We had an above ground pool installed yesterday. (No signature with info for me yet- I'm on a mobile device and it won't let me add!). It's an aluminum frame 18'x48' round, appx. 7,000 gal, with a sand pump. After reading forums on here I've purchased the K-2006 test kit, however it won't arrive until next week. SO, my question is how should I add chemicals until then? I have a generic Chlorine/pH test kit that currently had no color change for Chlorine when I checked it this morning. I had added the shock amount of dissolved Chlorine powder yesterday (before finding this page!). Any advice on what to do until the test kit comes would be greatly appreciated!
New Pool- Chemical Help
- Thread starter Lizstar06
- Start date
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,289
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
Welcome to TFP! Good to have you here 
Start with 2 lbs of CYA (aka stabilizer, aka conditioner, aka cyanuric acid) which will stop the chlorine from being burned off by the sun. That will give you just a little over 30 ppm CYA.
Next add 1/2 gallon of 8.25% common household bleach (not splashless, not scented). And add another quart each day that goes buy until you have you kit. That should be enough to stop any algae from gaining a foothold.
How is the pH based on the kit you have?
Are you pretty comfortable with the overall TFPC system from reading pool school? If not just let us know and we can point to some links that are helpful.
Start with 2 lbs of CYA (aka stabilizer, aka conditioner, aka cyanuric acid) which will stop the chlorine from being burned off by the sun. That will give you just a little over 30 ppm CYA.
Next add 1/2 gallon of 8.25% common household bleach (not splashless, not scented). And add another quart each day that goes buy until you have you kit. That should be enough to stop any algae from gaining a foothold.
How is the pH based on the kit you have?
Are you pretty comfortable with the overall TFPC system from reading pool school? If not just let us know and we can point to some links that are helpful.
So far you haven't done anything disastrous.
Check the package of shock powder and tell us what it is. It'll most likely be Cal-hypo or dichlor. Knowing which and how much will help estimate how much CYA you added, so that you can then add the rest you need. You'll want about 40 ppm CYA, and tap water has none, so the only unknown is whether or not you added any with the powder.
Your little tester is good enough to check pH with, so do that and report back. We can figure out what you need to add if anything to correct that.
You'll need to add chlorine daily, at least 3 ppm, which is roughly a quart of plain 8.25% household bleach.
So test what you can and check the label and report back and we can walk you through this. It won't be perfect, but it will keep things clear until you get the test kit.
Check the package of shock powder and tell us what it is. It'll most likely be Cal-hypo or dichlor. Knowing which and how much will help estimate how much CYA you added, so that you can then add the rest you need. You'll want about 40 ppm CYA, and tap water has none, so the only unknown is whether or not you added any with the powder.
Your little tester is good enough to check pH with, so do that and report back. We can figure out what you need to add if anything to correct that.
You'll need to add chlorine daily, at least 3 ppm, which is roughly a quart of plain 8.25% household bleach.
So test what you can and check the label and report back and we can walk you through this. It won't be perfect, but it will keep things clear until you get the test kit.
The powder was calcium hypochlorite. I also added 1/2 gallon of bleach last night before going to work. My current test kit has drops that you add to a pool water sample and compare to the color guide. The pH *appears* to be around the 8.2 range. I'm assuming this means I'll need to add acid. The Chlorine appears to be around 3.0.
I've been reading quite a bit on the pool school pages and think I'll be able to handle this all with the proper test kit.
Thank you for the responses, I truly appreciate it!
I've been reading quite a bit on the pool school pages and think I'll be able to handle this all with the proper test kit.
Thank you for the responses, I truly appreciate it!
Excellent.
So you haven't added any CYA yet. That means the now is zero, so it's real easy to calculate how much to add using the sock method.
Without the CYA, expect all the FC to disappear. That's normal.
Not knowing the TA, the best you can do with pH is work it down by adding small amounts of acid every hour or so until the pH gets into range. A quart at a time, maybe. Your pH could be much higher than 8.2, so it might take several doses.
So you haven't added any CYA yet. That means the now is zero, so it's real easy to calculate how much to add using the sock method.
Without the CYA, expect all the FC to disappear. That's normal.
Not knowing the TA, the best you can do with pH is work it down by adding small amounts of acid every hour or so until the pH gets into range. A quart at a time, maybe. Your pH could be much higher than 8.2, so it might take several doses.
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