First time opening the pool WITHOUT a pool store! Looking for help to do it RIGHT!

[amfrench]

Hello all!

Writing in this year because, although it is our second year opening our pool, it is our FIRST year wise enough to leave the pool stores be and not just dump things in blindly. We ended up in a real pickle last year and this forum ended up being our saving grace when we found it!

Water is green and cloudy... not too bad though. Numbers are as follows:
FC: 0
CC: .5
pH: between 7.2 and 7.5... i would estimate 7.4?
Calcium Hardness: 125
TA: 60
CYA: <10? Filled the tube completely and could still see the dot crystal clear.

I'm familiar with how to SLAM the pool... but by the time we got things "handled" last year it seemed like our pH, TA, and CYA was never really "under our control...." just manageable... so I'm wondering what exactly i'm supposed to tackle first?

Thanks for any help you can provide! You guys are lifesavers, always!

Alexa

 

[mknauss]

Did this water have CYA in it before? If so, add 20 ppm worth via the sock method.
Once that is dissolving, lower your pH to 7.2.
Then SLAM Process. Assume you have 30 ppm CYA in the water. Once the CYA is fully dissolved from the sock, wait 24 hours and test the level. Add more if needed to get to 30 ppm.
Brush, test, add chlorine. Every couple hours to start if you can.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I would first put some liquid chlorine in there, say 5ppm. And immediately after I would be adding CYA to take the level to 30ppm.

Either granular or liquid. If granular, pour it into an intact sock or stocking leg and place in the skimmer. Don't let it impede the water flow though! Keep your pump running until it is all dissolved, squeezing the sock now and then to speed up the process.

Then you need to start your SLAM--> SLAM Process

Otherwise your TA and CH is fine.

Keep your filter and pump on, and brush daily. Keep an eye on your filter pressure.

Maddie

 

[amfrench]

Did this water have CYA in it before? If so, add 20 ppm worth via the sock method.

Yes, it did!

Our CYA was actually on the high (max) end all last year up until closing due to our foolishness in the beginning. We got A LOT of additional water throughout the winter/spring.

Will do guys... thanks for your help!

Alexa

 

[mknauss]

OK -- do me a favor. Before adding any CYA, add enough chlorine to get to 10 ppm FC. Circulate pool for 15 minutes and test FC and CC. Post up the results here.

 

[amfrench]

OK -- do me a favor. Before adding any CYA, add enough chlorine to get to 10 ppm FC. Circulate pool for 15 minutes and test FC and CC. Post up the results here.

Okay...

FC: 4.5
CC: 1

Keep going with the chlorine until it doesn't drop below 5? Go for the CYA next?
Thanks in advance =)

 

[mknauss]

Keep going with the chlorine until it doesn't drop below 5? Go for the CYA next?

Keep doing it. You may have a bit of ammonia.

 

[amfrench]

Keep doing it. You may have a bit of ammonia.

Okay... needing to go back to the store for more.

I feel like I saw this on another post... is this where we keep repeating and retesting every 15 minutes? At what point would I "stop" this and try to adjust CYA again? Above 5?

Sorry if that's a stupid question...

 

[mknauss]

You are right. You keep repeating until you test the FC at above 5. The CC was not that high so it may or may not be ammonia. But better to be sure before you add CYA - which is food for the bacteria that creates the ammonia.

 

[amfrench]

You're the BEST! Will post next time I have a change =) THANK YOU!

 

[amfrench]

OK -- do me a favor. Before adding any CYA, add enough chlorine to get to 10 ppm FC. Circulate pool for 15 minutes and test FC and CC. Post up the results here.

Happy Monday! This is where I'm currently at:

FC: 14.5
CC: 0
TA: 130? (turned purple) 140? (finally went fully pink/red)
pH: 7.5
CYA: no reading, but I can tell it has gone up because atleast this time the cylinder had some cloudiness when filled.

1. I know the FC is high... that is our bad-math, uncertainty, and belief that after doing things so wrong last year that "more is more" on the chlorine side of things. Our water is still somewhat cloudy, though blue.. is this why?
2. We did nothing to affect TA... but it has gone up quite a bit. Is this okay? Not sure why that would happen?
3. Put the sock in last night so I wasn't expecting much progress with the CYA, I squeezed it around a little bit but it's obviously still quite full. Happy to see the water somewhat cloudy in the cylinder when testing.

How am I doing? Where am I going wrong? I am thinking that I continue letting the sock do it's work and wait for FC to drop... is that correct? Something I'm missing?

As always, thank you for your help!
Alexa

 

[mknauss]

No need to test TA or pH. Both tests are effected by higher FC levels.

Maintain your FC at 12ppm. Once the CYA is fully dissolved from the sock, wait 24 hours and then test your CYA. No need to do it before that.

Brush, brush, brush. Check to see if your pool has a light. If it does, see if there is a single screw at the top of the ring around the light. Eventually you will want to remove that screw and get the light assembly out to clean the niche.