hesitant new pool owner underwater already

[m&vpools]

Last Tuesday filled pool with well water. Put in 360 lbs of salt per Intex chart on Wednesday. Bought 4-way test strips and 5.25lbs of CA as pool worker told me. Tested water with strips: Ph and TA higher than charts go, FC 0 and stabilizer within range. Did not add the CA as that was the only thing in range. I am running the filter and SWG 11 hours a day. Back to the pool store today with a water sample and like an idiot I didn't get the actual results but I know the Ph and TA was very high, very low FC and salt level was low:1100ppm. My water is clear. The pool store sent me home today with 21 lbs of calcium chloride for calcium hardness, which I am reading on here I don't need to worry about with a vinyl pool, and instructions to come back in 3 days (which I assume is to dump more money). I have read pool school.

My question is where do I go from here? I know I didn't post numbers but any suggestions would help. I know I need more salt.

I just read another post on here in which the chlorine was sitting on the bottom of the pool. Could that be part of my problem with the chlorine?

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

If you have been doing your research you should know that having a top quality test kit is the most important and valuable step you can take in taking care of your pool. Without reliable and specific test results it is almost impossible to know what is going on. At the very least please post numbers for each of the tests, rather than "high", "low", or "acceptable".

If your levels are out of balance, you need to balance them, and that means knowing your current numbers and not just what the test strip manufacturer says you should be doing.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

That says a lot that the strips reported acceptable CYA in a fresh fill that will guaranteed have 0ppm in it. Toss the strips and order one of the Recommended Test Kits. Then read Pool School again and stop giving the pool store money for things you do not need.

 

[Isaac-1]

Also Calcium Hardness is not important in vinyl pools, it is only a big concern in plaster pools where it can leach calcium out of the plaster if too low. Consider that wasted money

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

Sounds like you're a quick learner, since you already spotted that you've been pool-stored.

Have you added something to the pool? Why are you worried about stuff sitting on the bottom? C'mon, don't keep secrets. We're here to help!

You don't need Calcium in a vinyl-lined pool. You DO need some CYA. You also need to get that pH under control and get some chlorine in there before it goes green on you! And you need your own test kit. Last week.

I've heard that the pH test on the strips is fairly close. But without a number ---7.6, 7.8, 8.2+ to go by, there's no way to know what to plug into the pool calculator to figure out the dosage.

Here's what you can do, right now: add 1/2 gallon of 8.25% Chlorox. That will keep algae at bay until you get this mess sorted out. There's got to be a grocery store or a Target or something bnearby that's open if you don;t have any plain bleach by the washing machine.

 

[m&vpools]

Thanks Richard. Going to dump the bleach right now. Since I have the CYA I bought on my first trip to the money pit (pool store) can I add that with the bleach? Sorry if this seems like a dumb question.

 

[Isaac-1]

You don't want to overdose on CYA (which is also included in dichlor and trichlor based dry chlorine products) so we need to know what has been added to the pool since it was filled, in order to know how much CYA you should add without doing a CYA test.

 

[m&vpools]

The only thing I have added is 360lbs of salt. I was going to add 3.5lbs of CA. On the bottle it states "to obtain a 30 ppm level, add 1 pound of stabilizer for each 4000 gallons of water". In addition to the 1/2 gallon of chlorine I'm going to add.

 

[jblizzle]

To add 30ppm of CYA, you need to add 60oz of stabilizer (3.75 lbs), which jives with the package instructions {I am kind of amazed by that }

Although for your SWG to function better, you actually want your CYA up around 70-80ppm.

Add the CYA in a sock and hang it in front of a return jet.

 

[Richard320]

CYA addition ideas:

 

[Isaac-1]

Richard that last photograph looks a bit pornographic, also you want to hang it so it is not in contact with the liner since CYA is acidic.

 

[Richard320]

Not my pictures. I lifted them from other threads.