New Plaster, Water Adjustment Order

[Box Jockey]

Hello! Total noob so apologies for all the dumb questions.

I am a first time home / pool owner, and I just had the pool re-plastered (started brushing today). I have read through pool school and must have missed this so apologies if this is already answered elsewhere. My questions is once the contractor tells me its ok to sanitize my water, is there a particular order I should go in? Meaning would I start with CA, get it right, then move to CHL or something like that. I am just really scared I am going to screw this up.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Do you have a good test kit?

Generally you should adjust the pH first unless the TA is really low, then add about 2 ppm of FC if it doesn't have any, and then add CYA if it's needed.

You'll get the hang of it before long.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

As Bama asked, have you already ordered one of the Recommended Test Kits.

You can't know what you need to adjust without being able to accurately assess the current state of the water ... test strips will not cut it.

 

[Box Jockey]

Thanks for the fast responses!!

The previous home owner left me a newer kit made for Leslie's by Taylor. It says "Complete Chlorine DPD Test Kit" and covers the following tests: Chlorine(Free, Combined, total), Bromine, pH, Acid Demand, Base Demand, Total Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness, and CA. Will this one work or do I need something else?

To be honest the kit seemed a little overwhelming as I have never done this before. I tried to practice a couple of tests before the pool was drained. However the previous owner had left a ton of those pucks in the floaters as they had already moved. A guy at the pool store told me I couldn't get accurate readings because the CA was through the roof.

 

[jblizzle]

That is equivalent to the K-2005 ... which is not one of the recommended test kits because it lacks the FAS-DPD chlorine test, which is the key.

By ordering the FAS-DPD and adding it to that kit, you will have the equivalent of the K-2006: http://tftestkits.net/FAS-DPD-Chlorine- ... t-p47.html

Although, do you know how old that kit is and how it has been stored? If not, it might be worth starting fresh.

 

[Box Jockey]

It seems new, but I have to way to verify. Considering the cost to plaster, I think I will just buy a new kit. TF-100 it is!

On that note, the contractor stated they will be coming to balance the water. Makes sense in my mind as they want to make sure their hard work was not wasted. However should I not trust what they do (don't mean that in a crappy way) and re-test it all myself?

 

[Bama Rambler]

You should definitely retest it yourself. That's not saying that they won't do good, but you want to know for yourself.

 

[jblizzle]

I would certainly recommend monitoring your water. But you really have to follow their lead for the start-up as it is their warranty. That may mean that their suggestions conflict with our recommendations.

Good choice on the kit

 

[Box Jockey]

Thanks, both of you! Great info!!

Another question in the interest of preparedness and caused by ignorance. I know I wont know how much chlorine to add until I test. However since it was just filled, and if I plan on going the BBB route with liquid bleach, do I need to have like a pallet of bleach on stand by? Obviously an exaggeration but I am totally clueless on this.

 

[Bama Rambler]

I'd start off with a few large jugs. Maybe 5 or 6.

 

[jblizzle]

Have you found poolcalculator.com yet?

That will do the calculations for you. For example, a typical pool will lose 2-3ppm of chlorine a day ... looking at the average, that would be 57oz of 8.25% bleach required every day.

 

[Box Jockey]

I did play around with that a bit. But I am wondering with the initial set up when no chlorine has been added before if you need to have a lot.

 

[jblizzle]

As long as you are able to get some FC in the water pretty quickly, you only need to maintain 2ppm in the pool until you start adding CYA, thus increasing the FC minimum.

 

[Box Jockey]

Copy that. For some reason I was imagining massive quantities when starting from scratch. Thank you again for all the help, I am glad this site exists!!!

 

[Butterfly]

Welcome to the forum

Yep, follow PB's instructions so that no warranty is voided.

I suggest you use trichlor as your start-up chlorine source. It will add FC slowly and is acidic so it will help slow the natural pH rise of new plaster. You would need to keep a log of how much/how many tabs used so that you can stop when the CYA is where you want it and switch to bleach/liquid chlorine.

You will be adding lots of Muriatic Acid to keep the pH in the low to mid 7's.

Also, FYI, here is a link to the National Plasterers Council start-up card : https://npc.memberclicks.net/assets/doc ... ev3.09.pdf

 

[Box Jockey]

I am glad you said that! They left a whole tub of those pucks and I figured I would never use them after the CA issue. You have already been a huge help, you guys rock!!!