How much of each chemical to buy to start out?

[JenniferMarie90]

Hi all. We are a month behind with our pool build BUT its just about done, so pretty soon the scary part starts - me maintain our chemistry. I have a 13,000 gallon salt water pool in LV, NV. I am curious how much of each chemical I need to buy? Borax, baking soda, muriatic acid, CYA, etc. I went to Leslie's for the first time to get the CYA and was so overwhelmed I left empty-handed! I'm just not sure how many boxes/pounds of each I should purchase to start. I do have my TF100 kit and pool math app ready to go. Any advice so I can go back to Leslie's and Lowes and not ask for help lol

 

[mknauss]

You will not need any borax or baking soda. Low pH and TA is not an issue in our area.

You will need muriatic acid (Home Depot, possibly Leslies - I have never been in one), CYA (Home Depot, Walmart) and liquid chlorine (Home Depot, Walmart). You will have to wait 30 days for salt.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Here's a tip that will make things a bit easier to manage once the pool is filled. You'll want an accurate estimate of the volume of your pool. When they're ready to fill, take a reading of your water meter (a photo is best). Limit water use during the fill. When done, take another reading/photo of the water meter. You'll be able to figure out the volume of the pool in gallons after converting the units shown on the meter. This will help with accurate chemical additions.

Assuming 14,000 gallons, figure using up to 1/2 gallon of 10% chlorine per day until your SWG is running.

Have about 10 pounds of chlorine stabilizer (100% cyanuric acid CYA) on hand. You won't use it all, but you'll need about 8 pounds to get you in the 70 ppm range.

Buy a case (4-pack) of gallon muriatic acid (31.45%). That will get you through a few weeks.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

and...keep an accurate list of the chemicals the pool builder puts into the pool (if any), particularly CYA.