Brand new pool startup

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M

MN-CJ

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Jul 8, 2016
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MN
Surface
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Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
So our "new to us" pool is currently filling and the kids are getting excited. They were awesome in helping move wrinkles around to the outside in the heat Sunday and that went pretty well with the foam floor. I almost have it filled now to the return line and am starting to get nervous. I have been reading up on pool school and searching around but have not really found a thread of put x, y, and z in the pool to startup once you are able to filter (or before for that matter.) UPS tracking says my TF-100 test kit is due Thursday.

We have a 30 foot round 54" pool. Using PoolMath, I think it is 22,000 gallons assuming at final I will be about 50" deep. We are filling it from our well and I am not sure if we have any iron in the water or not. I have a science experiment going on in my kitchen with a cup filled with water and some bleach to see if it gets cloudy....just so I know what to expect.

Should I throw anything suchas bleach in there tonight? If so, what?

I did see a suggestion on one thread to bring the FC to 3, CYA to 30 and adjust pH to 7.4.

If I plug that into PoolMath, do I use the FC now at 0 and go to 3 resulting in adding 137 oz of 6% bleach?

Not sure what to plug in for CYA or pH now? Can that wait to be added until Thursday?

I'm positive the kids want to swim and positive I don't want the start of a green algae pool come Thursday because I did not ask for help. Thanks in advance for reading and helping us out!
 
Well hello there! You are going to love having a pool as the kids will sleep REAL good after they have fun swimming in the pool!

I am going to hit the easy ones for now then throw a BUNCH of info at your to work through.

-CYA-you have 0 in the pool right now. It has to be added. You can buy it a Walmart or Lowes It will be labeled as stabilizer or balancer. Look for the active ingredient of cyanuric acid. You will put it in the sock and let the kids have fun squeezing the sock to help it dissolve it.

FC-you did it right-make sure to use plain, unscented bleach or chlorine (liquid) Walmart is selling it in the pool section and call it pool shock

PH-you can buy one of the cheapo kits at Walmart for the PH test. This will really help the water be a lot more comfortable to swim in-eyes and skin

That will get you going aka kids swimming until your good test kit gets there!

- - - Updated - - -

Now for the "big stuff" :

Print these out:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule

Pool School - Recommended Levels

Bookmark these:

Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals

http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Make sure to ask any and all questions you might have no matter how small! We have all been where you are at one point.

:hug: now don't be scared...........we will be here to help!

Kim:kim:
 
Thanks Kimkats.

So the concentrated bleach I got says that it has 8.25% sodium hypochlorite but then right below that says it yields 7.86% available chlorine. Does that mean I have 7.86% to put in the pool math calculator or does that mean I put 8.25% in there?
 
Here is where you get do an "experiment". Put 8.25 in Pool Math for the FC % add the amount you need to get your FC to ?? level. Let the pump run for 15 or so mins AND brush the pool to make sure it is mixed up good. Test again............did your FC get to the target? IF you made the target then use 8.25 BUT if you did not make the target, got back to pool math and put in 7.86 in the % and see if your pool's FC hits that target.

I hope that makes sense..........let me know if I need to restate it.

Kim:kim:
 
Thanks for the information. I thought it was the chlorine mixing with the Iron. I got a call from my youngest this morning asking why it was green. See picture below.

Is something like Utikem Iron Myte from Menards (297-7120) worth using short term or just hurry up and build the polyfill system better?

Is the bleach at Menards in the pool area sold as pool supplies or is it bleach in household section?

Green pool 2017-07-19.jpg
 
Hi MN. I'm betting you're on well there ;)

In your case, the Polyfill OR setting up a 10" Pentek filter housing is going to be your best bet because you'll only have this golden opportunity once presumably to filter out the iron that has oxidized...meaning it has tinted your water.

Afton Jeeper has you covered with that link that describes how to make your own filter to circulate "in pool" tinted water.

An alternate option that's semi worthwhile is to order the Pentek filter housing with the 25 to 1 micron reducing filter I linked to down copy in that thread. I say "semi worthwhile" because like the Polyfill, it will filter the oxidized metal even better/faster...but when you're done, it will also help clean up the well water going in whenever you top up. But neither it, or anything else, will get soluable iron that has not oxidized, just so you know.

