Apprehensive new Pool Owner.

[ccirish]

I'm another foreclosed house purchaser. I just closed and am looking at the pool with its equipment like an alien mother-ship has landed in my backyard and demanded I maintain it... I came here, read everything I could find, ordered the TFP Test kit, played JR. chemist and got my results. I still have lots of concern and don't know where to start or if I'm executing this correctly.

Here are my results:
FC:0.5
CC:0.5
TC:1
PH:8
TA:120
CH:300
CYA:20

Even though there is a SWG it reads there is no salt in the pool...

So if I understand this I would dump:
80oz of 6% bleach
54oz of 31.45% 20 baume
210oz of liquid stabilizer
275lbs of salt
all into the pool?

This seems a bit scary. Should I use triclor instead of bleach since its side effects look like they'd help? Will dumping all that salt at once break anything? Change the levels? What order do I add stuff if any? Does the 115 degree summer days affect this? Aiyee too many questions.

Also, the pool pump is on 24-7. Seems a bit costly. Is 2 hours enough to leave it on?

Any input would be appreciated...

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP.

Relax, it's not that bad!

About 8 hour a day is normal for running the pump, but when you have problems, you normally run 24/7 until things clear up.

Put in a jug of 6% bleach to get your chlorine up and give you some breathing room.

Add some muriatic acid, preferably about half what you think you need. I prefer diluting a little acid in a bucket of pool water, then spreading it around the deep end. Wait several hours, retest, then add more acid if required.

I'd recommend you have a pool store test your water for salt. Equipment problems with the SWCG can cause it to read incorrectly.

Read the articles in pool school. I promise you in a few months it will be so trivial to care for the pool that you'll laugh at yourself for being worried.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

What kind of pump is it? If it's a 2 speed running it on low 24/7 is fine.

Don't bother with the liquid stabilizer. Use the granular its much cheaper.

Aquachek salt test strips (available from Tftestkits) are the best way to test salt.

I agree with John, add a jug of bleach and then wait an hour and add the Muratic Acid to get the PH down.

 

[duraleigh]

What does your water look like? How much is left of your swim season?

 

[ccirish]

OK i'll get the salt tested, then do as advised.

The pump is a 2 speed, although I have no idea how to tell what speed it is on or how to change that. All the equipment is pretty confusing.

The water looks great and we probably have another good 2-2.5 months of swim season left, but we don't really have winter.

Thanks for the help and support!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

My 2 speed has a "high/low-Off" toggle switch on the front of the pump - do you see anything like that? There is a discernable difference in the sound between high and low and also the feel of the water coming out of the return is much stronger on high...

If you post some pics of the equipment (use Photobucket.com or similar photohost) we can help you figure things out...

 

[PaulR]

You can also hire a pool service person to come out for a one-shot orientation session; my guy came out and talked me through all the stuff, took about an hour, $85.
--paulr

 

[ccirish]

I had the local pool place test the water. It has the same salt it did when it came out of the tap. I bought 200lbs of salt. Should I chuck it in? Is there any fashion in which I should do this?

I also dumped the jug of bleach in and 28oz of the muratic. The levels then came back:
FC:4
CC:0
PH:7.5
TA:90
CH:300
CYA:20

Thanks again