New Pool - First Time with the Chemistry - Need a Review!

[Herkimer]

New pool, water was filled up last Sunday, pumps turned on Sep. 7th. I have added the following this week all based on the Pool Math app:
1. To lower the Ph - Muriatic Acid
2. Liquid chlorine - 12.5% solution
3. CYA - added two gallons

So testing this morning yielded:
FC - 1 ppm, added chlorine this morning to target of 4 - so far have added 1 gallon during the week to include this morning.
Ph - 7.5 - nothing added
TA - 80 - nothing added
CH - 200 - pool math says add 23 lbs of calcium chloride - is that right???
CYA - 55 - says add 2 quarts 5 oz, what should my target be as I don't want to get it to high..correct?
CSI - (-0.35)
Temp - 82 F

Salt - 0 - I will use my SWG, but from reading I should not start using it until 30 days and then add salt. btw, how do I test for salt ppm?
BOR - no tests, I have the TF-100, but don't see this test, other than the daily CL/Ph tester, is that the number I should use for this test?

So add the CYA and 23 lbs of Calcium Chloride?

Thanks from a newbie! Please be gentle!! hahah

 

[Mdragger88]

I would not add any more cya until u are ready to use the swg - for now u should follow the chlorine side of the FC/CYA Levels
@ a cya of 60 (u always round up to the next 10 as there are no inbetweens)
You should be targeting 7-9 ppm fc & it should never fall below 5 lest nasties will grow. So increase fc w/ liquid chlorine now.
Ph & ta are great
Keep an eye on ph as with new plaster it’s likely to rise & when it gets to 8 lower it w/ ma
For ch you may just want to increase to 250-300 ppm especially if you have high ch fill water as this # will rise over time.
You want to still keep a negative csi.
To test for salt in the future u need the Taylor k1766 salinity test
Bor - is borates. If you haven’t added any this is 0. There are test strips for this if u choose to add borates in the future.

 

[Herkimer]

I would not add any more cya until u are ready to use the swg - for now u should follow the chlorine side of the FC/CYA Levels
@ a cya of 60 (u always round up to the next 10 as there are no inbetweens)
You should be targeting 7-9 ppm fc & it should never fall below 5 lest nasties will grow. So increase fc w/ liquid chlorine now.
Ph & ta are great
Keep an eye on ph as with new plaster it’s likely to rise & when it gets to 8 lower it w/ ma
For ch you may just want to increase to 250-300 ppm especially if you have high ch fill water as this # will rise over time.
You want to still keep a negative csi.
To test for salt in the future u need the Taylor k1766 salinity test
Bor - is borates. If you haven’t added any this is 0. There are test strips for this if u choose to add borates in the future.

Thanks, just tested and FC is at 4.5, if using the chart I should be at 7-9 ppm, however pebbletec start up suggests 1 - 3 ppm for FC, so go with the 7-9 ppm of FC or?
For the CH, I am not 100% on my testing, my first was 125 (wed), then 250 (fri) and 200 this morning, so I think there is a learning curve with getting better with the testing. To get to 250, I would add just under 5 lbs, at 250 it is the upper recommendation from pebbletec. I think I will add half that and test again.

 

[TexEdmond]

Welcome to the forums! Imagine... A brand new pool started off with this method... it may NEVER see algae as long as you own the pool... That makes me happy in my soul.

For brand new pools with new plaster, there are some very careful days ahead of you as the new plaster cures. Have you gotten specific instructions from your pool builder on what to do? MDragger has you covered with the basics, just make sure you don't drop pH too far in these opening days while the plaster is still hardening. Let it naturally rise, with your TA at 80, it'll work its way up to 8.0 and drop it slightly. There's articles here covering what's safe and what's not for your pool surface when it's new.

Be careful with CYA, it basically never goes down without a partial drain / refill. I wouldn't make any additions at all until the day you're ready to install the SWG. With the fall coming on you might not need to change CYA at all for your SWG to get along just fine... looks like your profile pic shows a pretty shaded area. You've got a 40k salt cell on a 10k pool, so you're going to be running that thing at idle most all the time and probably won't need the extra CYA protection that some of us do with a smaller "Cell size to volume" ratio and more sunlight on the pool have. Here's a link to a spreadsheet too so you can get a little more visual idea about cell percentages and runtimes. With the pentair panel you'll be able to dial in the percentages very precisely. It's never a bad thing to have a little too much chlorine in the pool, but NEVER let the level get down to the minimum level per the FC/CYA Levels.

