Intex to 27' above ground pool \ What have I gotten myself into? Please help a noob.

[Jkrull]

To prepare myself for this new adventure I have been reading these forums on and off over the winter. I have installed a 27' x 54" above ground pool with a SW256X sand filter. To save money I decided to fill the pool from my well. I'm starting to think that was my first mistake since the water is now a light brown-ish green. I've run into a few issues with parts and setup and do not trust my local pool dealer to help me out of this mess. So far I have dumped in a bottle of the metal\scale remover that they recommended and thought I would ask for help here. Beyond that the water is straight out of the ground. The filter has been circulating for about 18hrs now. I planned on shocking the pool tonight with aquachem Shock Xtra Blue that I picked up at my local Fleet Farm.

Is shocking the correct next step?

Should I be using this powdered shock?

Should I just be using bleach?

Thanks for you help, I'm looking to learn the BBB method.

Jason

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Check the ingredients on that "Shock", the Blue makes we wonder if that has copper in it and you certainly do not need more metal in the pool. Stick with liquid chlorine / bleach.

You should not need to "shock" {we do not use that term ... we recommend the ShockLevelAndMAINTAIN Process} as this is new water.

You should test with one of the Recommended Test Kits and post your results so we can see what needs adjusted.

You certainly need to add about 2ppm of FC with bleach and you certainly need to add 30-50ppm of CYA using stabilizer. Use PoolMath to calculate the dose to hit those targets ... and KEEP READING

How much Pool School have you read? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool

 

[Jkrull]

Thanks for the welcome and the quick response. I have not yet purchased a test kit, but will be ordering the TF-100 when I get home tonight. Should I take the water to my pool store for their "free" test to get me started or pick up test strips while I wait for the TF-100 to arrive? I'd like to get some numbers as soon as possible and shipping to Wisconsin isn't always the fastest.

I have read thru the Pool School a few times, but I'll be the first to admit I don't understand it all. I will hold of on the shock and purchase some liquid bleach.

So I guess my next question is, "what is the most reliable way to get some base numbers while I wait for my kit to arrive"? I know I've seen AquaCheck water testing strips at the store, not sure what the pool store has.

Thanks!

 

[Isaac-1]

Aqua Chem offers 3 different powdered chlorine "shock" products in 1 pound bags under similar sounding names. Shock Water treatment is powdered Trichlor, Shock Plus is Dichlor and Shock XTRA Blue is DIchlor plus a copper compound. I too would advise to get some chlorine in there as soon as possible, then read the pool school link in the upper right of this page.

Ike

 

[jblizzle]

I would not waste money on buying test strips. If the pool store uses drop based testing and not a computerized system ... they might get you in the ball park.