New filled vinly pool, no equipment installed, what to do with water

[mcba2020]

Hi everyone! First time poster and first time pool owner.

My PB filled pool today (trucked city water) so the kids would be able to swim this weekend as our build is taking longer than expected to complete and they wanted to get the kids in the water. I have no equipment on site (no pump, no filter, no salter, and no heater) and I'm not expecting it to be installed until Monday at the earliest. My next issue is I'm not sure if my electrician will be available right away so the pool might be sitting filled for 5 days or more.

My question is what can I do to ensure that my water remains safe and ok to swim in over this period of time with no filtration or circulation. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[AK-]

Did you (or your PB) add any chemicals?
Do you have a test kit (Test Kits Compared)

You are going to need 40ppm of CYA (stabilizer) and 5ppm of LC in that water. Since you have no pump you will need to use something else to stir the water and don’t let any chemicals sitting on the bottom. Use PoolMath to calculate the stabilizer and the LC for your pool.

As for the LC once you got the stabilizer in the water add an initial 8 ppm worth of LC plus 5ppm every following day at least until you can properly test your water. The objective is to be at or above the target FC for 40 CYA, but below SLAM (see Chlorine / CYA Chart - Trouble Free Pool). That will keep your water sanitary. Remember to stir the water well to mix the chlorine.

Once you get a test kit you will need to adjust pH and know where you CH and TA are.

 

[mcba2020]

PB did not add any chemicals. I do have the TF Pro test kit. What would you recommend to stir /circulate water. Would my robot cleaner move enough water around to stir chemicals? Could I get away with just adding liquid chlorine until equipment is up and running?

 

[AK-]

Depending on the robot it might do the job. My little Dolphin would certainly do.
Yeah, dissolving the stabilizer without a running pump is going to be a challenge….

The issue with going with just chlorine is at first sunlight it will burn it all and you may start getting some cloudiness and nothing your kids leave in the water will be sanitized until you add more chlorine. You could add about 3ppm (no more than 4ppm) worth of LC after sunset to kill anything growing in the water, but no guarantees.

 

[Texas Splash]

the pool might be sitting filled for 5 days or more.

Welcome to TFP! Well, you sure do like to present us with a challenge. So here is the TFP answer ..... You need water moving. It's that simple. Not only for accurate testing, but to mix the chemicals and not damage the new liner.

Me personally, I would let them jump in for a few minutes (couple cannonballs) then let them now it's off limits until everything can be taken care of properly. Just a few minutes to get it out of their system.

With any new fill, you have 3 critical levels to consider: CYA (stabilizer), FC (Free Chlorine), and pH, but you can't really manage those right now. Again, any of those need water movement to test and dose. Do you have a portable, submersible pump to move water? If so, you might consider using that to mix some liquid chlorine around just to try and prevent algae. If not, then each day you may want to consider adding about 2-3 ppm of free chlorine for sanitation. Liquid chlorine or regular bleach for now. Again, you don't want it to settle on the liner, so use s submersible pump or brush it around really well. I wouldn't mess with stabilizer of muriatic acid right now without good water circulation. You don't want either of those hitting the liner.

Congrats on the new pool!

 

[mcba2020]

I have a Pentair Warrior SE so I think it should work ok to move water around.
I'll drop some chlorine in tonight and use a submersible pump to move the water. Thanks for the valuable info.

 

[Newdude]

I'll drop some chlorine in tonight and use a submersible pump to move the water. Thanks for the valuable info.

Make sure to brush because chlorine is heavier than water. It will sink to the bottom and puddle up with no return jet to disperse it as you pour. Once the pool is operational it is still always a good idea to brush will anytime you add chlorine or MA.