Refilling your Drianed pool

[smeestu]

Hi all im new here same as a lot of other people found my way here after the "problems " started too much Trichlor after checking a CYA of over 150 so i enede up with a swamp not a pool all the locals "experts" around here just seem to chuck Alum in once a month and keep going like that . After a lot of reading on here looked like i had to drop 65% on water out to get the CYA back near normal . So ive emptied the pool pretty much and start again .
The question i have is do you just fill the pool (its going to take maybe a week or so with slow pumped well water) then balance it or try to do it on the fly . First time i filled it i let it fill then alumed it and started from there as it was green already and not too clean .the water tempeture runs at about 29-35oc most of the time

 

[zethacat]

Welcome to TFP!

Someone with more experience will chime in here shortly, but I don't think you want to be putting Alum in your pool. I wonder if that can even be used as a legitimate sanitizer. I would brush the pool frequently at the very least if it is going to take that long to fill. How many gallons is it? Also, who is testing your pool water and with what?

 

[pooladdict]

I would guess around 80,000 litres based on your sizes. What is this Alum you are putting in your water? Zethacat is right, you need to get a test kit, we need solid numbers in order to determine proper course of action. I would even like to see tests done on your fill water, then you would know every 10,000 litres what to put in as it fills up. Its going to be a process.

 

[kimkats]

The first thing you do is order a GOOD test kit. You can find the link in my siggy. Please believe me that it will be the best money you have spent on your pool and will save SO much money, time, aggravation, ect over time. It will be harder to get where you live. I THINK there is something called "Myus" that helps you buy stuff like this.

The next thing is to find a good source for bleach/chlorine. Some people find the best price at Walmart. Others find it at the pool store. No matter where you look make sure to find out the % (Walmart=8%, Pool store mostly=11%).

Take all of the tablets out of the feeder. Save the unused ones for when you go on a trip.

I would go ahead and add some bleach/chlorine every day and use a broom to stir it into the water.

The best thing you can do to help your pool is start reading this:
http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/165-getting-started

You already have a good start in that you have you pool info. in your siggy!

I hope this helps.

Kim

 

[zethacat]

A broom? lol

 

[smeestu]

Thanks for the quick reply the pool is 93,000 litres 24,500 galoons (US) . I havent done anything with it yet just started filling it yesterday the well pumped water is not the best im running it through a small cartiridge filter to keep the worst of it out , but already the water is begining to cloud im waiting for a delivery of 2000 litres of 10% Sodium hypochlorite going to change to the method on here . Did wonder if it was worth putting some pucks in the chlorine feeder (as my CYA will be 0 at the moment) and turning it over with the pump/filter it only about 8-10 inchs deep .Also ive ordered a Palintest Balanced Water kit from the UK (havent been able get Taylor here in Thailand ) so at the moment i have just a basic test kit PH/CL

 

[zethacat]

Woah

That is a heck ton of chlorine!!! As you may or may not know, it's strength will deteriorate over time depending on where it is being stored and for how long. I fear you may wind up with a lot of 5% or less chlorine at some point... because I'm doubtful you will use anywhere near that much in a year. Check this thread for more info on that: http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/60837-Breakdown-of-bleach-over-time-by-storage-temperature

You are best off with a TF-100 test kit from www.tftestkits.net.

 

[pooladdict]

Yikes, that is one huge order of Chlorine....

Do you have a regular source of chlorine near you, or just regular bleach from a local grocery store?

 

[smeestu]

Doh i got carried away with the zeros im bad ive ordered 200 litres of it i live out in the middle of the paddy fields in NE Thailand (Isan) so pretty much everything has to be ordered in and shipped up same with the pool test kit it was the best option here as not many companies like to ship to Thailand (couldnt find a Taylor kit ) .The local shops do have small amounts of chlorine but it works out really expensive maybe a option to go buy a bit untill my order turns up from Bangkok .Dont want to put Alum (Aluminium sulfate it comes in big rock like crystals) in the water want to stick to the methods on here so i guess go buy a few bottles locally of bleech and put that in and brush it regularly until full then balance and slam

 

[pooladdict]

The alum is a floculant, you still need a chlorine or bromine in the water

 

[smeestu]

Thanks for the input I was "advised" the first time to fill the pool dont do anything with the water until the pool was full then check ph , then Alum it then shock it . I undesrtand here people dont use alum they Slam and vacum/brush it instead so puting liquid chlorine in whilst filling it is a good idea how about the PH is it worth trying to do anything with that or wait until its full

 

[pooladdict]

I would prefer a SLIME BAG over Alum....its a quicker process...see if you can get one over there?

