Getting started with my salt pool

[Simbilis]

My pool is finally open :-D! The murky pond water I started with is now pretty clear, although my filter isn't especially happy with me.

I want to start out by following Water Balance for SWGs. Right now, the SWG isn't working, so I've been adding a little bleach to (hopefully) keep things under control until it is.

Anyway, the only source of CYA I could find locally (that actually listed Cyanuric Acid on the label) was Walmart's 4 lb bags of hth Salt Pool Care 3-in-1 startup, which hasn't gotten great reviews here.

At this moment, my TF-100 tells me the following:

FC - 1.0
CC - 0.5
pH - 6.8
TA - 40
CH - 80
CYA - too low to get a reading
Salt - 3400

Is the hth stuff a reasonable way to start raising CYA, or should I look harder for a pure source?

Thanks,

Sim

 

[JasonLion]

You can save money by buying CYA mail order.

You need to get your TA and PH up right away. Raise TA to around 70 and then adjust PH to at least 7.2.

 

[Simbilis]

Got it. 232 oz. of baking soda, and then borax for the pH. Should the baking soda be added all at once, or added and tested over several days?

Thank you for the Pool Calculator!

 

[JasonLion]

You can add the baking soda all at once.

 

[Simbilis]

That was easy. Dumped a bag (13.5 lbs) of baking soda in the skimmer, TA is now 70 and pH looks just under 7.2.