We just had our liner replaced about a month ago. Fresh water delivered, and pool winterized by the pool store folks 2 days later. In speaking with the owner of the store, I had asked about the importance of getting the water chemistry balanced prior to winterization, and he said really the pH was the most important thing, as if the new water is acidic it would be bad for the new liner having the acidic water sitting in there all winter. When the pool guys came to winterize, I was not home. When I tested the water (via test strip) that night after they winterized, the pH was showing 6.2. I emailed the owner, and he apologized saying they forgot to add the pH increaser when they closed, so they would swing back by to do that. Again, I was not home when that happened, but a couple weeks later now I get the invoice - they added 20 lbs of alkalinity increaser according to the invoice. So I test the water again... chlorine 0, pH 6.2, TA 40, CYA 0.
My question for the group, as I am a relatively new pool owner and this is the first time I have been involved in the winterization of the pool - is... SHOULD I have gotten the chemistry levels fully balanced before closing? Is it strange that they would winterize using a typical process even though there is no stabilizer to "hold" the chlorine levels for very long? The water level is drained below the skimmer/jets, so I can't circulate chemicals effectively at this point. What is my best bet to hopefully ensure that I don't open an acidic swamp in the Spring?
They charged $50 for 20 lbs of baking soda already, so I'm leaning toward trying to correct these issues myself...
My tentative plan at the moment is to get the pH up to 7.6 using soda ash, then re-check TA and adjust as needed using baking soda/muriatic acid until levels are 50-90. Considering adding liquid conditioner (since I can't circulate dry stabilizer) to get the CYA to the low-end level of 30-40, and then liquid chlorine to get the sanitizer levels up to 8-10ppm, and re-cover with our mesh winter cover.
Thoughts on my plan, or where am I going wrong?
My question for the group, as I am a relatively new pool owner and this is the first time I have been involved in the winterization of the pool - is... SHOULD I have gotten the chemistry levels fully balanced before closing? Is it strange that they would winterize using a typical process even though there is no stabilizer to "hold" the chlorine levels for very long? The water level is drained below the skimmer/jets, so I can't circulate chemicals effectively at this point. What is my best bet to hopefully ensure that I don't open an acidic swamp in the Spring?
They charged $50 for 20 lbs of baking soda already, so I'm leaning toward trying to correct these issues myself...
My tentative plan at the moment is to get the pH up to 7.6 using soda ash, then re-check TA and adjust as needed using baking soda/muriatic acid until levels are 50-90. Considering adding liquid conditioner (since I can't circulate dry stabilizer) to get the CYA to the low-end level of 30-40, and then liquid chlorine to get the sanitizer levels up to 8-10ppm, and re-cover with our mesh winter cover.
Thoughts on my plan, or where am I going wrong?
