First water test: Alkalinity question (120 ppm)

[BIC]

Hey,

Corrections in RED:

My pool is an AG 24'
I got my pool installed. The Aqua Trol will be installed tomorrow afternoon. After two days I got the pool installed, I went for water test at the pool store.
My water was like this:
Free Chlore: 0
Total Chlore: 0
Combine Chlore: 0
PH: 6.2
Total Alkalinity: 20
Stabilizer: 0
Iron: 0
Hardness: 80
Salt: 0 ppm (I had no salt at that time)

The pool store told me to add the following:
Calcium: 8Kg
Alkalinity: 5Kg
Stabilizer: 1.8Kg

Plus 1 cup of Chlore every night.
I also added 5 bags (20 KG each) of salt for a total of 100 Kg

I went back to the store 3 days later.
My water is now:
Free Chlore: 0
Total Chlore: 0
Combine Chlore: 0
PH: 7.2
Total Alkalinity: 120
Stabilizer: 40
Iron: 0
Hardness: 100
Salt: 2100 ppm (100 Kg of salt)


The store is now telling me to add 6.6 Kg of Calcium

My questions:
1) Should I add that much of Calcium now?

2) Is my Alkalinity (120) too high?

3) Anything else should I do?

BIC

 

[sredish]

It's a salt pool right? Not sure how big your pool is, but I'd use the Pool Calculator to figure out the amounts on what to add; but I'd get the salt up to the 3200 mark and get some bleach to put in to get the chlorine established and let the salt take over. That's what I did on the new pool and it worked quickly and ideal.

Also, I learned quickly that a salt pool NEEDS the stabilizer or it won't be able to maintain the chlorine levels. That's probably why after this many days, your still not getting a good FC reading.

I'm a total newb but a quick learner. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how I'd approach it:

First, toss some bleach in and put some CYA in the skimmer to get it going; you want the CYA to get to 60 or 70. I'd monitor and maintain a good FC amount for a few days with the bleach until some of the CYA gets established and the salt system can maintain the levels. As the salt starts maintaining, you'll notice the need to put bleach in dissipate. Your PH level is good, don't let it get over 7.8, or the salt system will start having trouble maintaining again. Keep all that in check and you'll be golden in no time.

Also, make sure to bring your salt up to 3200 or there won't be enough salt in there to produce the necessary chlorine. And I wouldn't worry about the calcium or your Alkalinity (which 120 is OK but on the high side of OK) until the other numbers come up.

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

if it is a plaster pool, you will definitely need to get your Calcium up

 

[JasonLion]

Alkalinity of 120 is a little higher than optimal for a SWG but is really just fine. It will come down on it's own as long as you keep an eye on the PH.

You need to get your stabalizer (CYA) up. It probably isn't really zero, up to 20 will sometimes read as zero. Also it can take up to a week to disolve. I would wait a few days, get another reading and then aim for 60 (give or take what the AquaTrol recommends in it's manual).

If you have a vinyl liner then hardness of 100 is just fine. There is no need to add more. If it is plaster then you need more.

 

[BIC]

Look at my first post guys, I put few corections in RED :?

This is what thwe Aqua Trol manual says:

FC: 1 to 3 ppm
PH: 7.2 to 7.6
Alkakinity: 80 to 120 ppm
Salt: 2700 to 3400 ppm
Stabilizer: 60 to 80 ppm
Calcium: 200 to 400 ppm

Is the Calcium recommendation a bit high? I have 100 at the moment.

 

[Guest]

Those recommendations are for a plaster (or possibly a fiberglass) pool. For a viny pool then you are fine if your calcium is above about 130 ppm.

 

[BIC]

Those recommendations are for a plaster (or possibly a fiberglass) pool. For a viny pool then you are fine if your calcium is above about 130 ppm.

what about the Stabilizer recommendation (60 to 80 ppm)? Is it ok for an AG venyl pool?