New Pool - First Filter Clean and Chemical Questions

[The-Russ]

Water Chemistry
I have a new inground pebbelTec / Chlorine pool. It was filled in November but we have not been able to use it because of a Gas meter shortage in my area. Because no one can use it, my focus has been keeping the PH/AK balanced. I also wanted to ensure I had a calcium so I added that at a couple weeks after it was filled, that currently sits around 240. Occasionally, I have done is 3x, I add a couple pounds of Dichlor shock to keep the water clear. Warm days are coming (Im in the Atlanta GA area, so I need to start thinking about maintaining Chlorine. I have very low CYA. 10-13 PPM. I don't want to deal with High CYA so I have been hesitant to add stabilizer and have been adding the dichlor shock to slowly raise it. How should I go about raising CYA, what should I raise it to. should I get some tabs and use my inline chlorinator.

Cartridge Filters
When my filter cartridges were new, the pressure was 20psi. It got up to 30 so I cleaned them over the weekend. I thought I did a good job, they looked white again. When I put them back and started the system, the PSI was 28. only a -2psi change. Not sure why... Not sure if this is normal.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

I can't speak of your Calcium Hardness since you have a pebbletec pool, try downloading the pool math app put in that you have a plaster pool and see what it suggests for the target. I'm sure that others will come by and help out. I believe you need to have you hardness at a certain level due to the pebbletec vs vinyl; what that is IDK.

It appears that you are using O3 and UV for your secondary disinfectant? What are your plans for using chlorine - liquid, dry, SWG? Don't use pucks, they are trichlor and add CYA and have a very low PH. Dichlor is more neutral PH but it does add CYA as you have said and Cal Hypo will add calcium. Typically you want CYA to be above 30 to around 60. Dichlor will add chlorine and stabilizer but I would imagine being in GA assuming you have bright sun lit days your chlorine isn't lasting too long with only 13 PPM CYA. If you can for now I would add chlorine to the pool once the sun is off of it so it is being used up by whatever is in the water vs sunlight. People use a sock in front of the return or in the filter basket filled with stabilizer crystals to get it into the pool. I didn't do it that way but everyone says it works. Once you hit at least 30 PPM then you can add chlorine whenever. Most people are using liquid chlorine and/or a Salt Water Generator.

I only have experience with cartridge filters from my hot tub and you really need to clean them extremely well, once you think their clean, clean them again! I used filter cleaner sometimes and usually bleach to clean them out and then rinse them off a few times. Hot tub filters are small so I would also put them in a bucket and physically push them in and pull them out of the water to get them clean. I used to have a DE filter with grids and really hit the grids with the hose to clean them.

I see your using a Lamotte test kit, I know the name and believe they are similar to Taylor in their accuracy. The experts here will want all the particulars of testing your water - Free Chlorine (FC), Combined Chlorine (CC), pH, Total Alkalinity (TA) Calcium Hardness (CA) (you did provide this) and CYA (you provided this as well).

 

[Texas Splash]

Russ, welcome to TFP! Sounds like you may have an algae issue going on already. Has the water turned green or cloudy already? If that's the case, your filter pressure will increase rapidly. Even if the water appears somewhat clear, it may be excessive organics. If you have any doubt, performing an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test is a great way to confirm.

Your cart filter should be fine as long as you haven't added a floc or clarifier to the water.

All of our recommended levels, chemicals, and more can be found on our Pool Care Basics page. Take a look there to see what I mean. There you'll find the FC/CYA Levels which is key to preventing algae.

It is true we recommend either a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C testing for their accuracy and reliability. You may wish to consider one of those for this season. But checkout those links and we'll follow up with more assistance.

 

[The-Russ]

VinnyinNJ​

The Ozone and UV are not intended to be my primary sanitizer. It is just something that came with the pool. My plans for chlorine are liquid chlorine once I get my CYA levels up. Right now I am using Dichlor shock powder and you are right, my Chlorine does not last long.

Texas Splash​

My water does occasionally get cloudy, but I add in some Muriatic Acid and it gets clearer. It has never had a tint of green. It is not pristine, but I have not cared since I cannot use it. I have a lot of trees in my area and they have been dropping Crud in the pool all winter. This spring was brutal with the helecopter seed. I would clean the surface, clean the skimmer and a few hours later the skimmer would be full. Leslie tested my water and it had a TDS of near 500.

How much chlorine should I add to do the overnight test? I use the 1lbs Dichlor shock stuff from Leslie pool until my CYA gets up. Can I add too much? I do have dogs that like to get in the pool so I need to be a little sensitive to them.

Should I add stabilizer to get CYA up or just do it slowly like I am?

 

[Texas Splash]

Should I add stabilizer to get CYA up or just do it slowly like I am?

It's getting warm. You need a CYA of at least 30 now. If needed, I would add the required amount of stabilizer to get it there.

How much chlorine should I add to do the overnight test?

As you prepare for the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test, I would increase the FC to about 6-7 ppm. Double-check the FC reading before going to bed to ensure you have an accurate FC level. This is where the FAS-DPD portion of the TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C test kits excel - accuracy. But you need a strong starting FC in case it should fall excessively overnight.

Leslie tested my water and it had a TDS of near 500.

Keep in mind here at TFP TDS is pretty-much irrelevant. If your water is always balanced according to the FC/CYA Levels that's all that matters for sanitation and algae control.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Texas Splash has a lot more experience than I do so follow his lead! For every PPM of chlorine from Dichor you are adding approximately 1 PPM CYA. I would get some stabilizer put it into a sock or socks and put it into the skimmer basket(s). The pool math app can help with that as well, shoot for 30 or 40 PPM CYA.

