in-Ground Pool Refilling

[Moi]

I recently emptied my in-ground pool completely and am ready to refill it. The pool is about 10K gallons with a diamond-brite surface which was redone about 6 years ago. We just got finished having all the concrete decking replaced with pavers and new coping. The work involved a lot of concrete cutting etc and resulting in a huge amount of dust and chips being created. Consequently a lot of it ended up in the pool which was to be expected. The pool was shut down before the work started. The pool was emptied and cleaned out after the work was completed.

I am now ready to refill it from our municipal water supply. Apart from refilling it, checking the pH and bringing the Chlorine level back to normal, is there any other advice that may be helpful in getting things back to normal. The DE filter was cleaned about a week before the pump was turned off.

Thanks in advance.

 

[PoolGate]

Here are general startup guidelines. Not all apply but following all would not hurt.

Start-up New Plaster

The first few months are the most criticle for a newly plastered pool. We're here to share best practices to ensure the plaster will last for many years.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[jblizzle]

Are you using one of the recommended test kits? Test Kits Compared

New fill will have 0 CYA, but you can test everything else and go from there.
Certainly will need to add CYA and chlorine, but that is all we know without test results.

 

[Moi]

I have a Taylor K-2005C which includes Chlorine FAS/DPD up to 10 ppm. I have not yet filled the pool but expect the first result to be 0 Chlorine and pH around 7. The water company do nothing else besides chlorinate. My kit served me well after that resurface job and there was more entailed with the chemistry after that refill.

 

[jblizzle]

The K-2005 does not have the FAS-DPD chlorine test that we almost require. It has a DPD pink color matching chlorine test that is just not good enough.
You need to add the K-1515 (or get the FAS-DPD test from tftestkits.net) and then you will have the equivalent of the K-2006 which is on the recommended list

 

[Moi]

The K-1515A from Amazon is cheap enough, free shipping too.

 

[jblizzle]

The K-1515A from Amazon is cheap enough, free shipping too.

Ok, but you are going to run out of R-0871 pretty quickly and need to order more.

 

[Moi]

Ok, but you are going to run out of R-0871 pretty quickly and need to order more.

What is the difference between R0871 and R-0871-A, C and E?

 

[jblizzle]

The letter indicates the amount of reagent you get

 

[Richard320]

What is the difference between R0871 and R-0871-A, C and E?

A + 3/4 oz. C = 2 oz. E=16 oz

 

[Moi]

I ordered a Taylor Kit and some extra R-0871.

OK, now what do I need to do the first day the pool is filled? Chlorine, pH and ??

 

[Moi]

A + 3/4 oz. C = 2 oz. E=16 oz

Thanks Richard. the kit with extra should be here by Friday. I will not be home from next Wednesday until end of June, so the pool, assuming it is full before I leave, will not get checked while I am away. The pool decking guys let me down, they should have been finished two weeks ago. Grrrrr....

 

[Richard320]

I ordered a Taylor Kit and some extra R-0871.

OK, now what do I need to do the first day the pool is filled? Chlorine, pH and ??

You can be reasonably sure the FC will be zero or close to it after being exposed to the sun with no CYA. CYA will be zero since it doesn't come in tap water. So you can add that immediately without testing. Save the reagents. Use the sock method described in Recommended Pool Chemicals - Trouble Free Pool for the CYA.

The rest will depend upon test results. You may need to lower pH or you might need to raise it but if it needs raising, maybe the TA is too low and it needs attention first. And if you need to raise CH, you don't want to do that while the pH is high or you'll see clouding. So wait for test results. And if the path doesn't look clear to you, post them and someone will be along to help.

 

[Moi]

I'll be analyzing my tap water tomorrow so we have a baseline starting point.

 

[Moi]

I'll be analyzing my tap water tomorrow so we have a baseline starting point.

While I waited for the pool to fill I took a sample of my municipal water supply to a pool company whom I trust, they don't try to sell you something as soon as you step in through the door. Here is what they came up with:
TC 7.5 ppm
FC 7.5 ppm
CC 0.0 ppm
pH 7.8
TA 120 ppm
CH 135 ppm
CYA 0 ppm
TDS 100 ppm

 

[jblizzle]

Great that they do not try to sell you stuff, but we generally do not trust any pool store testing. That chlorine level seems very high for tap water

 

[Richard320]

While I waited for the pool to fill I took a sample of my municipal water supply to a pool company whom I trust, they don't try to sell you something as soon as you step in through the door. Here is what they came up with:
TC 7.5 ppm
FC 7.5 ppm
CC 0.0 ppm
pH 7.8
TA 120 ppm
CH 135 ppm
CYA 0 ppm
TDS 100 ppm

How can you have 120 ppm alkalinity plus 135 Calcium hardness plus 7 ppm chlorine and yet they all add up to only 100 ppm? Something does not compute.

Tap water shouldn't be that high anyway. I think the EPA maximum for drinking water is 4.

I would just ignore this set of readings.

 

[Moi]

I have found by experience that their chlorine levels are always much higher than mine. The other readings are usually tolerably close to what my Taylor kit gives me and I always am careful with water quantities are drops of reagent and so on. 10 years ago I went to them once a week, but now it is a rare event. I'll test my tap water myself soon to compare.

I am not sure how you came up with 100 when you add 120+135+7 I am missing something?

 

[jblizzle]

TDs is total dissolved solids which is roughly the sum of other parameters like the CH and the cya and your salt level Etc

 

[Richard320]

I have found by experience that their chlorine levels are always much higher than mine. The other readings are usually tolerably close to what my Taylor kit gives me and I always am careful with water quantities are drops of reagent and so on. 10 years ago I went to them once a week, but now it is a rare event. I'll test my tap water myself soon to compare.

I am not sure how you came up with 100 when you add 120+135+7 I am missing something?

And I am not sure how they came up with 100, either. I was using your pool store's math.

You're missing that those numbers are impossible. At least the TDS number. It can't be less than the individual components. Even if there was nothing in that water but Calcium, it wouldn't work.
It is equivalent to saying
FC 5.0
CC 0.5
TC 3.0

No matter how you try to figure it, or even if you get the formula wrong, the numbers don't add up.
The only one I'd believe is that CYA = 0 because tap water has none in it.