First time opening a pool!

[mikemurph6]

Hi I bought a home with a 25,000 gallon inground pool this winter. The pool has always been maintained by the local pool company, including openings/closing and water testing. I have been doing a lot of reading on this site and tried the opening on my own yesterday.

Got the pool filled, up and running and added 3 gallons of 12.5% bleach yesterday evening. The pool looks great, very clear and very little debris.

This morning I tested the water,
FC: 1ppm
CC: 1ppm (I think...the chlorine raised from 1.0 to 2.0)
pH: 7.6
TA: 220

I cannot test CYA with my kit but will bring it to the pool store to test if needed (I am ordering a better test kit but this is what I have right now).

Confused where to go from here, do I need to SLAM it? Lower the pH/aerate? Both?

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello and welcome! So you just opened and are trying to get things adjusted? I do have a concern for some residual algae still in the water only because your FC is very low and you have an elevated CC level, so I suspect a SLAM will be in order. However the CC could be elevated because your water is oxidizing a lot of trash from the last chlorine dosage you applied. You know here at TFP we won't give much credit to a pool store CYA test, so YOUR "proper" tests kit results will be the final judge. So whatever they tell you, be careful and don't do too much based on their result. We don't want you to waste time or money. In a pool your size, you can get by with adding about 3/4 - 1 gallon of bleach each day until your kit arrives. That's about all I would do right now until you get your kit. I wouldn't try to start an official "SLAM" (link below) or anything else until you know your real numbers and have the kit in-hand. I recommend the TF-100 (link below), but the Taylor K-2006C will work fine as well.

Also, please make sure to update your signature with al of your pool and equipment info so we know what you have to work with. It helps a lot for later.

 

[splashpad]

Welcome!

Hi I bought a home with a 25,000 gallon inground pool this winter. The pool has always been maintained by the local pool company, including openings/closing and water testing. I have been doing a lot of reading on this site and tried the opening on my own yesterday.

Congrats and well done! What is the pool? (plaster, fiberglass, vinyl-lined?) What shape (circle, rectangle, other)? Measurements?

Got the pool filled, up and running and added 3 gallons of 12.5% bleach yesterday evening. The pool looks great, very clear and very little debris.

That is good!

This morning I tested the water,
FC: 1ppm
CC: 1ppm (I think...the chlorine raised from 1.0 to 2.0)
pH: 7.6
TA: 220

I notice:
PH is drifting up due to higher TA
FC is to low, CC will need addressed with SLAM Process

I cannot test CYA with my kit but will bring it to the pool store to test if needed (I am ordering a better test kit but this is what I have right now).

Definitely invest in a CYA test kit. If you have a plaster or fiberglass pool you will also need to be able to test Hardness (or CH)

Confused where to go from here, do I need to SLAM it? Lower the pH/aerate? Both?

You will need to lower the PH slightly to begin a SLAM Process, BUT you need to know the CYA first [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]