Just got our pool installed

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melissab

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Jul 23, 2010
229
Mickleton, NJ
:whoot: We just got our above ground pool. We were supposed to receive a 24x15 foot and because of a mix up by the pool store we ended up getting a 30x15 foot for the same price. So we are happy but it is one big pool in our yard. Anyhoo, our electrician is coming tonight to hook up the power just to get us going. He is coming on Monday to permanently install and put the line in the ground, but is out of town this weekend and unable to to the job until then. Since our pool is filled as of yesterday eve and just sitting there, he is able to do a temporary set up tonight so we don't risk the water going green over the next few days.

My question, can we swim before monday, He is hooking up tonight using a 20A cord and recept.

I've been reading a ton on this site and the information has been very helpful so far.
 
Welcome to TFP.
Is that an oval or a rectangle?
How deep is it?
How will you test the water?
Once you get some chlorine in there and it circulates about 30 minutes you can swim. The power should be on a GFCI so that'll be safe. Even if it's not just unplug it while you're in there.
 
To elaborate on what Bama is hinting at, since you have a new pool this is the perfect time to get educated and take control of your pool before you have problems.

You should get a good test kit. The TF-100 is the best bargain you will find. The Taylor K-2006 is good also, but with much less reagents. The Taylor K-2005 is not the same as it is missing the critical FAS/DPD test.

Have you read Pool School? You should get an understanding of recommended chemicals to use, recommended levels, recommended pool care schedule, and the relationship between CYA (stabilizer) and FC.
 
Thanks for the replies, I have read pool school, but need to re-read and re-read. I must admit I'm a little overwhelmed with all of it right now. So should I not use the kit that came with the pool then? The installer told me to bring a sample of water over and they will tell me what chemicals to start with or should I do something else?

I added some more info in my siggy about my pool, hope that helps.
 
If you get the sample tested and then let them recommend what you need, you will more than likely have a lot of what you do not need. So what I would do is take a pool sample to the store and have them test it and give you the results. Tell them you have some friends who are going to help you add the chemicals and such. Once that is done post your results on here and the pros can tell you what you need as far as chemicals and what to do with those.
 
Can you describe the kit you have?
Where was your fill water from?
Did you get a startup set of chems?
If so what are they?
Does your setup have a auto chlorinator or SWCG?
You're going to need some CYA in there soon. If you have Dichlor or trichlor you can use it to begin with.

mynewpool has a good suggestion.
 
Bama Rambler said:
Can you describe the kit you have?
Where was your fill water from? fill water came from the hose, township water
Did you get a startup set of chems? start up kit includes a small bucket of Jumbo tabs 3 inch 7 ounce tablets, small tub of Stabilizer, 2 pks of Dura Shock, 3 pks of PH plus.
Does your setup have a auto chlorinator or SWCG? not that I know of, if it did where would that be located?

You're going to need some CYA in there soon. If you have Dichlor or trichlor you can use it to begin with.

mynewpool has a good suggestion.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. My electrician that is coming tonight is a family friend and just bought the exact pool from the same place so I was going to ask him as well since he got the same start up kit as we did.

I'm feeling really overwhelmed. We have so much work to do in the yard, there is dirt everywhere and still a decent amount of setting up to do like steps, auto cleaner etc. Dh works 60 plus hours a week and I am home with a three year old who can't wait to swim and a 7 month old I can't get off my hip. :wave:
 
So the water would have chlorine in it.
A chlorinator would be near the pump and filter.
If you don't have one, throw a couple of those pucks in the skimmer once the pump is running.
Dump a half a pak of the shock in front of the return. That'll get you to 3ppm FC and the pucks will help keep you there.
Tell us how much stabilizer you have.
 

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Take your test kit and post back the results.

Put the eyeball in and slowly pour the stabilizer in the skimmer allowing it to flow into the filter before you add the tabs. That should raise your CYA to about 16. The shock and the tabs will raise it a bit higher. It should be close to 20 by the time the tabs are gone.

Don't shut the pump off as long as the tabs are in the skimmer and don't backwash the filter for at least a week.
 
I went to the pool store to get my water tested. They told me that the pump should be working for 24 hours before they read the water because it will change in the first 24 hours. Since the pump had only been on for about 2 hours at that point they didn't read the water and told me to just put 2 bags of shock in.

I did put the two bags of shock in and come back this evening to have the water tested. Does that sound ok? Is it safe to swim today? The shock went in at about 7:30 pm last night.
 
I don't mean to sound harsh but trying to listen to the pool store and us is going to confuse you.

You haven't done anything extremely wrong yet but adding two lbs of Dichlor raised your FC by 12 and your CYA by 11. That puts you above shock level for your pool. I'd wait till about noon to swim just to make sure the FC is below shock level. If you want to know what your TC is let us know and we can tell you how to dilute your sample to get an estimate of it.

There's a couple things you really should do if you want to take control of your pool and truely have it trouble free.
1.) Get a good test kit. I know it seems like we really push test kits here, and we do, but it's because the only way to know what you need, is to know where you are, and you can't do that by guessing. Pool store testing in most cases are only slightly better than guessing and in a lot of cases are worse.

2.) You need to decide whether you're going to follow our advice or follow the pool store's advice. We will often conflict with them on what we tell you. We're not trying to sell you anything, we're just trying to help you have a great pool experience.

If you go back and read my post you'll see that I told you exactly how much of what you needed to add to your pool to get it swimmable. Basically you've used two bags of shock all at once that you could have used over a few days and you're going to have to buy something to replace it with because you're still going to need to add chlorine every day.

I appologize again if this sounded harsh because that is not my intent.
 
Not harsh, I need to come to an agreement with dh about how we want to handle the pool. He's hesitant to take advice over the net but what I've read so far makes sense only I'm still really confused so when I explain it to him it :blah: . I appreciate your suggestions and will order the test kit you recommended. Maybe I'll get dh to read up on here so that we are on the same page. Dh is a very by the book kind of guy and thinks that the natural place to get advice would be the place where we got the pool. However, my neighbors have a pool and have been battling issues all summer and I've seen how frustrated they are with the pool stores suggestions which haven't worked.

Thanks so much for your help.
 
I took my water to the pool store to sample,

tc 0-.5
fc 0
ph 7.2
TA just below 80
Cyanuric Acid 0-30

They told me to add 10 lbs of Alk,
4-5 tabs of chlorine
1 gal of stabilizer

They also estimated my pool at 15,000 gallons. Which is what their site says for my dimensions but when I checked 3 other websites they put a 15x30x52" between 9500-12000.

I added 3 tabs of chlorine and 1.5 lbs of stabilzer, the AK seemed like it was right at the normal range so I thought adding 10lbs sounded excessive. I figured I'd test again today to see where it was and maybe add slowly if needed. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
 
melissab: First, welcome to the 'page!

Next, I have been in the industry for nearly 15 years now, and can say without hesitation that this site will help you more than any pool store! The folks here are here for one reason, and one reason only; to help you maintain your pool properly and efficiently. What they suggest works, and it works every time. It does not require a lot of exotic chemicals or expensive additives. Yes, a good test kit is critical, and does cost a few bucks up front, but it will save you much more over time.

If I can get anything through, it would be that DH and you can trust what is taught here. I live it every day, and I have converted many people to this page and works. We even have a large RV campsite company on board, and their pools are absolutely gorgeous!

You do not need most of what the pool store tries to sell you, and once you have your own test kit and utilize Pool School here you will find out just how easy it is to maintain your pool, and how little it really costs to do it. Enjoy your new pool :whoot: :whoot:
 
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