needsajet]

Wow, exciting, congrats on the new pool!!! TA is raised with baking soda.

 

[pabeader]

Note: If neither you nor the pool builder put any CYA in, then it's going to be 0. One of you needs to add it either in solid form or there is a liquid version also.

 

[Rokihunter]

Frustrated
A storm is coming tonight so wanted to make sure I had FC. Tested this afternoon and had 0 FC so put in pool math and said to add 96 oz. Did that and tested an hour later and it shot up to 10 FC, my target was 5. Worried about the effect on my new plaster, what damage could it do?

 

[pooldv]

No impact.

 

[needsajet]

Just backsolving in PoolMath, you added chlorinating liquid with 10% sodium hypochlorite, right? Seems odd that you'd get 10 ppm FC. Was it 20 drops of R-0871?

 

[Rokihunter]

Just retested at FC was at 8, I can smell the chlorine but CC is .05. Hopefully this storm tonight will bring down the FC. Thanks pools do, I had read it is bad for new plaster to have high chlorine, and not to slam early on. My PB called to check on me today as his son was hooking up my landscape lighting. He said "you know Kim, we can do the chemical balancing for you" I said "I got this Joe, I need to learn." There is nothing in the contract about chemicals, though they said they would get it balanced. I tell him my results and he will tell me it needs to be raised or lowered. Though he sees the water and says it looks good, they haven't tested themselves and trust my results using the kit. They did put a sequester in it and added the first dose of acid and left some extra acid. They say I am not their "normal" customer and they have been doing it for 30 years.

- - - Updated - - -

Yes 10ppm, 20 drops x .05

 

[Rokihunter]

@pabeader..adding cya now, a sock in each skimmer. It sure takes a long time to desolve. I am putting in half the recommended amount will test 24 hours after it is done desolving from the sock and go from there. Target is 60

 

[Reddogdan]

Give the sock a squeeze ever so often. Even better is to hang the sock infront of a return and it will have more flow.

 

[triptyx]

The skimmer is fine - I let it soak for about an hour, then massage the devil out of it until white clouds stop coming from the sock (use your hands to "grind" the granules together inside the sock), then let it soak for a bit, then massage, etc. The key to using the skimmer is to make sure the pump stays running until you've massaged all of the CYA out of the sock so you don't end up with acidic water accumulating in the skimmer. I've dissolved 2lbs in about three hours of pump run this way.