New Pool opening

[Fire]

Hello Everyone!

I was directed to this site regarding questions about pools. I hope someone here can help me out.

Last year we got an unground pool installed. It is a 16x30 in-ground vinyl pool. I have a sand filter, two speed pump, heater and aqua rite chlorine generator.
The pool was completed around Oct. 2018. The pool had the liner installed and was filled just below the returns last year. The returns and lights were just cut-in and installed today and the pool is currently being filled up to the skimmer with water. I haven't put anything else into the water. After removing the winter cover (clip-in tarp) the water was relatively clear. There is some dirt at the bottom of the pool as well as along the pool walls. My question to you here is how do I go about opening the pool for the first time?
Do I put the recommend amount of pool salt in and run the filter for 24 hours prior to starting up the chlorine generator? Do I need to shock the pool first? I'm really at a loss and any direction you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Texas Splash]

I'm going to give you a few items to review to help get you started:

Opening your pool- An easy to follow guide

Opening your pool can be stressful. This Pool Start Up guide teaches everything from start-up chemicals, covers, and more for your start up.

www.troublefreepool.com

FC/CYA Levels

What Are My Ideal Pool Levels?

Use our tool to find ideal chemical levels for any swimming pool. Check TFP recommended levels on pH, free chlorine, cyanuric acid, and more.

www.troublefreepool.com

Water Balance for SWGs

Saltwater pools are becoming more and more popular. We discuss How salt generators work and water balance tips for SWGs to run them.

www.troublefreepool.com

Remember, new water has no CYA (stabilizer) in it to protect the free chlorine, so you'll need some. We advocate a minimum CYA of 70, but in your area if it's still cold you may do fine with something a lttle lower at first. You can always add more later. Add the required amount of salt to let it start disolving for at least 24 hrs before turning on thw SWG. Until then, manually add chlorine (regular bleach) to keep some FC in the water.

Whether you need to perform a true SLAM Process is unclear at this point if you don't actually see algae or have cloudy water. You can post a full set of test results and we can help you with that as well. Go over all of this and let us know what questions you have from there.