My pool was finally installed!! Now what???

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ashmoussa

ashmoussa

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LifeTime Supporter
Sep 6, 2014
113
Jefferson (Lake Hopatcong), NJ
Hi TFP,
We just had our pool dug, dropped in, backfilled, and water filled yesterday. Everything is plumbed (pump, filter, etc). The only things needed now are: electrician to hook everything up on Monday, inspection on Tuesday, startup sometime during the week (which includes charging filter with DE and putting salt in pool) and then deck to be poured around perimeter at a later date (probably within a week).

Questions are:
1. What do I or can I do in the meantime with the water so it doesn't turn on me (algae)?
2. How do I raise the CYA if given water fill has none (what specific products/brands to use)? And yes I have the tf100 kit and will do a whole analysis here shortly and post I promise) lol

Thx in advance!!!
 
They filled it before the equipment is hooked up/running? You really need to get the water moving....

On CYA - granule stabilizer available many places, even walmart. You hang a sock in front of a return (when it's running) and it will quickly dissolve. Takes about a week to get a new accurate measurement.
 
Eevn if the water is not pumping, you can add some liquid chlorine, with care. Don't just pour a bottle of bleach on one spot and leave it at that. I would mix some bleach with water, mix it in a 5 gallon bucket with water (maybe 50-50 mix) and then pour it slowly along the perimeter of the pool. Then once you are done, either take your pool brush and stir it up, or find something like a canoe paddle and move the water around. If you are feelign motivated, move it around once or twice a day. By default the chemicals will naturally diffuse through the entire liquid body without a pump, but with some basic stirring, it will work even better.

You could even buy a couple of pucks and put them in a floating dispenser for a couple of days until you get your pump and let them go to work. If the wind wants to blow the floater to one end of the pool and gets stuck there, you might want to put a weight at the bottom of the floater to keep it in the center of teh pool. Then as the water moves around from the wind, it will sort of stir itself up.
 
During "Startup" make sure they don't put additional CYA in if you've got it in there (in the sock) too. They probably won't know bupkis about a sock in the pool but if they add more you might go too high. The only way to lower too high CYA is to drain/refill. NOT what you want to do with a new pool, eh? :)
 
Richard320 said:
1) Add about 2 ppm FC every day using bleach. And then use your brush to get it mixed.
2) If you want to add CYA, buy CYA. The brand doesn't matter. Just read the label. Ignore the directions on the bottle. Follow the instructions in Recommended Pool Chemicals. It tells you what to buy and how to add it.
Click to expand...
2ppm check!

Yev said:
Eevn if the water is not pumping, you can add some liquid chlorine, with care. Don't just pour a bottle of bleach on one spot and leave it at that. I would mix some bleach with water, mix it in a 5 gallon bucket with water (maybe 50-50 mix) and then pour it slowly along the perimeter of the pool. Then once you are done, either take your pool brush and stir it up, or find something like a canoe paddle and move the water around. If you are feelign motivated, move it around once or twice a day. By default the chemicals will naturally diffuse through the entire liquid body without a pump, but with some basic stirring, it will work even better.

You could even buy a couple of pucks and put them in a floating dispenser for a couple of days until you get your pump and let them go to work. If the wind wants to blow the floater to one end of the pool and gets stuck there, you might want to put a weight at the bottom of the floater to keep it in the center of teh pool. Then as the water moves around from the wind, it will sort of stir itself up.
Click to expand...
I like your way of adding chlorine.
What kind of pucks do u recommend?

YippeeSkippy said:
During "Startup" make sure they don't put additional CYA in if you've got it in there (in the sock) too. They probably won't know bupkis about a sock in the pool but if they add more you might go too high. The only way to lower too high CYA is to drain/refill. NOT what you want to do with a new pool, eh? :)
Click to expand...

Good advice! Didn't think of that.

Thanks all!!!
 
ashmoussa said:
Just out of curiosity, do I need Calcium and does 654oz of calcium chloride for a 17,000 gallon pool at goal of 260 seem right? That's an awful lot of calcium.
Click to expand...
You only need Calcium in a fiberglass pool if your warranty requires it. Rumor has it some gelcoats have problems without it.

Some people report a lot of water foaming with low Calcium. The low end of recommended is 220 CH for a fiberglass pool and a SWG. That should be enough to prevent foam and satisfy the warranty. So... what number did you enter in the Now column to determine that dose? It's unlikely you're at zero. You can't do much of anything until the water is circulating and you have test results. You might already be above 200 CH if you live in a "hard water" area. But even if you were at zero, that dowflake stuff comes in big 50 lb sacks.
 
So I'm feeling accomplished. I ran a semi-complete panel of tests, for the first time, on my fill water. Took me about an hour and the following are the results:

FC = 0
CC = 0.5
TC = 0.5
CH = 275
TA = 310
CYA = 0
PH = 7.8
Salt = between 200 - 400

Isn't the TA a bit high???
Would this cause any harm to my fiberglass pool?
Is this normal? They said the water was from a natural spring.
How do I decrease the TA level? The calculator says reduce PH with MA and then aerate. How do I aerate? Blow bubbles under the water?? lol :)

I will continue to add 2ppm of Chlorine daily to my pool and mix it around with something till the electrician has wired everything up. But once my pump is up and running, I will buy/add the following per the Pool calculator:
Liquid bleach of 8.25% = 154oz to get the water chlorine to 6ppm
CYA of 70: 159oz
Decrease PH from 7.8 to 7.0 = 192oz MA
CH = not going to add anything. Level is good. right??
Salt = I'll add whatever the calculator says based on my pool size and SWG requirements.

