Stablizer, Chlorine, shock and PH adjustment.

[krains]

Hi. I'm just getting a pop up metal frame pool going that I just bougt and had a few questions. The pool has approx. 3000 gallons of water in it for reference.

So I bought an hth startup kit (all powders) and started off today by adding 1lb of powder stabilizer to the pool filter which the box describes as STEP 1. The package says to wait 48 hours for it to dissolve. Should I wait the full 48 hours before adding the chlorine granules or can the chlorine be added sooner?

How soon after adding the chlorine should I add the shock? If the answer is when my chlorine is 1-4 ppm, then I need to know how long after adding the chlorine should I be testing it.

How soon after adding shock can I adjust my PH? again if the answer has to do with testing, how long after adding the shock should I be testing the water?

How long after adding PH down (since my ph tested 8.2)should I test the water and how long until it's safe to swim in?

Thanks.

 

[Charlie_R]

Welcome to TFP!

answers will be in your quote, inred.

Hi. I'm just getting a pop up metal frame pool going that I just bougt and had a few questions. The pool has approx. 3000 gallons of water in it for reference.

So I bought an hth startup kit (all powders) and started off today by adding 1lb of powder stabilizer to the pool filter which the box describes as STEP 1. The package says to wait 48 hours for it to dissolve. Should I wait the full 48 hours before adding the chlorine granules or can the chlorine be added sooner? That works, but not as well as they expect it to. What you could have done is put the stabilizer in an old sock and hang it by your return.

You can add the liquid chlorine (bleach) at any time, by pouring it slowly in front of the running return so it mixes into the water quickly. You said your chlorine was powder, so that tells me it is probably dichloro. This will have CYA (stabilizer) in it as well, so you might want to hold off using that. Use cheap household bleach, unscented, no additives, 6% or 8.25%.

How soon after adding the chlorine should I add the shock? If the answer is when my chlorine is 1-4 ppm, then I need to know how long after adding the chlorine should I be testing it. You don't need to add the "shock" product at all. The initial addition of the liquid chlorine should be all you need.

How soon after adding shock can I adjust my PH? again if the answer has to do with testing, how long after adding the shock should I be testing the water? You can do that at any time, as long as you wait about 1/2 hour after any other chemical addition, with the pump running. Mix it in a bucket of water and s-l-o-w-l-y pour it in front of the running return.

How long after adding PH down (since my ph tested 8.2)should I test the water and how long until it's safe to swim in? You can test within 1/2 hour, as long as your pump has been running the entire time.

Thanks.

Now, about your testing. Since you are new here, and are putting up a new pool, I will make a couple of strong suggestions.

1. READ Pool School, linked in the upper right corner of every page. Then go back and read it again. Repeat several times. Pay special attention to start-up of small seasonal pools.

2. Get a GOOD test kit. I will assume that you are going to try to use the test strips that came with the pool. You don't know how long those have been in that package, and chances are they are already bad. They have a relatively short shelf life.

Test kits are available from http://tftestkits.net/ at reasonable cost, or you could order the Taylor K-2006 from Amazon. Personally, had I known about the TF100 before I bought my K-2006, I would have bought that one, as it is a better value.

You will need a good kit, for valid accurate test results so you will KNOW what is going on in your pool.

Read the ingredients of ALL the powders BEFRE you put them in your pool. If there is any mention of metals of any kind, do not use in your pool.

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

It would be handy for us (and you) to know the size of your pool. Knowing the gallons, we can see how high that stabilizer powder might have raised your CYA level, which will tell us if that powdered chlorine is acceptable or a bad idea. What it says on the ingredients labels on the packages are is also useful to know.

You can adjust pH and FC now, just wait at least half an hour between chemical additions - with the pump running - before adding another.

And start reading Pool School. It will answer questions you haven;t even thought to ask yet.

 

[krains]

You can add the liquid chlorine (bleach) at any time, by pouring it slowly in front of the running return so it mixes into the water quickly. You said your chlorine was powder, so that tells me it is probably dichloro. This will have CYA (stabilizer) in it as well, so you might want to hold off using that. Use cheap household bleach, unscented, no additives, 6% or 8.25%. [/color]


Now, about your testing. Since you are new here, and are putting up a new pool, I will make a couple of strong suggestions.

1. READ Pool School, linked in the upper right corner of every page. Then go back and read it again. Repeat several times. Pay special attention to start-up of small seasonal pools.

2. Get a GOOD test kit. I will assume that you are going to try to use the test strips that came with the pool. You don't know how long those have been in that package, and chances are they are already bad. They have a relatively short shelf life.

Test kits are available from http://tftestkits.net/ at reasonable cost, or you could order the Taylor K-2006 from Amazon. Personally, had I known about the TF100 before I bought my K-2006, I would have bought that one, as it is a better value.

You will need a good kit, for valid accurate test results so you will KNOW what is going on in your pool.

Read the ingredients of ALL the powders BEFRE you put them in your pool. If there is any mention of metals of any kind, do not use in your pool.

Thank you, very good info. I actually bought an hth liquid testing kit. Also the chlorine granules are unstabilized. Would it be okay to use them or should I just use the bleach instead?

 

[jblizzle]

Then the granules are cal-hypo which will add calcium (which you do not need) and may result in cloudy water. You can use it, but may not want to use a lot all at once.

 

[krains]

Then the granules are cal-hypo which will add calcium (which you do not need) and may result in cloudy water. You can use it, but may not want to use a lot all at once.

Ah the hardness of the water tested at a low 170ppm so maybe it'll just give it a slight boost into the proper range.

 

[jblizzle]

You have a vinyl pool ... there is no recommended CH range.

 

[krains]

You have a vinyl pool ... there is no recommended CH range.

That's what I figured, as long as it's not so high that it causes any irritation.

 

[jblizzle]

It will not cause irritation either. If the CH gets too high and you allow the pH to get too high, you can get calcium scaling all over the pool which is very difficult to remove.

 

[Charlie_R]

The kit you bought, is it the HTH 6-way? If it is, that is a good start. That will give you a little time to order one of the FAS-DPD kits we recommend here.

couple of things about the 6-way kit. The Chlorine test will only take you to 5 ppm chlorine level, you may need to be able to test higher, especially if your pool develops problems. Read about this in pool school. The other thing is the Alkalinity and hardness tests will get you close.

The kits we recommend go quite a bit further in how high they test to, and in the accuracy of the tests, especially the chlorine test. FAS-DPD will accurately test to 50 ppm chlorine, and will give you both the free chlorine (FC) and combined chlorine (CC). Both numbers become very important in keeping your pool sanitized and algae free. Yes, these are discussed in pool school.

Please take the time to read there, and ask any questions as they occur to you. There will be many, and we are here to help.

By using the methods and knowledge gained in pool school, you will know if anything is starting to go wrong in your pool before it gets out of hand.