New Pool Owner, need startup chemical advice

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James A

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May 14, 2012
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Hello,

Just starting up our new to me pool (never had a pool). Everything's running. There was a Nature 2 filter in the system, I took that out after reading up on the site and negative reviews. So just the sand filter.

We are in Upstate NY near Syracuse, zip 13082.

Water is presently clear, and is presently 60 degrees. I have a Taylor K-2006 test kit.

Chemistry as follows.

FC - Free Chlorine = 0ppm
CC or TC - Combined Chlorine or Total Chlorine = 0ppm
pH - 7.2
TA - Total Alkalinity = 90ppm
CH - Calcium Hardness = 220ppm
CYA - Cyanuric Acid = <30ppm


I'd like to use the BBB method if possible.

Can anyone advise?

Thank you!

Jim
 
Welcome to TFP!

PH, TA, and CH are all fine.

You should raise CYA to around 40 or 50. Best to aim a little low to start, say 30 to 40, and adjust up later.

For chlorine, add 2 ppm of chlorine in the evening on the first day the pool is filled and each day until the day after you add CYA. Starting then you switch to the normal routine of adjusting the FC level based on your CYA level.
 
Well step one is get some chlorine in there, and you will need to boost your CYA level, since we don't really know how much CYA you have, I would suggest targeting for 40 ppm, add enough CYA stabilizer to boost it by 10 ppm, then retest in a week, repeat as needed (it can take up to a week for CYA to show up on a test). In general we suggest using liquid chlorine or bleach for clorination around here, as the solid forms will add either calcium hardness or extra CYA to the water, which is more difficult to track than simply adding it in as needed.

If you use bleach 1 gallon of 6% bleach should raise your FC by about 2.6 ppm (I say about because sometimes bleach is stronger than labelled if fresh, as it looses strength as it ages)

For now your target FC should be 3-4 ppm, once you get your CYA up to 40, your target FC will be 5ppm
 
For your size pool every pound of dry CYA stabilizer will add 5ppm of CYA.

If this is a fresh fill, and you have not used CYA or stabilized (some types of dry) chlorine or "shock" (tap water does not have CYA in it) then you will want to add 8 pounds of CYA to reach 40 ppm total

If this pool already had water in it, that water may still have some CYA in it, if this is the case and your test showed less than 30 ppm of CYA, then you will want to add 2 - 3 pounds to boost your CYA level by 10-15 ppm, then retest after a week (it will not fully show up on the test for 7 or 8 days) and repeat if needed.

The suggested method around here is to hang it in an old sock in front of your return line. If you add it to the skimmer you have to avoid backwashing for a few days until it disolves, powdered CYA does not disolve quickly, it helps to kneed the sock full a time or two per day until it is all gone.

Ike

p.s. CYA is slightly acidic and your pH is already on the low end, so you will also likely need to boost the pH some

also start with 1 gallon of bleach if this is a fresh fill, 1.5 if you think there is already some CYA in there, you may want to test the chorline level an hour or so after adding bleach, filter should be running for this to stir the water, adding more as needed to reach the goal levels listed in my previous post
 
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