What are your thoughts? On the right track or am i missing something?
Thx again in advance!
 
High TA will cause pH to climb fast. It won't harm the pool or the swimmers. There's an article in Pool School on how to lower it. Aeration can be as simple as letting some kids splash in it. Some people point a return up so it creates a ripple on the surface. Others have rigged contraptions out of PVC pipe. Just use the search box for "aerator." Look for the attachment icon for ones with pictures.

CYA will take a few days to dissolve and a week to show up on tests. I would shoot low, just in case your pool isn't as big as advertised. It's easy to add more, hard to remove. You don't need to target 6 on the FC right away, as the CYA won't be dissolved immediately.
 

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Wait until the pump is running for an hour or two and retest everything to see where you are. I would leave TA alone for a couple weeks to see where it ends up. Ch is fine.
 
Ran a quick chlorine and CC test today to see if I'm introducing the right amount of bleach to maintain 2ppm. Results:
FC: 2ppm right on the money. Thanks to the Pool Calc.
CC: I had a very very faint pink after the 5 drops of R0003. Then I added one drop of R0871 and it went completely clear. So I'm guessing I'm at 0.5 for CC.

Thanks guys for all the information. This is all new to me. But I am feeling confident that I can do this "Trouble Free".

As for the chlorine, do I maintain the chlorine to CYA ratio as the CYA increases when I start dosing it? Hope that made sense.

Thx again!!
 
ashmoussa said:
As for the chlorine, do I maintain the chlorine to CYA ratio as the CYA increases when I start dosing it? Hope that made sense.

Thx again!!
Click to expand...
Yes. Just guess how high the CYA is based on how much of the CYA is left in the sock. Be generous with your estimates - you won't ever be above shock level so it's safe to go in whenever you want.
 
So I have been doing a little bit of adjustments to the pool chemistry since electric has been hooked up and pump is running all while maintaining daily FC @ 2ppm with bleach since salt has not yet been added to pool. :stirpot: Should I be adding the bleach at night or morning or anytime as long as I'm consistent?

1. First thing I did was add DE. Scared the **** out of me. It's my first time doing this. I mixed the powder with some water in a bucket, while wearing my 3M mask (the one painters use with the 2 thingies on either side) and added it to the skimmer and all of a sudden white clouds came shooting out the returns! But in short time it disappeared and the water was crystal clear, even at night with the lights!! Yay!! I feel that my lungs are hurting me and my throat is itchy but its probably a psychological thing in my head thinking I inhaled the stuff. By the way I'm mad allergic to everything airborne. lol

2. Then I added MA per calculator to lower PH. It went from 7.8 --> 8.2 --> add MA --> went down to 6.8 --> 7.2

3. Then I added about 56oz of granule CYA in a sock in front of a return extended off a pole. I will add more since, per the calculator, I need about 113oz total to raise CYA to 50. I can't seem to find another sock and pole to extend it off of. lol The pump has been running constantly and it's taking forever to dissolve though. It's been 2 days or so. Is this normal?

Am I doing everything correctly so far?? Please comment, criticize, and/or complement.

My results over the past few days:
:testkit:
Screen Shot 2015-05-13 at 10.54.06 AM.jpg

Also, a question that has been driving me nuts. How do I figure how long I need to run my pump? and on what speed (I have a VSP ECOSTAR)? What times? I also have a Prologic that can set the speeds, the times of day/night, and length of run times.

I have the mason coming out today to discuss the decking around the pool. ADVICE please!! I have read every single article on TFP and must have gone through every image on the internet for pool decks and feel that I still have no idea what is best and nicest looking.

Thank you, thank you, thank you all for all your help thus far!!! I would have been a mess without you! :bowdown:
 
That all looks pretty good! Here are some comments to tweak it a little.

Chlorine should be added such that the FC level never drops below the minimum level for your CYA on this Chlorine CYA Chart. More FC gets used during the day than at night due to more swimming and sun light. Doesn't really matter when, just keep it above min. Write down your FC consumption for a while until you get a feel for it. If FC drops below MIN then you are at risk of algae growing.

I don't know anything about DE except you aren't supposed to sniff it. :)

Keep PH between 7.2 and 7.8

Pump run time theory is run it just enough to clean, skim and chlorinate your pool.
4-6 hours is probably a good start, 2-3 hours in AM and 2-3 hours in PM to spread the skimming out
find the lowest RPM that will efficiently skim your surface and provide enough flow to make the SWG happy.

For my VSPump 900 rpm is enough to get good skimming and flow for my SWG. Until the filter starts to get dirty. So, I upped it to 1000 for a while and still had occasional flow issues. Upped it to 1100 rpm and everything has been great for a couple of years. 1100 rpm only draws 150watts by the way. CHEAP!
 
As to your questions about decking- something commonly said is to get the very most you can afford! Don't skimp around the sides near where you have grass you'll be mowing. 4' wide minimum if you can for walking ease. Plan where you want to have an enlarged area for tables and lounge chairs and such.

Yippee, not Skippy
 
I couldn't agree with Yippee's comment more...

We were told 4' minimum for non seating areas, we went with about 5-5.5'. Seating areas were enlarged, and anywhere chaise lounges would be, we made sure we had 7' or so, so plenty of room for kids to go by while folks are lounging, and a buffer so they aren't getting splashed from the pool while in the chairs.
 
Thanks!!
Based on what I've read and your advice, I just dropped $15k to do a patio around the entire pool with a sitting area for the lounge chairs, another area for a fire pit, a wall around half of the back of the pool including planters, and all with stained travertine stamped concrete with contrasting outline.
Thank you all again for helping me spend my money. Lol
 

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