New Pool/New Pool Owner/New to TFP

[Fletch03]

We just recently built a 10,000 gal, plaster, in ground pool that was finished and filled up about a week ago. The company just did a "pool school" with me yesterday but after reading this site (was recommended to me) I have some questions.

First of all the company gave me the Taylor 2005 testing kit. Today I ordered the 2006 from the recommendation of this site. Hopefully it will be in soon. The person who did the pool school checked the levels yesterday, these are the levels I can remember:

FC: 0
PH: 7.8
CYA:0
TA: Don't remember
CC: not sure if measured
CH: don't remember/not sure if measured

The person added some muriatic acid and some chlorine to the pool plus put in the trichlor pucks in the equipment. After reading through most of pool school, it seems that my FC and CYA are definitely too low and that the trichlor pucks aren't recommended. I bought bleach, baking soda, borax, muriatic acid, and cyanuric acid today.

So my thinking is to test levels today and use the pool calculator to get CYA up to 20, add bleach to get FC up to 3. I'll leave the trichlor pucks in the system for now but won't add any new ones. This should increase CYA and FC a little more and hopefully get me to the correct levels. Does this sound like a correct plan of action for now?

Also since it is such a new pool with new plaster is there anything I should or shouldn't do that is in my current plan? I am brushing daily and the filter pump has been adjusted from 24 hours down to 14 hours. I have read that the PH will continue to rise due to new plaster, so I imagine I will be adding some more acid pretty soon. Also the pool gets sun all day long and I live in Texas, so it is hot outside.

Thanks for any help. This site appears to make everything easier, but I just want to make sure I am headed in the right direction.

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! Since you have a brand new pool, it is very important that you follow the builder's start up recommendations. You can read through our recommendations for plaster start up, but if what we recommend is different from what your builder recommends, go with what the builder says so you don't void your warranty. If your builder left instructions for adding chemicals then follow those instructions, even though what we recommend is different. After the plaster is cured you can look at making changes in the maintenance routine.

Feel free to ask any questions about the plaster start up or anything else pool related for that matter.

 

[Fletch03]

Well to be honest he really didn't give me instructions for "start up". He gave me a testing kit, briefly showed me how to use it and said to follow the directions. He said to continue to brush once a day for the next couple of weeks and use the testing kit 3-4 times per week until I get used to how my pool works and can cut back to once/week. He said the trichlor pucks would increase CYA and FC, but that he would go ahead and add some chlorine since it was at 0 and add some muriatic acid since the PH was starting to climb. Other than that he didn't give me any other "start up" instructions.

How long does it take for plaster to cure? 30 days?

Edit: After looking at startup procedures I would say they did similar to the traditional startup.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Good idea to order the new kit, although in hindsight, all you needed to order was the FAS-DPD test separately and then you would have had the equivalent to the K-2006. No matter, now you have extra reagents.

Do not go out and try to stock up on chemicals just because of the BBB name ... you may never need some of that stuff you just bought. Read through Pool School multiple times to get a feel and understanding for the chemistry.

It is a good idea to raise the CYA and the FC ... and using the puck to supplement the CYA and also help hold the pH down is not a bad idea ... as long as you have used the poolcalculator to ensure you do not use too many pucks and end up with your CYA too high.

Odd that they did not give you more info on start-up, although almost better that they did not add a bunch of "stuff" to the pool so that now you are in control from the beginning