SWG Run Time Calculator

What is the SWG Run Time Calculator? A tool that is designed to answer the common question of "how long should I run my pump/SWG". It calculates the run time of your SWG and Pump based on your pool size, the output of your SWG and your daily FC PPM loss. It is designed as a starting point...

www.troublefreepool.com

It's always a good idea to at least know the TA and CH of your fill water. This will help you plan your season and give you very controllable, predictable results. Consider getting the paid version of the PoolMath app and you can link your tests and chem additions to your profile here so you don't have to type them in every time. We can just click on your profile and see what's up in your world, then can recommend a course of action with minimal questions.

Good on you for joining, enjoy the heck out of your pool for the rest of the season, and great job filling out your profile. You're gonna love it.

 

[Mdragger88]

I think it should be fine to be a ppm or so above minimum for your cya level- as the instructions also state only 20-30 ppm cya to go along with the lower fc. You really don’t want an algae bloom right now.

https://mmgtx.com/docs/PTI-Start-Up-Maintenance-Procedures-Chlorine.pdf

Let’s get some more opinions ….
@ajw22 & @mknauss

 

[mknauss]

Did your pool builder or plaster company dictate a start up plan? Seems like you have raised your CYA pretty high at this stage. Do keep some FC, but I would not go too high.

 

[ajw22]

Thanks, just tested and FC is at 4.5, if using the chart I should be at 7-9 ppm, however pebbletec start up suggests 1 - 3 ppm for FC, so go with the 7-9 ppm of FC or?

Follow the startup guide for the first 30 days then transition to TFP recommended levels. They want you to keep your FC low so you don’t bkeach the color from your new plaster.

For the CH, I am not 100% on my testing, my first was 125 (wed), then 250 (fri) and 200 this morning, so I think there is a learning curve with getting better with the testing. To get to 250, I would add just under 5 lbs, at 250 it is the upper recommendation from pebbletec. I think I will add half that and test again.

CH will rise a bit as the plaster cures. Add the 5 lbs and retest in a few days.

 

[Herkimer]

Welcome to the forums! Imagine... A brand new pool started off with this method... it may NEVER see algae as long as you own the pool... That makes me happy in my soul.

For brand new pools with new plaster, there are some very careful days ahead of you as the new plaster cures. Have you gotten specific instructions from your pool builder on what to do? MDragger has you covered with the basics, just make sure you don't drop pH too far in these opening days while the plaster is still hardening. Let it naturally rise, with your TA at 80, it'll work its way up to 8.0 and drop it slightly. There's articles here covering what's safe and what's not for your pool surface when it's new.

Be careful with CYA, it basically never goes down without a partial drain / refill. I wouldn't make any additions at all until the day you're ready to install the SWG. With the fall coming on you might not need to change CYA at all for your SWG to get along just fine... looks like your profile pic shows a pretty shaded area. You've got a 40k salt cell on a 10k pool, so you're going to be running that thing at idle most all the time and probably won't need the extra CYA protection that some of us do with a smaller "Cell size to volume" ratio and more sunlight on the pool have. Here's a link to a spreadsheet too so you can get a little more visual idea about cell percentages and runtimes. With the pentair panel you'll be able to dial in the percentages very precisely. It's never a bad thing to have a little too much chlorine in the pool, but NEVER let the level get down to the minimum level per the FC/CYA Levels.

SWG Run Time Calculator

What is the SWG Run Time Calculator? A tool that is designed to answer the common question of "how long should I run my pump/SWG". It calculates the run time of your SWG and Pump based on your pool size, the output of your SWG and your daily FC PPM loss. It is designed as a starting point...

www.troublefreepool.com

It's always a good idea to at least know the TA and CH of your fill water. This will help you plan your season and give you very controllable, predictable results. Consider getting the paid version of the PoolMath app and you can link your tests and chem additions to your profile here so you don't have to type them in every time. We can just click on your profile and see what's up in your world, then can recommend a course of action with minimal questions.

Good on you for joining, enjoy the heck out of your pool for the rest of the season, and great job filling out your profile. You're gonna love it.

Thanks for the spreadsheet and advice, I also had previously got the paid version of Pool Math and just found out how to link it to my profile. Lot's of rain coming to Houston in the next couple of days. I'll try and keep an eye on my chemistry as best I can.

 

[TexEdmond]

Pool math really helps with that too... Your pool looks mostly rectangular so it should be pretty simple to calculate how many gallons per inch when you drain in anticipation of coming rain... then you can have the FC, CYA, CH, whatever ready to go just as soon as you're back up. Some users here would kill for all that free fill water... HA!

A few things about rain: it's a huge source of aeration and you might see pH jump up quickly. Also, make sure you've got some circulation running. it's not uncommon for fresh water to float on top of the pool with no chlorine and undesirable biologics from surrounding trees, etc.