Help please, new salt water pool, first time testing

[..kimi..]

Our pool is about 31 days old now and pool school is complete and was maintained by the contracted service company for 3 weeks.

We tested the water with the Taylor K-2006 kit for the first time today. I used the TFP app and watch some you tube videos to learn how to accurately measure it. I’m trying to understand what I need to do to balance the chemicals now. I tried reading all the beginner tutorials on here but it’s information overload. I tend to learn better by doing so I’m turning to this forum to help me validate my next steps.
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Test Results 04-11-2022 @ 02:45 PM
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Free Chlorine: 0.0
Combined Chlorine: 0.0
pH: 7.6
Total Alkalinity: 40
Calcium Hardness: 370
CYA: 35
Temperature: 73°F
CSI: -0.41

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Build Type: Plaster
Volume: 14730 gallons
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Latest Test Result Summary:
FC: 0.0 (an hour ago)
CC: 0.0 (an hour ago)
pH: 7.6 (an hour ago)
TA: 40 (an hour ago)
CH: 370 (an hour ago)
CYA: 35 (an hour ago)
TEMPERATURE: 73° (an hour ago)
CSI: -0.41 (an hour ago)
==========================================

My biggest concern is the chlorine, it doesn’t appear to be any when I tested. Using the app, it recommends the following:

FC: 92oz or 3 quarts of bleach at 6%
TA: 104oz or 6 lbs, 8oz of baking soda
CYA: 79 oz or 4lbs, 15 oz of dry stabilizer

Note: Salt hasn’t been added to my pool yet and PB said they will do that at 6 weeks.

When I tested for FC, it did not turn pink, so my CC didn’t really result in anything. I assume my first priority is to get chlorine in my pool. Next would be to add the baking soda and stabilizer.

Question: can I perform all this at once or do I need to wait in between steps?

As soon as I get confirmation I’m approaching this right, I’m going to head out to buy the chemicals needed to balance our pool. Thanks for your help!

 

[Flying Tivo]

Just concentrate on FC and PH. The rest give it some time and the pool will settle. Chlorine ASAP(liquid). Do not add CYA until you are ready to run your SWG.

 

[Jimrahbe]

kimi,

If you have no salt, then you don't (yet) have a saltwater pool..

For now, do nothing but get some chlorine in your pool. You need to get about 5 ppm of FC .

Don't add any baking soda or CYA. Don't add anything else yet.

Never use dry acid!!!

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[..kimi..]

I added the chlorine in as suggested. How long do I wait before testing the water again?

 

[Jimrahbe]

kimi

About 30 minutes to an hour with the pump running.

Jim R.

 

[..kimi..]

I just retested my pool chemistry with the following results:

FC: 4.4 ppm
PH: 8.0
TA: 50

I did not proceed with any other test. Any suggestions on whether I need to add more chlorine or test calcium and CYA?

 

[Jimrahbe]

kimi,

If your CYA is 30 to 40, I'd just leave it alone for now.

Check your FC tomorrow and see if you need to add more chlorine. Most pools use 2 to 4 ppm of FC per day.

See this chart. FC/CYA Levels

I'd try to keep in between 5 and 7 ppm.

When are they adding the salt and turning on the cell??

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[..kimi..]

Thanks Jim. I’ll retest tomorrow and see if additional chlorine is needed. Is it typical to add chlorine daily to maintain that ppm?

I’m waiting on the PB to confirm when they will add salt and turn it on. I’m hoping in 1-2 weeks.

 

[Jimrahbe]

kimi,

If you manually add liquid chlorine you have to do it almost every day.

That is the whole point of having a SWCG. It just automatically generates the chlorine for the pool each day.

Easy Peasy..

Jim R.

 

[..kimi..]

Retested my water again today and I lost about 3ppm in FC. I plan to add in liquid chlorine again to get it to 6-7ppm base on the chart on where my CYA is at. My CYA is reading about 32ppm right now. PH is still at about 8.0 but since it’s a new pool with plaster, I don’t think I have to be concern about it yet right?

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Test Results 04-12-2022 @ 05:45 PM
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Free Chlorine: 1.4
Combined Chlorine: 0.0
pH: 8.0
Total Alkalinity: 40
Calcium Hardness: 350
CYA: 32
Temperature: 74°F
CSI: -0.01