pool care newbie

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PeterQ

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May 8, 2014
7
Windsor, CT
Hello and thanks in advance for any help.
I recently purchased a home, took ownership of this home on Tuesday. I now have a pool for the first time, feeling very overwhelmed. The pool was apparently opened on Monday by a pool company (based on a prior contract, previous owner had left). I have literally no idea what they added to the pool.

Today I learned how to vacuum the pool, removed quite a bit of debris. The water now looks quite clear to my untrained eye. In preparation for this day, I had found this site and purchased a test kit. My results, done this evening, are as follows: (I was very careful to follow all instructions, even repeated each test twice - yes, anal)
pH 7.2
FC 8
CC 0.5
TA 90
CH 275
CYA 80

There were 2 chlorine tabs in the skimmer basket. I took those out since the CYA seems high. According to the 'pool math' link, I'm supposed to add CaCl (there is leslie pools Calcium hardness plus in the garage), washing soda, soda ash or borax, and replace 38% of the water. 38% of the water!!! I used the goals provided by this site for a plaster pool. I'm looking for guidance on where to begin, any help is appreciated.
 
Welcome! :wave:

PeterQ said:
Hello and thanks in advance for any help.
I recently purchased a home, took ownership of this home on Tuesday. I now have a pool for the first time, feeling very overwhelmed. The pool was apparently opened on Monday by a pool company (based on a prior contract, previous owner had left). I have literally no idea what they added to the pool.

Today I learned how to vacuum the pool, removed quite a bit of debris. The water now looks quite clear to my untrained eye. In preparation for this day, I had found this site and purchased a test kit. My results, done this evening, are as follows: (I was very careful to follow all instructions, even repeated each test twice - yes, anal)
pH 7.2
FC 8
CC 0.5
TA 90
CH 275
CYA 80
Click to expand...
Oh, Bless you! You're going to have a great season.

There were 2 chlorine tabs in the skimmer basket. I took those out since the CYA seems high. According to the 'pool math' link, I'm supposed to add CaCl (there is leslie pools Calcium hardness plus in the garage), washing soda, soda ash or borax, and replace 38% of the water. 38% of the water!!! I used the goals provided by this site for a plaster pool. I'm looking for guidance on where to begin, any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
You don't need to do anything much to that water, except maintain FC above 6 at all times. Everything is in the safe zone and CSI is only a little negative. CYA is higher than it should be, but manageable unless you get an algae bloom. You'll just have to use the powder FC test every time since you're above the scale on the colormatching tests. Rather than empty a third of the water out now while you're busy settling into the new house, just maintain FC. Later you can use pool water on the lawn and refill it and lower CYA that way.

For now, let those pucks dissolve away and don't add any more. You're on a diet of liquid bleach now.
 
Hi, welcome to TFP! Richard is right, you can manage with a CYA of 80. Just stay at the top of your recommended FC range and you should be fine. Your CH level is fine, no need to add any more at this time.
 
Welcome!!! Any pics of your new toy? We love pics! :mrgreen:
 
Hey guys, thanks for the help so far. This is probably sad, but I think I might be having as much fun learning to care for my pool as I will actually using it. This is an odd question, but I'm curious about the color of the water. I added 163 oz of chlorine yesterday as after a heavy rain the FC was 2. Today the pH is 7.2, the FC is 8 ppm, so I added nothing. The color of the pool seems really blue, like its glowing blue. It almost looks like its flourescing under a UV light. The plaster is grey, its also cloudy out right now. Maybe it was this blue before and I didn't notice, but it just seems REALLY blue now. The bleach I added was generic brand from Walmart, 8.25%, and it was a light green color. Could they have put coloring in the chlorine?

This is probably just me spending too much time looking at the pool. I am clearly very new at this.
 
PeterQ said:
Hey guys, thanks for the help so far. This is probably sad, but I think I might be having as much fun learning to care for my pool as I will actually using it. This is an odd question, but I'm curious about the color of the water. I added 163 oz of chlorine yesterday as after a heavy rain the FC was 2. Today the pH is 7.2, the FC is 8 ppm, so I added nothing. The color of the pool seems really blue, like its glowing blue. It almost looks like its flourescing under a UV light. The plaster is grey, its also cloudy out right now. Maybe it was this blue before and I didn't notice, but it just seems REALLY blue now. The bleach I added was generic brand from Walmart, 8.25%, and it was a light green color. Could they have put coloring in the chlorine?

This is probably just me spending too much time looking at the pool. I am clearly very new at this.
Click to expand...
There's no dye in bleach. It would bleach out.

Maybe you've just never seen a really clear pool before? Get used to it.
 

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