Hi forum-
I am brand spanking new to pool ownership, although I’ve been lurking here for a few months to gather information. This is a great site…I love it when I can find this sort of concise information on a forum.
We bought our home last November and the previous owners had installed a 15x30x4 (approx.) oval above ground vinyl lined. My volume estimate is around 10,000 gallons. The pool was, of course, closed and covered when we took ownership. I pulled the cover off this past weekend and was fortunate to be greeted by crystal clear water. After topping up to mid-skimmer level from our well water supply the pool has been uncovered for the past week, untreated and unfiltered as I discovered I needed to order a replacement part for the cartridge filter. Over the past week the water hasn’t shown much in the way of algae growth but I know the clock is ticking. My filter should be up and running tonight and I need to get chemical in the water ASAP.
I bought the 6 way HTH test kit from Walmart so I could perform immediate testing. FC is at 0, as expected. PH appears to be just below readable by the color test…maybe 6.6 or 6.8? I didn’t test for Calcium as it didn’t seem to be consequential at this point, and I haven’t run a CYA test yet.
Alkalinity is where my big question is. When I added the requisite number of drops from the indicator bottle, the sample turned red and did not shift to green. I am interpreting this as TA=0. Is this correct? And, if so, the Pool Calculator page shows I need to add 235 oz by weight (14.6 pounds) of baking soda to my 10,000 gallons to hit a target TA of 100. Does this sound right? And, should I be attacking the low TA before adding any chlorine or attempting to bring up the PH?
Thanks in advance for any assistance!
I am brand spanking new to pool ownership, although I’ve been lurking here for a few months to gather information. This is a great site…I love it when I can find this sort of concise information on a forum.
We bought our home last November and the previous owners had installed a 15x30x4 (approx.) oval above ground vinyl lined. My volume estimate is around 10,000 gallons. The pool was, of course, closed and covered when we took ownership. I pulled the cover off this past weekend and was fortunate to be greeted by crystal clear water. After topping up to mid-skimmer level from our well water supply the pool has been uncovered for the past week, untreated and unfiltered as I discovered I needed to order a replacement part for the cartridge filter. Over the past week the water hasn’t shown much in the way of algae growth but I know the clock is ticking. My filter should be up and running tonight and I need to get chemical in the water ASAP.
I bought the 6 way HTH test kit from Walmart so I could perform immediate testing. FC is at 0, as expected. PH appears to be just below readable by the color test…maybe 6.6 or 6.8? I didn’t test for Calcium as it didn’t seem to be consequential at this point, and I haven’t run a CYA test yet.
Alkalinity is where my big question is. When I added the requisite number of drops from the indicator bottle, the sample turned red and did not shift to green. I am interpreting this as TA=0. Is this correct? And, if so, the Pool Calculator page shows I need to add 235 oz by weight (14.6 pounds) of baking soda to my 10,000 gallons to hit a target TA of 100. Does this sound right? And, should I be attacking the low TA before adding any chlorine or attempting to bring up the PH?
Thanks in advance for any assistance!