You can shock with Dichlor at this point as you have low stabilizer levels but once you get to 30 or so you should stop. And please start testing your own water, after a few times it gets really easy. At this point I would say to trust the Lamotte unless things are out of whack. Everyone here uses Taylor chemicals but theoretically as long as the kit is accurate it doesn't matter which brand it is.

 

[The-Russ]

once I get my CYA level correct, what do you use to shock a pool?

 

[Texas Splash]

once I get my CYA level correct, what do you use to shock a pool?

If you fail the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test, thereby requiring a SLAM Process, we advise using liquid chlorine. It's easier to dose and predict what your FC level should be during the SLAM process. Aside from a
SLAM Process to kill algae, we don't need to "shock" a pool periodically like you might here at the pool store.

 

[The-Russ]

Ok, based off your posts, I will start working on raising my CYA to start getting the pool ready to swim.

Today I will do the following, let me know if this is correct:

• Test my water
• Adjust my PH to 7.2
• Add 1/2 of gallon of Liquid Stabilizer. (Pool Math says I need 1 gal to get to 40)
• This evening, I will also add 2 lbs of Dichlor and test chlorine levels 30 min after adding it.
• Tomorrow AM, test Chlorine levels and see how much of a change there is.

Do I let the pump run all night?

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Ok, based off your posts, I will start working on raising my CYA to start getting the pool ready to swim.

Today I will do the following, let me know if this is correct:

• Test my water
• Adjust my PH to 7.2
• Add 1/2 of gallon of Liquid Stabilizer. (Pool Math says I need 1 gal to get to 40)
• This evening, I will also add 2 lbs of Dichlor and test chlorine levels 30 min after adding it.
• Tomorrow AM, test Chlorine levels and see how much of a change there is.

Do I let the pump run all night?

You don't need the pH to be at 7.2 just in the mid 7's. (7 2 to 7.6 is OK) How much will the 1/2 gallon give you in CYA.?How much will 2 lbs of dichlor give you in terms of chlorine and CYA? (Should be about the same). As long as it will be around 30 to 40 in stabilizer that's great.

Yes leave the pump on, test tonight like you said and test water before the sun hits it if you can in the morning.

 

[The-Russ]

My CYA currently sits around 13ppm. When I added Diclor in the past it added somewhere around 2.5ppm

I have 4lbs of Dichlor and 1 gal of Stabilizer

The calculator says:

• 1lb of dichlor will add 2.7 (on Par with my experience)
  • 10.8 of CYA (in 4lbs), if I add it all I'll be around 23-25
• 1 Gal of stabilizer will add 16ppm

So I have a total of 27ppm. If I add it all, it will get me somewhere in the low 40s. I am going to add slowly and see how it goes. I don't know how much CYA I need.

My plan is to add 1/2 of everything. Test Chlorine tonight and in the AM. I will test CYA in a couple days?

Does that sound like a plan?

 

[The-Russ]

Tested water. Ph at 7.9 Ak100. This is common, every few days ph gets to 8.0. I think cuz it’s a new pool (4 months) and the concrete is curing.

FC & TC .16
CH 259
CYA 17

The CYA number makes sense since I added 2lbs of dichlor a couple weeks ago.

Should I wait to add liquid stabilizer. 17CYA + 5ppm+ dichlor =22-24

Possible add Dichlor tomorrow (cya will increase again) depending on results of FC test tomorrow AM.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

It looks like if you have 17 CYA + 1/2 a bottle is another 8 then the dichlor that would be 17+8+ 5 = 30 which is the minimum. With the pH being close to 8, yes drop the pH somewhat. Make sure you turn off the O3 as it could eat chlorine, not sure if UV does anything to chlorine (thinking no but IDK)

 

[mknauss]

Both UV and O3 eat chlorine.

Do remember the Lamotte test kit has limitations. And the test result numbers it is giving may implicitly be very accurate, but they are not, they have more variability than a Taylor drop test.

 

[The-Russ]

I hear you on the test kit limitations. It’s all I got right now.

I tested PH, FC, TC

PH 72
FC 3.56
TC 3.56

I’ll test again in the AM

 

[The-Russ]

AM Test

• FC 2.31
• TC 2.31
• PH 7.4

So obviously there are some things the chlorine is destroying. What are the next steps? I did not add the stabilizer yet.

 

[Texas Splash]

What are the next steps? I did not add the stabilizer yet.

The SLAM Process.

Might be a bit challenging without accurate FAS-DPD testing, but the SLAM (until you pass all3 criteria) is what you need to do at this stage, If your stabilizer is below 30, be sure to add enough to have a good CYA of 30. Lower the pH to about 7.2, then increase (and maintain) the FC at 12.

 

[The-Russ]

Tested water added dichlor

At end of day
FC/TC 2.31 AM test to 2.1 after sun…

Added dichlor

PM Reading
5.12

I also filled up new chairs with water and put them in pool…. Can’t post a pic cuz my phone takes them too large.

 

[The-Russ]

Filled these chairs with water.

 

[Newdude]

Ignore TC entirely. 1+6 =7 and 6+1 =7 tell two COMPLETELY different stories. The 'answer' of 7 is meaningless. The components are everything.

And round your tests to the nearest tenth. The hundredths place is kinda silly, like .02 could ever possibly matter. Heck, we only reccomend testing to .5 of a ppm, although the Taylor kits can do .2. It's what Marty was alluding to above where Lamotte (and the pool stores) are more concerned with looking extremely accurate than actually being accurate.