pool is up but test kit isnt here yet...what to do?

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chinolofus

0
Jun 17, 2013
71
chicago
just finished putting up the pool but the kit wont be here for 2 more days. im about to start filling it. should i shock it or just toss the chlorine floater in? im guessing the floater is ok even if it isnt tested...not sure about if i should shock it though. and fyi as of right now the wife doesnt want to use bleach or borax or anything like that. so i will be sticking to regular chemicals until i convince her otherwise.

also is it ok to break the 3" tablets in half? i think my floater only fits 1 1/2" tablets. i got a good deal on a bucket of 3" tablets though.

my pool is an intex 15'x48"
 
The floater will be fine if it is all 100% fresh water. You'll need the CYA anyway. There's no reason to shock a newly filled pool. I would recommend using some bleach though, based on recommendation on poolcalculator.com, to bring your FC up to proper levels now, then let the tabs keep it there.

"Regular chemicals" as in products containing bleach that say "pool stuff" on them? :)

If you use those tabs all year, you are going to have sky-high CYA levels.
 
Well, in this case your wife is wrong ... good luck convincing her of that though.

You are going to want to get about 2ppm of FC in the water from the start, but it will be consumed in hours to the sun because you have no stabilizer.
With new water, your CYA will be 0ppm ... ideally I would say to add 30ppm of stabilizer in a sock and then keep the FC in range using bleach ... but you wife is apparently not going to let you do the smart and cheap route.

So, You will just have to load up the floater with pucks and hope it adds enough FC to prevent anything from growing. Keep track on the number of pucks you use though as eventually the CYA will start to get too high and you will have to switch to liquid or drain the pool and start over.

Your pool is about 5k gallons, so each 3" tablet will add 11ppm of FC, 6.7ppm of CYA and lower the pH by 0.6.

So, you can only use about 7 tablets before you CYA will be getting too high.
 
thanks for all the info. so i can use bleach with chlorine tabs? i thought it was one or the other. and yea chemicals that say pool stuff on them lol.

so should i get some of this stuff and add it to the pool with the tablets?
http://www.menards.com/main/outdoors/po ... -10137.htm

i dont think it will be hard to convince her once its up. shes just a bit worried to be messing with DIY at first. give it a couple weeks and she should be cool with it.

also is cya bromine? my test kit tests chlorine, bromine, ph, total alkalinity and acid demand.
 
Read the labels on both to your wife if needed. That's what I had to do. The expensive chlorine from the pool store is Sodium Hypochlorite. And guess what that Clorox under your sink is too. Yes, you guessed it. Sodium Hypochlorite. There is no difference unless you're buying the bleach with a fragrance added. (don't use this).

You need to immediately get the chlorine in there to prevent any organic thing from growing. With no CYA yet added, you will need to be at about 4 ppm of chlorine to get started.

As an example, my old 18'x42" Easy Set pool (4900 gallons) would rise 1ppm with every cup of Clorox added. Your pool is smaller so 1 cup will increase you more than 1ppm.

As stated, the pool calculator is like GOLD and works great. Do yourself a favor and download the app to your phone so you can use it while working on the pool.

Also, get some CYA in there ASAP to protect your chlorine. You're going to need 2-3 pounds would be my guess from past experience. Again, use the calculator !

Good luck :)
 
man i showed her online. her nephew has an 18' x 54" expensive ABG and he said he just floats tablets and shocks it once a week so she thinks thats all we need to do. she didnt even think we needed a test kit cuz he doesnt use one.

what "pool stuff" do i need to add to bring up the cya? likw how is it labeled on the bag/bucket?
 
If you have to, go to the pool store and buy their liquid chlorine ... when she is comfortable with that, show her the ingredients as compared to bleach and hopefully she will realize that they are the same and then you can determine the cheapest source.

If the pool store sells in bulk refillable jugs ... often that is the cheapest route.

Ignorance is bliss, right .... at least until the pool turns green or your eyes are burning.
 

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Tell her to stay out of the pool if she doesn't like it! She can swim at her nephew's house! :whip:

Buy the test kit. It's worth a night on the couch! :mrgreen:
 
You can float the tabs to add CYA. You just can't use more than 7.

Does her nephew drain their pool every year? If so, that'll explain why their CYA hasn't gotten out of hand.

Oh, and ignore the bromine test. You won't be using that.
 
ok...the way i saw cya mentioned i thought i had to add some extra or something.

so right now...just float the chlorine tabs and wait for the test kit? what other pool chemicals will i need to buy today so im ready for when i can test the water? maybe the sticker shock will make her realize that the DIY way is a better idea.

and her nephew keeps it up year round, never drained it as far as i know (other than winterizing it). ive never swam in it or seen it so i dont have a clue what the water is like. shes seen it and said the water was clear...how clear? who knows.
 
You will not know what other chemicals you need until you test the water.

You may need to adjust the pH up or down (realize the pucks are very acidic) or the TA (again, may need to raise this with baking soda due to the acidic pucks).

That is it. There is nothing else to worry about since you do not care about CH.
 
jblizzle said:
The link you posted was of stabilizer (CYA) ... but, if you are going to use the tablets, then you should not add the stabilizer separately.

Have you read the Pool School to the point of understanding what each chemical does?
pool-school/pool_water_chemistry
pool-school/recommended_pool_chemicals
pool-school/types_chlorine_pool
Click to expand...


i read some stuff but honestly the setting up of the pool has been such a nightmare and had me so stressed for 2 weeks i pretty much forgot everything. thanks for the links.
 
jblizzle said:
You will not know what other chemicals you need until you test the water.

You may need to adjust the pH up or down (realize the pucks are very acidic) or the TA (again, may need to raise this with baking soda due to the acidic pucks).

That is it. There is nothing else to worry about since you do not care about CH.
Click to expand...

ok thanks. i guess i will report back once i test it in a couple of days.
 
I had to "school" the wife on the pool a couple of times......letting her read stuff off the pool school website calmed her down A LOT. May I suggest you try and convince her to do the same. Knowledge can be a wonderful thing when applied correctly.......and I feel your pain. Been there.

Sounds like you are correctly on top of keeping your CYA levels within the proper levels. All you should need now is just Clorox. Nobody has mentioned it yet, but keep your bleach out of the sunlight and out of the heat (such as the garage). Heat and sunlight destroy chlorine.......then you will be wondering why your chlorine levels aren't good even though you put in the correct amounts from the calclulator.....don't ask me how I know...

Bob E.
 
Safetybob said:
I had to "school" the wife on the pool a couple of times......letting her read stuff off the pool school website calmed her down A LOT. May I suggest you try and convince her to do the same. Knowledge can be a wonderful thing when applied correctly.......and I feel your pain. Been there.

Sounds like you are correctly on top of keeping your CYA levels within the proper levels. All you should need now is just Clorox. Nobody has mentioned it yet, but keep your bleach out of the sunlight and out of the heat (such as the garage). Heat and sunlight destroy chlorine.......then you will be wondering why your chlorine levels aren't good even though you put in the correct amounts from the calclulator.....don't ask me how I know...

Bob E.
Click to expand...

yea she just nervous since she has never heard of anyone using bleach or borax in there pool so it seems weird to her. add to the fact everything i said about what her nephew told her. it seems to her like there is no reason to "experiment".
 

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