Start-up Procedures for Small Pools – Intex Inflatable or Easy Set type pools, 5,500 gallons or less:
It’s a good idea to have your tap water or fill water tested before you begin filling. That way you have an idea of what products you will need to treat your water.
To start using your pool, you will need at least these 4 things:
• 6% Clorox Bleach (or store brand generic, like Wal-Mart’s Great Value brand)
• 1 cup plastic or Pyrex-type glass measuring cup (mark it for pool use and don’t use it for anything else.)
• For small pools, a simple 6-way test kit, like
this one, also sold by Wal-Mart for around $20.
• Dichlor granular chlorine, commonly called “pool shockâ€. This is usually sold in 1 lb bags, which is ideal for small pools like yours. Look for the words: "sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione" under active ingredients.
If your Pool is # of 1 lb bags needed
Under 2,000 1
2000-3000 2
3000-5000 3
5000-5500 4
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You will also need to learn how to use the Pool Calculator. Learn how by following
these instructions. The Pool Calculator will help you determine exactly how much of each product you need to add to reach your desired levels.
Your Recommended Levels are found in
this article.
3 Steps to Getting Started.
It is recommended you have your own kit, so you don’t have to rely on pool stores for testing. (We generally don’t recommend the testing strips as they are not very accurate and can be difficult to read.)
The 6-way test kits will test for Chlorine/Bromine, PH, Total Alkalinity, Total Hardness and CYA (stabilizer). You don’t need to worry about Bromine, because you are going to be using Chlorine (the kit tests for both). Also, Vinyl pools don’t require calcium hardness, so you don’t need to worry about the Total Hardness test. You can read more about these tests and what they mean –
here.
1.
Take a sample of your tap water and test for PH and TA. This will give you good practice for using your kit, and give you an idea of what products you will need. For example:
Low PH – requires Borax to raise it
Low TA – requires Baking Soda to raise it
High PH/TA – requires Muratic Acid to lower these levels.
Refer to the Recommended Levels article above, to determine if your PH and TA are at acceptable levels.
You don’t need to test your tap water for chlorine or CYA. Some tap water won’t have any chlorine in it, and it won’t have any CYA. (Since the 6-way test kit only has enough solution for 3 CYA tests, save you’re test re-agent for a later date, after a month or so of using the pool.)
Now these “practice†tests can be done while the pool is filling. (If you have high-iron content in your water, you may choose to pay to have the water brought in.)
BBB does not mean every pool will need BBB! So test your water before you go shopping for supplies. No point in buying 12 lbs of baking soda if you won’t need it!
Make sure the pump/equipment is operational.
2.
After the pool is filled, turn on your Filter Pump.
Follow the procedures in your operating instructions found in your pools manual. Note: The filters that come with the pool are disposable, and not meant for long-term use. Under “normal†conditions, they only last 1-2 weeks, so stock up! You can hose it off each day to extend the use of the filter cartridge, but after a week or 2 start fresh. If you experience green water or similar problems, the filters will clog up rapidly and you should just toss it and start fresh.
3.
If your kids are pestering you to swim right away, you can add Clorox 6% bleach (or similar store brand). You will need
½ cup for every 500 gallons of water. (Do the math! If you’re pool is around 5,000 gallons, you will need about 5 cups of bleach.) Wait about 1 hour after adding the bleach, then the kids can swim.
Always make sure the pump is running when adding any type of chemical to ensure it’s properly mixed.
With these type of portable pools, you want the pump off and/or unplugged while swimmers are in the pool as a safety measure.
What now?
By the end of the day, your chlorine will probably have dropped to zero. Organic waste from swimmers and sunlight both consume chlorine,
so it must be replenished daily. Cyanuric Acid (“CYAâ€), also called Stabilizer, helps protect the chlorine from UV destruction. Since you have no CYA (municipal and well water will not have CYA) you will need to add this to your water. Don’t be surprised to see chlorine already in your tap water, as some municipal systems add chlorine.
To begin to properly chlorinate your pool, simultaneously raising your CYA to the recommended level, you will use the Dichlor.
Night One.
The first evening (after everyone is done swimming), turn the filter/pump back on. After one hour, test the PH. If it’s above 7.8 you need to add some Muratic Acid to lower it down to 7.4. If it’s below 7.2 you should add a little Borax to raise it up. Adjust the PH before you do any thing else. Use the Pool Calculator to help you determine proper dosing for adjusting the PH.
Wait about 30 minutes after adjusting PH and then you will add the Dichlor. For every 500 gallons of pool water, add 1 ounce of Dichlor. Add it to a bucket of pool water to pre-dissolve it, then pour it into the return flow. Be sure to brush the pool to make sure it is totally dissolved. Let the pump run overnight or at least for several hours. This will raise the FC level to approximately 8, and the CYA level to 8.
Day 2. Test the chlorine in the morning, and write down the results.
You can begin a pool log if you like, though it’s not necessary. It’s nice to have a written record to refer to if in case an issue arises, that way you know what your levels are/were, what you added, etc.
Over the course of the day, you will see this FC level drop down, perhaps to zero. It’s okay to let the kids swim if they want, even a FC level of 8 is safe. If you see the FC has dropped to zero, add another ½ cup of bleach for every 500 gallons to raise the FC back up. You never want the FC to drop below 2.
So night 2, after the kids are done swimming, turn the pump back on. Add another dose of the Dichlor as described above. Your FC will go back up to around 8-10 and your CYA level will increase to 16.
Day 3. Repeat the process on day three, if the kids want to swim it’s okay and be sure to monitor the FC level during the day so that it doesn’t get too low. If everything is progressing normally, you should see your FC levels begin to hold, and you shouldn’t have to add bleach to supplement the FC level, or you should have to add it less often.
Day Four. Your CYA level should now be in the low 20s. Not high enough to register on your test kit, but high enough that you should see the FC levels stabilize. Night Four: Add one more dose of the Dichlor, as instructed above.
Day Five. Your CYA level should now be approximately 30, and this is a good level for your pool. If you refer to the CYA/Chlorine Chart, your recommended FC levels are now between 2-4.
So you will now
STOP using the Dichlor and start using Bleach for your everyday chlorine source.
If your FC is a little high at this point, don’t worry, it will drop down to normal levels fairly quickly, especially if the kids are swimming and if the pool is exposed to sunlight.
Each night you will test your Chlorine, and using the Pool Calculator, determine how much bleach to add to raise your FC to 4-5. This will probably be somewhere around between ¼ cup to ½ cup of bleach each night. Some pools will require less, some more. There are many factors, how many bathers, how much sun your pool gets, etc. This nightly addition of bleach will keep your FC above 2, which is the minimum.
Each night you will test your PH, and make sure it stays in the recommended range.
If you should run into a problem, like green, dull or cloudy water, it may be simpler to just dump the water and start over. It’s very hard for the Intex-type pump/filters to defeat an algae bloom.
If you want to try to tackle the issue without draining, you may post a new topic in the appropriate forum for your particular issue (i.e., “Algae-Prevention and Treatment.†Or “Just Getting Started†whichever is more appropriate.)
For follow up reading, this
Basic Pool Care Schedule is a good place to start. Of course all of the articles in Pool School are very informative, and if you haven’t read them yet, you should.