Filling Pool from empty, can I turn on pump when water line is below returns?

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ed65jag

Member
Sep 13, 2021
5
Kansas City, MO
Pool Size
25000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I am currently filling my pool from empty. Its 25k gallons, so its taking awhile to fill, currently at 18 hours and counting. I my CH is good, but my TA is low, and PH is high so I would like to start filtering to add baking soda and acid to get those in line as it continues to fill.

Can I run off my main drains with the waterline currently below returns?
 
Is this new plaster?

Why do you want to do that?
 
It's difficult and maybe not even possible to prime the pump when the water is low. I've stopped many times too soon when draining a little for the winter and although it worked to get there, wouldn't start back up to drain a little more.

There's no rush. :)
 
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ed65jag said:
Yes, it is new plaster. My thought was to get the water moving sooner and mix in chemicals. If its ok to wait and start the 28 day process once waterline is midway up waterline tile, then I will wait.
Click to expand...
Wait. Do not freelance the startup process.

Fill the pool completely. Then start the equipment.

What startup guide are you following?

Most say don’t add any chemicals for the first 2 days.

Plaster Start-Up Guides - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Cross-referenced the plaster guide you referenced above, the PebbleTech start up guide and the National Plasterers Council guide. All said the about the same thing. Thanks for the feedback, I waited until the pool was full (took 48 hrs to fill) to start any chemical adjustments.

Fill Water Levels:
CH: 120
PH: 8+ (DARK Pink)
TA: 40
CYA: maybe 5 or 10

On day 9 now. Adding 1 quart of Acid and 2 quarts of liquid chlorine a day at this point. TA is staying fairly stable, but dipped to 75 today. My CH is at ~200, going to raise to 250 this week. Water is crystal clear and plaster dust is a thing of the past. 🤞the remaining ~19 days go smooth! Excited to get salt in the pool on day 29 though to get my SWG going again!
 
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