Freshly filled pool

[Shanon]

Hi everyone. We are like many others, trying to beat the NC heat by cooling off in a pool. We just finished filling the pool yesterday with our well water. I thought for sure with the high temps it would be green before it was done filling, surprisingly it hasn't, but I know it will happen if I don't get my chemicals in it asap. I do not have a very good testing kit yet only one from Walmart that doesn't test for some things. So far this is what my test is reading....

chlorine-0
Ph-6.8
TA-30
TH-40
And with the CYA the dot never disappeared
So, this is my starting point & I find the whole thing very overwhelming. (the abbreviations are hard to get used to)
I was playing around with the pool calculator but I'm not sure if it's coming out right since I don't have test results to put in for everything but this is what I got
63oz bleach
34oz borax
125oz baking soda
Can someone please tell me if this is right? TIA

 

[KarenNJ]

while your waiting for a recommended test kit I would just worry about getting stabilizer and chlorine in.

 

[Topher55]

What Karen said, use pool math to get up to 30ppm cya and around 5ppm FC (free chlorine) using bleach/liquid chlorine. Your current test kit should be able to read up to five ppm FC, so test and dose accordingly everyday to keep it at 5.

When your good test kit comes in you can tune the other levels

 

[BattleOfYakima]

Welcome to TFP! Take a deep breath! We got you now!

Let's go a little more conservative on the baking soda and only add 2.5 to 3lbs and see how that brings up TA and PH as well. Any brand is fine.
Hold off on the borax, I believe we can get away without it.

You will need bleach. Since well water has no CYA in it, you need that too.
I love the HTH stabilizer (90-100% CYA) available at walmart for well under $20 for 4lbs. You need to add 2lbs or so now, and will top it off every few months with a partial pound. Hardware stores and pool stores sell stabilizers too, various sizes and prices. Any 90-100% cya will do the job.

As for bleach - until you add CYA/stabilizer, just add 22-34oz of 8.25% bleach each day to provide a best guess sanitation. If you see any green tint to the water, increase daily bleach dose to 45oz a day until clear, then back down.

When ready to test kit it up, TF-100 is a great option. TF-50 can be too if you've already got a PH test and are on a budget.

 

[Shanon]

Thank you for the help. How long should I wait after adding should I test again?

 

[AftonJeeper]

30 minutes with the pump running should be long enough.

 

[Shanon]

Thanks for the quick reply

 

[Topher55]

The chlorine after 30 minutes. Cya can take several days to dissolve and register on a test. So for cya use poolmath to calculate and add the amount. Then use that amount to set the FC target even if it doesn't register on the test right away.