Here's how you'd use it "in-pool"

- If you have a submersible pump, connect its discharge hose to big blue
- connect a second hose for the clean water to return to pool

You will need to pick up a few adapters at the hardware store to do this.

Cheers to clear!
 
Thanks for the help everyone so far.

Got my test kit and we are at:
FC=0.5
CC=0 or 0.5....hard to tell if there was a little pink there or not but 1 drop made it definitely clear.
CH=75ppm
TA=270.....not positive on how red is red. 24 drops were pink and 27 seemed more red.
CYA=<20 ......I am still adding the stabilizer in a sock. 1.75 lbs are in and 1.75 lbs are in a sock going in. The black dot had some slight clouds in it so I know it is going in at least.

Obviously I need to get the chlorine up, keep putting in CYA, and keep running my 5 gal pail contraption to filter out the iron recommended for my well.

The kids want to know how long the have to wait after adding the chlorine before they can swim.
 

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Gotcha. Put in about 1/2 gal of bleach from pool math to get to 3% (right?) and they are in splashing....now to get everything else reading right....
 
I wanted to follow up as we have been getting used to testing the pool chemistry and everything. I grabbed a water sample at 10pm and just did a complete test tonight and came up with:
pH 7.8
FC 1.0
CC 0
TC 1.0 ppm
CYA 35 ppm
CH 75ppm
TA 240 ppm​

1. Each day we have been testing the chlorine. With mknauss's reminder, we are trying to keep the chlorine targeted between 5 and 6 per the table. I put in enough 12.5% Menard's bleach (thanks AftonJeeper on the recommendation of a good place to purchase) to get it to the target FC at night or first thing in the morning. If I check it shortly after, I am at the target. :D When I test it later in the day after the sun has shown on it all day, the FC has dropped to like 1.0 like it is tonight.:(
a) My question is if this is normal?
b) Should I be adding roughly 101 oz of bleach a day or should I be adding more bleach to target higher so the low side does not drop below 2.0?
c) Should I be adjusting the CYA higher to try to protect more of the chlorine?
d) Does mixing the water more cause the chlorine to break down faster with the sun?
e) Would putting a solar blanket on it during the day help with the chlorine breakdown?

2. I think the TA is high at 240ppm.
a) To make sure I am doing the test right, once it is green, I leave it on the speedstir continuing to be mixed. As I add drops, I can see a pinkish color for a second where the drop hits and then it goes back to green until I get to 24 drops where it stays pink/red. Sound correct?
b) Should I be adjusting the TA lower to get to 50-90?

3. pH has consistently been hovering at 7.8 which is at high limit.
a) We got some pH down called (https://www.menards.com/main/outdoors/pools-spas-saunas/pools-accessories/utikem-reg-alkaminus-treatment-5-lbs/p-1444445659735.htm). The ingredient is 93.3% Soidum Bisulfate. That is not a choice on Pool Math so what do I plug in there?

4. The polyfil contraption I built works awesome and has my water crystal clear. A big thanks to Swampwoman. I did take pictures as I built it and made modifications which I could add in to help others needing to build. Does it make most sense to add those into a new thread or add to the original thread build thread?

Thanks
Chris
 
1a Yes. Normal FC loss per day is 2-4
b Whatever it takes to stay above the minimum for your CYA level.
c No, in MN a CYA of 40 (round up :) ) is fine.
d No.
e Yes

2. Short answer, I read ahead and you state that your pH is stable. Don't worry about your TA until your pH is rising.

3. 7.8 is fine. That is dry acid; it is better to use muriatic acid as it adds nothing "extra". Usually available at Lowes/HD and paint stores. I get mine at a mom and pop hardware store.
 
Remember to test for your CYA in the bright sunlight, back to the sun, vial at waist level -----
 
Interesting experiment. We put the solar blanket on the pool to see how it fit, etc. the other night. My wife and kids left it on for the last two days but tested the FC each day. It went from 5.5 to 5.0 to 4.5 over the course of that time. As an added benefit, they said it was still 82 degrees this afternoon even though it was like 50 degrees in MN last night.

Out of curosity, are there any issues with having the cover on during the day?

They did think the cc might have increased from zero to less than 0.5. They thought it was ever so slightly pink and that probably half of a drop of the 871 would have made it clear. Could this increase in cc (meaning the chlorine is having to work) be from not having the sun shining on it?
 
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