BolognaJoe

[BolognaJoe]

Hello everyone, we just bought a house and it came with an above ground pool with a torn liner. We're fixing it next week and I'm looking forward to getting started with all this great advice. I had a pool as a kid and don't remember my dad doing much maintenance or testing, probably the reason my eyes always burned! I have two kids of my own and want to avoid that for them. All my internet searches about doing your own maintenance kept coming back to Trouble Free Pool and after reading pool school I'm on board. I have to be honest though, everyone I talk to looks at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I want to use bleach, wife included. Years of marketing I guess, the chemistry makes sense.

I'll post my initial test readings as soon as I get them, I know I'll need to add some FC, probably CYA right? I've read some other first timers post, people on this forum seems really helpful and kind, looking forward to taking part.

 

[tim5055]

Welcome to TFP!!

 

[Azgirl71]

Welcome to TFP! You have been reading! Congrats on your new test kit coming.

 

[BoDarville]

Welcome to the forum!

everyone I talk to looks at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I want to use bleach, wife included.

This is one of the hurdles that must be overcome. As you stated, the resistance is due to how bleach is marketed. Get past that, the chemistry makes complete sense.

 

[ozzy47]

Welcome to TFP, BolognaJoe. Hope you enjoy your stay here.

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP!

Here are some of my fave Pool School articles in case you missed any of them.
TFPC for Beginners
ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry

Here are the Recommended Levels for your pool.
Here is the Water Balance for a saltwater pool.
Here are the Recommended Pool Chemicals and how to add them.
Use PoolMath to figure out how much to add.

 

[Patrick_B]

Welcome to TFP Joe!

 

[BolognaJoe]

Well it took a while but I finally got the liner replaced and the pool is full of water. I just took my first readings with the daily kit from the TF-100, FC was at 0 and PH was 6.8. According to PoolMath I need to add a quart of bleach and 92oz of Borax for PH. I'll do that tonight and take another reading in 24 hours. I'll do the TA and CYA test tomorrow night, I'm just thinking I need to get the chlorine in their ASAP.

 

[Richard320]

Well it took a while but I finally got the liner replaced and the pool is full of water. I just took my first readings with the daily kit from the TF-100, FC was at 0 and PH was 6.8. According to PoolMath I need to add a quart of bleach and 92oz of Borax for PH. I'll do that tonight and take another reading in 24 hours. I'll do the TA and CYA test tomorrow night, I'm just thinking I need to get the chlorine in their ASAP.

WHOA!

Poolmath can't calculate pH adjustments without TA readings. Don't start screwing up the chemistry right out of the gate. Make sure you get pH right.

Also, don't bother testing CYA. Tap water has none and yours is a fresh fill.

 

[BolognaJoe]

Thanks for pointing that out before I made a mistake, looking at Poolmath again I see what you are saying. It assumed at TA of 100, I'll try to read more carefully in the future. I didn't have any Borax on hand anyway so I was going to the PH adujustments till tomorrow, I'll wait till I run the TA test.

 

[BolognaJoe]

I did my TA test tonight and it came up with a TA of 20, pretty low. On Poolmath it says that adding baking soda to raise TA will also raise PH a little and at Pool School it says that adding Borax for PH will also raise TA a little. Considering my TA is way more out of range than my PH I'm thinking it's better to fix that value first, correct? Also is there a best time of day to add baking soda? I read I should spread it over the surface of the water, should my filter be on for this?
Thanks!!!

 

[Richard320]

The pump should be on when adding any chemicals.

Yes, take TA up to 60ish and let it mix well. Brushing helps. Then recheck pH and TA again and adjust pH to 7.2 or so. Tomorrow recheck things again and fine tune. You don;t want to overshoot just in case the pool isn't as big as the manufacturer claims.

 

[BolognaJoe]

Thanks Richard, I appreciate the help. I set my goal for 60 with pool math and the next day it tested 60, so all the numbers and levels are behaving as expected. So far so good!