Brand New Pool - Start Up Questions

[Ama]

Hello everyone,

Yesterday our pool was finished being installed. As my signature says, it's an 18x33 Galaxy above ground pool. It was filled with well water, it's crystal clear and looks gorgeous. The problem is that we don't know what to do now to get our water to its proper levels. We have a Hayward Aquatrol SWG. An employee at a pool store said we couldn't add any salt to our pool until the water was between 70-75 degrees (the manual says it won't produce chlorine under 50 degrees). We dipped a test strip a few minutes ago which obviously showed there was no chlorine, and it showed high PH, high alkalinity, and the stabilizer was within desired range.

What is our next step? Should we be adding any chemicals to the water, or should we simply wait until the temperature rises to add salt and go from there?

We're worried that waiting (and not adding any chemicals) would potentially cause build up or bacteria to produce within the pool.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello Ama and welcome to TFP! First piece of advice... please order one of TFPs recommended test kits (see my signature for link)! You have no idea how much that will benefit you and your checkbook later. Test strips are of no value, and neither are pool store tests for that matter. I would also suggest you check-out the Pool School link on the home page or in my signature to give you some basic knowledge of what TFP is about to teach you. It's not that difficult, but you need to have a basic understanding. More advice to follow shortly on some basic "starter" chemicals to consider while you wait for a test kit (i.e. chlorine bleach, stabilizer, etc). Congrats on your new pool!

 

[KrisIL]

I will add salt for now and order the TF-100 kit

 

[Ama]

Hey, thanks for the reply

We certainly plan to order a proper test kit. My bf was actually looking at them earlier today. I've read a bunch of the information on the site, and there's plenty of information about what levels are ideal. The problem we're having is how to properly make adjustments. Our PH and Alk is high, we know where it should be, we're just not sure how to go about lowering them. I suppose that's the sort of help I was looking for

 

[KrisIL]

Check here: Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP! Congrats on the new pool!

It is very important to always maintain chlorine in your pool. Never let the chlorine level drop below the minimum level for your CYA level or algae will start to grow. Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart. If you have not added CYA then add 30 ppm of granular CYA to a sock and put it in the skimmer basket, give it a squeeze several times per day to speed up the process. Assume that your CYA level is 30 from the start. It is also important to maintain your PH level between 7.2 and 7.8. TA and CH can be worked more gradually.

Get one of the Recommended Test Kits, I use the TF100 from tftestkits.net.

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.