My first pool

[rokitman]

I just moved in March, and the new house came with an above-ground swamp. It was bad in every way - orientation in the yard, ground not level underneath, not maintained at all...it was bad enough that I completely drained and scrubbed the pool, then took it down completely and re-did the earth underneath. I took the opportunity to add 1.5" foam board underneath, which I highly recommend (having already been in the full pool) - it's like walking on a cloud.

I've never owned a pool before, but I've been Googling around during startup and keep ending up back on this site - thanks for the great resource.
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Anyway, down to business:
-13' x 25.5' x 4' rectangular Splash Superpool (advertised as 10,600 gallons)
-PLM-150 cartridge filter with a brand new cartridge
-SplashClear SP-18 SWG
-Full sunlight after about 9am
-City utility water

The untouched water was initially tested with a friend's Taylor kit as follows (day #0):
pH=8.2
TA=90
CH=70
I didn't test for chlorine initially.

Evening #0:
Added 28oz Kem-Tek liquid muriatic acid (14.5% HCl)
pH=7.5
TA=90
CH=70 (since the pool is vinyl, I'm going to not test for this any further)

Morning #1 and the numbers haven't changed at all.
Sweet - everything looks good! Let's go buy some bleach and cyanuric acid and dump it in the pool! Note that at this point there's no salt added to the water and the SWG cell is not powered up.

Afternoon #1:
Added 3.5 pounds dry CYA and half a gallon of 8.3% Clorox bleach

Morning #2:
pH=6.8
FC=4ppm
TC=5ppm (according to the DPD method)

Evening #2
Add 72oz of Borax

Morning #3
pH=7.8
TA=110ppm
FC=5ppm
Add 8oz muriatic.

Lunchtime Day #3 (today), received my Taylor K-2006 FAS-DPD kit.
pH=7.4
TA=110ppm
FC=3ppm
CC=0.5ppm
CYA=80ppm...ish. The test seems pretty subjective based on light and eyesight. I ran the math and there's no way that 3 pounds of acid could equal that concentration (by mass, anyway).

So I added 8oz more muriatic to drop the pH, and turned the return eyeball fitting up to aerate so as to drop the TA - that's what it's doing as I type this. I also added 36oz bleach to get FC back up.

So, three questions:
1) How could CYA be indicating that high? I only added CYA once, and in a known quantity. I never used stabilized tablets of any sort.
2) How close am I to adding salt and turning on the SWG?
3) If CC maintains (or falls) and I can pass an OCLT tonight, then there's no need to SLAM at all, correct?

 

[Richard320]

The CYA test needs bright light. If you did it in the shade, that could be enough to mess it up. How many times did you pour the mix back and forth? There's no shame in taking ten readings back to back. Even with several years' practice, I never get three in a row to read the same.

You can add salt any time you want. If the water is clear, you won't be backwashing a bunch, so you won't be losing any of it. If there are kids in the house, check out "Diamond Day." Post 5

You filled it with municipal water. There should be no reason to SLAM the pool as long as you've been keeping some chlorine in it.

 

[tim5055]

3 pounds of CYA should have raised the level by 40 give or take a couple.

There are three possibilities:

1. Pool volume is smaller than you think, but thT would be by half to get the 80 you are testing

2. You added 6 pounds of stabilizer

3. Testing error

I would re test tomorrow.

I would start adding salt now.

As long as you pass OCLT I see no need to slam.

 

[rokitman]

Thanks...there must be a CYA test methodology error. The pool volume is 10,000 gallons +/- 1k (sides are curved), & I only own one 5-pound jug of CYA. Clorox bleach, muriatic acid, & Borax are the only other things I've put in.

Thanks. I'll practice testing some more...