All time opening speed record

[JohnT]

I'm in the middle of a major landscaping project, and this warm weather has been pushing urgently at me to get the pool open, but I just got around to it Tuesday evening.

I didn't put the eyeballs in, install the ladder, diving board or the handrail, and I haven't folded the safety cover yet, but the pool went from winterized to operational at shock level in 21 minutes. The rest of it I can do at my convenience.

Thanks to my local Walmart for carrying trichlor shock this year, which makes start-up easier. 10lbs of trichlor shock let me maintain my shock level for two days while adding 32ppm of the stabilizer I need. For years, our local store only carried cal-hypo.

 

[Butterfly]

Show off!

Can you post some pics for us? :-D

 

[257WbyMag]

I had never heard of trichlor shock. All that I have ever seen was dichlor, cal-hypo, and lithium hypo. I myself have used dichlor shock bags to raise my CYA. It's great for that.

 

[JohnT]

I had never heard of trichlor shock. All that I have ever seen was dichlor, cal-hypo, and lithium hypo. I myself have used dichlor shock bags to raise my CYA. It's great for that.

Prepare to be be amazed

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pool-Essentia ... k/19795892

If you zoom in on the package picture, you can read the ingredients.

I had never seen it before, but I assumed that was because I live in the middle of nowhere!

IIRC it was about $11 a box, which is about the same cost per ppm of chlorine in the pool as the Walmart bleach now that it is $2.98, and it adds the CYA I need to get the pool going.

 

[JesseWV]

Seeing that it's only 53.5% trichlor I was trying to figure out what else is in it. Unfortunately we'll never know what the other 46.5% is because according to it's MSDS it's a "trade secret."

 

[JohnT]

Seeing that it's only 53.5% trichlor I was trying to figure out what else is in it. Unfortunately we'll never know what the other 46.5% is because according to it's MSDS it's a "trade secret."

Talked to Chem Geek about it. He said part of it is probably aluminum sulfate as a flocculant but he's not sure about the rest. Not as good as I had hoped. Back to bleach.

 

[gkruske]

I didn't beat a 21 minute opening, but set a record from going from dark green to clear in 36 hours. This is the first year I opened by shocking with bleach. Absolutely amazing. Sure, the water is 58 degrees, but it's nice to have it ready.

Finished OCLT at 6 AM this morning, FC holding steady at 18, 0 CC.

 

[JohnT]

I didn't beat a 21 minute opening, but set a record from going from dark green to clear in 36 hours. This is the first year I opened by shocking with bleach. Absolutely amazing. Sure, the water is 58 degrees, but it's nice to have it ready.

Finished OCLT at 6 AM this morning, FC holding steady at 18, 0 CC.

Until they buy in to the TFP/BBB method, people don't understand how easy it is to take care of a pool, even one that has turned nasty shades of green, brown and black, when you know what you are doing.

 

[gkruske]

There is a certain level of joy watching dead algae getting sucked into the skimmer and backwashing every few hours.

 

[plucky71]

Talked to Chem Geek about it. He said part of it is probably aluminum sulfate as a flocculant but he's not sure about the rest. Not as good as I had hoped. Back to bleach.[/quote]


I used di-chlor this year for start up. I was happy with it. It raised my cya level and shocked at the same time. Would you use tri-chlor to open again? What are the benefits of trichlor vs dichlor for opening?

 

[JohnT]

I used di-chlor this year for start up. I was happy with it. It raised my cya level and shocked at the same time. Would you use tri-chlor to open again? What are the benefits of trichlor vs dichlor for opening?

I'd use either if I could get it for a reasonable price, but I'm about 25 miles from the nearest pool store, and, like every place else I've been locally, carries only cal-hypo shock. If I could find somebody that carried dichlor or trichlor shock, I'd go with it.