Need to know what to start with.

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UncleChimney

Member
Jun 11, 2020
20
SE Pa
Hi, I just put up a 24' x 52" Intex pool in my backyard in SE Pa and have been putting water in it for the last week or so from our well while I was tying up the trench, permit, wiring, etc. I have everything pretty much set up and I ordered a tf-100 kit to test my water, however it hasn't come in yet. I am totally clueless when it comes to pool, truthfully I'm not a fan of water at all, but the wife and kids won that one:). So i get to do all the work and I am tired of running around getting parts to get this pool up so I'd like to know if anyone has a list of all of the product that I need to get the pool safe to swim in and keep it from turning green:sick:. My plan was to just go to Wal-mart and hope they have everything that I'll need, but I honestly have no idea what chemicals I need besides chlorine, can some please recommend me a list of chemicals that I'll need so that I can just buy everything at once? Thank you!!

One more quick question. For the bonding wire how to I bond it to the pump, there doesn't seem to be a convenient place to bond it to?
 
Hi, welcome to TFP! You will want to get some bleach or liquid chlorine to keep on hand, and you will need some CYA or stabilizer to start with. Odds are Walmart will have everything. They sell Pool Essentials brand chlorinating liquid, and they should have stabilizer where they sell pool supplies. You will need enough stabilizer to reach 30 ppm. You may also want to consider a subscription to the PoolMath app that helps calculate chemical doses for the pool based on your test results. I would wait to buy anything else until you have a chance to test the water.
 
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Another quick question @zea3, I just received my tf-100 test kit and won't be able to get to the store for chemicals until after work. So would it be more beneficial for me to go buy chemicals right after work, put in chlorine tonight and test tomorrow or test the water right after work and get the results in order to get the right chemicals? My pool is starting to turn green already and this test kit looks intimidating:)
 
Personally, I would buy the liquid chlorine and stabilizer now because you will definitely need them. Buy as much liquid chlorine as you can because it isn't always easy to find these days.

Add enough stabilizer to bring your water to 30 ppm, although I would add half that amount to start with. Better to be conservative because CYA (the active chemical in stabilizer) can only be removed by draining water.

Also add enough chlorine to bring your FC up to at least 5 ppm.

You can use the Pool Math app to figure out how much to add. There's an "effect of adding" calculator in the app.

Test you water and report the results here. I would also test your tap water for pH, TA, and CH so that you know what you're adding to the pool during a refill.
 
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Add 5ppm liquid chlorine asap. Then worry about the rest this evening.
if your pump is an intex you don’t bond it.
Nor do u bond the pool as it is considered a temporary pool.
If it is a regular above ground pool pump it will have a bonding lug on it
 
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It does not come with a skimmer. I did buy one of the attachable ones though.

Looking at the bonding instructions on the permit it does say that if the pool motor is double insulated then I don't bond it to the motor but instead it needs to be connected to the pool pump motor receptacle. I imagine since there is no spot to ground the actual pump I'll just ground it back to the receptacle then?
 
Looking at the Pool Math app is it safe to assume that when you all are saying 30ppm that is the same as the "target" number in the app?

Also for the 5ppm liquid chlorine that means it is above the recommended level for now? It looks like the app recommends 1-4? I could be reading it totally wrong though. I have absolutely no knowledge of pools yet, I apologize!
 

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Personally, I don't rely on the target numbers in the app. I use the charts on this web site under the ABCs / Pool School section.

The Effect of Adding will estimate how much adding a given chemical will change your water parameter. It relies on you accurately inputting the water volume of your pool.

As for the FC being high, it's MUUUUUUCH better to be too high on chlorine than too low. There's really no consequence for high FC, as long as it's below the SLAM level. However, allowing your FC to drop low is a recipe for algae. That's why most folks here keep their FC level a little on the high side.
 
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Awesome, that makes sense with the chlorine levels! Going off of the numbers from the app, my pool is just below 12500 gallons so does it seem reasonable to you that I would add a gallon of bleach and a gallon of liquid stabilizer to get the base numbers up? After adding them do I turn the filter on for a bit? Do I wait until tomorrow to test or test shortly after adding chemicals?

Thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions!
 
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I would go by whatever the Pool Math app says to add 5 ppm of chlorine. A gallon is probably more than 5 ppm for your size pool, but I don’t see any harm in adding that much. For the CYA, I would be conservative and only add 20 ppm worth.

You can test for chlorine 30 minutes after adding, assuming the pump has been running to circulate the water. With stabilizer (CYA), I would run the test a day or two later. That takes a longer time make its way through for whatever reason.
 
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“Looking at the bonding instructions on the permit it does say that if the pool motor is double insulated then I don't bond it to the motor but instead it needs to be connected to the pool pump motor receptacle. I imagine since there is no spot to ground the actual pump I'll just ground it back to the receptacle then?”


Yes the double insulated pump motor is one of the only instances (exceptions) where bonding & equipment grounding conductors get connected to one another. Otherwise they are to remain separate. As the point of bonding the pool is for equal potential purposes - not grounding.
 
Dtkokay said:
I would go by whatever the Pool Math app says to add 5 ppm of chlorine. A gallon is probably more than 5 ppm for your size pool, but I don’t see any harm in adding that much. For the CYA, I would be conservative and only add 20 ppm worth.

You can test for chlorine 30 minutes after adding, assuming the pump has been running to circulate the water. With stabilizer (CYA), I would run the test a day or two later. That takes a longer time make its way through for whatever reason.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the response. I think the Pool Math app is telling me to add a gallon of each of those in order to get to 5ppm of chlorine and 30ppm CYA. I wasn't sure because the app just lists numbers and I'm assuming that these numbers are "ppm?"

Getting started in this stuff is overwhelming!!:unsure:
 
that’s alot of ch!
the ph & ta are 👍🏻
write those down so u know what your fill water is
We need to focus on
Fc & Cc
If u wish to begin the SLAM Process as you stated the water was starting to turn.
Just assume the amount of cya u added is in the water & use the FC/CYA Levels
To determine your slam level.
 
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