New pool owner and a tad impatient

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rwperry01

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Jul 13, 2011
6
Hi All. What a great site!

I'm near the end of a new pool install and, being a bit impatient, do not want to wait another week for the installers to come out and adjust my water so am hoping I can get some advice here.
Pool:
12,000 gallon viking carmel (fiberglass)
3/4 hp hayward pump
cartridge filter
aqua comfort 125,000 btu heat pump (anyone have one of these?)
hayward SWG with t-9 turbocell
tf-100 testkit

Ok. The electrician hasn't arrived yet, so the heat pump and SWG are not yet functional. I have the filter pump running on 110 for now.
Salt has not been added yet. This will be given to me by the installer when they come out for the final visit, but that is at least a week away and I would like to get the pool up to SWG chemical levels now.

So my first question is if I bring the levels (TA, CYA, ph) up to the recommended SWG levels *before* salt is added, will the addition of salt, in a week or so, skew the levels?

I already added 1/2 of the needed CYA, bringing my CYA level to 40ppm and added chlorine bleach to 24ppm as an initial shock. I wasn't trying to get the FC that high. I'm using 'Pool Snap' iPhone app and was trying to bring FC to 14ppm, but after an hour or so, measured it at 24ppm. I was surprised it was so high, but didn't to an initial measurement as I assumed there was near zero chlorine. The CC level was measured at .5 or so, but maybe only waiting an hour isn't enough time to get an accurate CC reading?

Question: When should I add the rest of the CYA to bring it to the target (SWG) level of 80?

Final question... I have a 12 1b bag of arm & hammer and, based on my current TA of 50ppm, want to add 3.5 lbs. of baking soda to bring the TA to 70 (pool snap). I do not have an accurate scale handy, does anyone know how much a cup of baking soda weighs?

Thanks for being here to help at the start of this new adventure!

-Bob
 
Welcome to TFP!

Salt won't change any of your other numbers. You can add the salt now or later without problems or interactions.

On the CYA, I would wait the week, measure the CYA level then, and adjust from there. Otherwise there is too much risk of accidentally adding too much CYA.

One cup of baking soda is about 10 oz, but that is somewhat approximate (depending on grind and packing).

There could have been an initial FC level of up to perhaps 4, not enough to account for your FC of 24.

An hour with the pump running is long enough to give a valid CC measurement.
 
rwperry01 said:
Hi All. What a great site!

I'm near the end of a new pool install and, being a bit impatient, do not want to wait another week for the installers to come out and adjust my water so am hoping I can get some advice here.
Pool:
12,000 gallon viking carmel (fiberglass)
3/4 hp hayward pump
cartridge filter
aqua comfort 125,000 btu heat pump (anyone have one of these?)
hayward SWG with t-9 turbocell
tf-100 testkit

Ok. The electrician hasn't arrived yet, so the heat pump and SWG are not yet functional. I have the filter pump running on 110 for now.
Salt has not been added yet. This will be given to me by the installer when they come out for the final visit, but that is at least a week away and I would like to get the pool up to SWG chemical levels now.

So my first question is if I bring the levels (TA, CYA, ph) up to the recommended SWG levels *before* salt is added, will the addition of salt, in a week or so, skew the levels?
The addition of Salt should not skew your levels. use the bottom section of the pool calculator to show the impact of adding things to your levels. It shows no impact from salt addition.

I already added 1/2 of the needed CYA, bringing my CYA level to 40ppm and added chlorine bleach to 24ppm as an initial shock. I wasn't trying to get the FC that high. I'm using 'Pool Snap' iPhone app and was trying to bring FC to 14ppm, but after an hour or so, measured it at 24ppm. I was surprised it was so high, but didn't to an initial measurement as I assumed there was near zero chlorine. The CC level was measured at .5 or so, but maybe only waiting an hour isn't enough time to get an accurate CC reading?
As long as your pump was running and you have good circulation, 1 hour after addition should be adequate for waiting to test levels

Question: When should I add the rest of the CYA to bring it to the target (SWG) level of 80?
I would wait until the salt is added but the experts should chime in here. If you add CYA but not salt, you will have to keep your FC levels a few ppm higher to prevent algae growth due to the CYA. Probably not a big deal either way as long as you understand the required levels based on current CYA and salt.

Final question... I have a 12 1b bag of arm & hammer and, based on my current TA of 50ppm, want to add 3.5 lbs. of baking soda to bring the TA to 70 (pool snap). I do not have an accurate scale handy, does anyone know how much a cup of baking soda weighs?
Use the pool calculator. Its nice as it tells you amounts by volume or weight. 1 cup baking soda is ~ 10oz by weight

Thanks for being here to help at the start of this new adventure!
Welcome and you'll be enjoying your TFP pool in no time!

-Bob
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