The Ph will rise falsely with the chlorine, but its best to know what your starting Ph is before you do anything. You wont want to acidic or alkaline water in your pool for any extended length of time

 

[zethacat]

As pooladdict has previously stated, a good course of action would be to test the fill water and then treat it as it is being filled based on that. So I would say yes to adding chlorine while it's being filled, but you need an accurate test kit so that you can measure the proper amount of levels and chemicals respectively. You want to know FC, CC, PH, TA, CH & CYA. I still don't understand why you would need Alum or "slime bags" lol. Do you not have a vacuum and/or brush?

 

[smeestu]

Thanks for the input again yep i have a vacum the port it is up by the top of the pool so i will have to wait a bit ,the water on my first fill had a fair bit of silt and a brownish colour ,thats why this time i put a small cartridge filter on the line from the well pump which has helped a lot even if it has slowed the flow down a bit . I dont think the water will be brown this time, as i said in a earlier post its begining to go cloudy already after only a day so off to the shops to get some bottles of bleech until my main order turns up. i have ordered a Palintest SP315c test kit from the UK just waiting for it to arive i will keep brushing as it fills i could run the pump but the returns will have a fair drop into the filling water but i could filter then is that a good idea ? as i nderstand it that will also increase the ph (well water is ph 6.9) again thanks for all the advice i will get there in the end

 

[zethacat]

6.9 is low but I am guessing it will start to rise while you are filling. Just keep an eye on it. You definitely don't want it to go down.

 

[kimkats]

Let the water splash as it goes in the pool and it will increase the PH.

Good idea about using the filter as you put the water in!

You are doing a great job already. Your pool will be the best one in your area using TFP!

Kim

 

[singingpond]

I was curious about the Palintest sp315c -- here is a quote by chem geek, from a 2010 thread on the forum:

>>
The "Palintest Pooltester SP 315C" will test FC, CC, pH, TA, CH and CYA. Unfortunately, it is a DPD test and not FAS-DPD, but at least it has everything else you need including CYA. The indicator dyes use tablets instead of liquid reagents, but the titration part of the test still uses drops you count (except for DPD, of course).
<<

Just appending this info. so that others reading/commenting here are better informed about the OP's testing options once the test kit arrives.

The same thread (http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/19387-Test-kits-in-the-UK) that contains the above quote also mentions a Palintest FAS/DPD test product -- not sure if that product is available to the OP in Thailand.

 

[smeestu]

Thanks for all the input and singingpond with regards to the Palintest FAS/DPD test where i bought the kit from the guy was very helpfull and i asked about the Palintest FAS/DPD test kit and he said that he doesnt have it in stock but can get it for me no problem this info may be usefull for other members who cant get the Taylor version in Europe of elsewhere as he will ship worldwide .Im not sure about outside links on here if its ok ill post a link to the website or i can pm anyone interested as i said he was very helpfull and gives 20% of list price on all Palintest and lovibond products . One thing he did say was that you could effectivly "double" your maxium normal FC reading limits from up to 6 to 12 by a 50% dilute of your sample which with a low CYA would cover slaming ? does anyone on here do this was going to give it a try and if i cant get on with it order then a FAS/DPD kit as well i nearly bought the scuba 2 from him but i thought i would keep it simple as i could .

 

[timerguy]

I'd definitely get the fas-dpd too.

 

[zethacat]

An accurate FC reading is important in order to determine how much chlorine needs to be added. You can use the pool math calculator to determine how much FC is needed based on your CYA.