New Pool Owner - How much pool Chlorine is needed?

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dbdubb28

dbdubb28

0
Jun 8, 2016
97
Tampa
So our new AGP (14,000 Gal) is scheduled for installation at the end of this month. With the Chlorine shortage that I've been following, someone posted a Wal-Mart in my general area that has pool chlorine 10% on the shelf. I'm setup with Pool Math but without having any readings, I'm not able to calculate how much Chlorine I would need and was curious if anyone had a general idea of how many gallons (roughly) might be needed for my pool?
This is all new to me, so I'm completely clueless. Also I'm planning to have my water brought in via water truck to ensure good clean pool water.

I appreciate any advice!
Thanks.
 
Texas Splash said:
For the required FC level, compare to your current (accurate) CYA as noted on the FC/CYA Levels. Then enter your desried FC goal in the PoolMath tool.
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I appreciate your attempt to help me :) Unfortunately, I'm not well versed yet in what all these acronyms mean and how I go from a brand new clean fill up to a sparkling saltwater pool. Ill be investing more time to gain knowledge over the next few weeks, leading up to my installation date. For the time being, I'm trying to capitalize on buying Chlorine while it's still available in my area, but am clueless as to how much I'll really need to add. I'm not looking for accuracy, but simply a round about number so that I can buy the stock now and I wont find myself in a pinch once the build is complete.
 
I see you have a salt water generator... If you are going to use that to chlorinate regularly, you will likely target your CYA for 70 or so (that should be about 9 lbs or so of granule stabilizer or approx 2 2/3 gallons of the liquid CYA). For a CYA level of 70, your minimum FC would be 3, your target FC would be 5 and your slam value would be 28. You'll need enough liquid chlorine to get your FC up to your desired maintenance level until your SWG can kick in to maintain it.

On average, you will lose 2 - 3ppm of FC per day. If you stay on top of your chemistry and cleaning, you shouldn't really ever have to slam your pool.

To raise your FC by 1, it will take 18oz of 10% liq chlorine. Each gallon is 128oz. Maybe grab 4 - 5 bottles to get you through opening and then to also have a couple extra bottles on hand "just in case". If possible, store them in a cool, dark place and it will help preserve their strength until you need them. Hope that helps!
 
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If you're close to a Home Depot, check out HDX chlorinating liquid. In my area it is currently $9.98 for a 3 pack of 128 fl oz, 10% chlorine. The numerical day of the year it was made is on the exterior of the box. I preferred it to the pool essentials sold at wal-mart. I too have gone SWG, so my need has hopefully drop :)
 
dbdubb, I know exactly how you feel. When I got my new pool last November, the pool builder ran me thru the equipment, but didnt explain the chemistry. I fortunately found this forum, and started asking questions. I was JUST LIKE YOU. I didnt even know what questions to ask, didnt even know what all the acronyms meant either. I was soooo lost. These amazing people helped and helped and helped. Can I recommend that you start with reading ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry - Trouble Free Pool . Its the absolute basics you need to know. You may not understand all of it first time thru, it took me a week before it sunk in for me, but you'll get it. If you dont understand, ask. Theres more brain power here than at NASA. And they are willing to help.
 
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Thank you all very much, I appreciate all of the help and suggestions. For now, I'll see if I can secure 4-5 gallons of 10% Chlorine to get me through opening. I look forward to furthering my knowledge and hopefully helping others one day... :)
 
carnivalday said:
dbdubb, I know exactly how you feel. When I got my new pool last November, the pool builder ran me thru the equipment, but didnt explain the chemistry. I fortunately found this forum, and started asking questions. I was JUST LIKE YOU. I didnt even know what questions to ask, didnt even know what all the acronyms meant either. I was soooo lost. These amazing people helped and helped and helped. Can I recommend that you start with reading ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry - Trouble Free Pool . Its the absolute basics you need to know. You may not understand all of it first time thru, it took me a week before it sunk in for me, but you'll get it. If you dont understand, ask. Theres more brain power here than at NASA. And they are willing to help.
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I appreciate this and am going back through the ABC's again, as it's starting to make more and more sense.... Kinda.
Let me ask you, when you did your initial fill, did you wait for the fillup, then start testing and begin adding all of these things (Chlorine, Salt, CYA)? Then is it a "let the pump run for a cycle and test again" kinda thing? That seems like the only logical way to really do it, right? My kids will want to swim right away and I want to set a realistic expectation with them. Was this a week long process for you to get the pool up to safe levels?
 
When my pool was finished, it was November, so I had no concerns about swimming, but I did have concerns about the chemicals. The pool builder added the salt, and Im thinking they must have added chlorine, or they just relied on the SWG to produce chlorine, since it was in winter. Those few weeks were kind of a blur, as I was learning so much. I found that adding the chemicals and testing was a very quick process. I wish I could remember where my FC (free chlorine) started at; Ill have to check my older posts and see if I posted that. I was doing a lot of whining and moaning when starting out, since I didnt know a thing. Just make sure you have your test kit in hand when you are filled up. I think you'll be surprised how quickly you can get your results, and how quickly you can get it "swimmable".
 
Just for fun, you might want to read my panicky "OMG I did it" thread. Should make you feel better, seeing how clueless I was. omg I did it. In fact you might want to check out all my threads. There is so much incredible information in them that I should put it together in a book. Great info from the greatest people.
 

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Hey DB,
Set the expectation of a day or two after filling (could change based on water temp - everyone's threshold below 78 is different), maybe a week in Tampa.

You are right, test the water first to get a baseline, you want to know what the TA, CH, ph levels are. Also test FC for good measure, and water temp. No need to test fill for CYA (but others may differ in that opinion). Plug those numbers into pool math along with the setup (Pool size, Target Values, and the goals section). When you add the target for CYA it will tell you what to target for FC, verify after setting goals.

Then get the FC up to around 5. Keep at 5, for now. Adjust the ph if needed.

Next start adding the salt, half at first. Let mix for a day and retest. This will help confirm your gallons. Then add salt based on the new test value to the target. 24 hours after adding the second batch of salt measure again. If good you are one step closer to using the SWG (water temp is the other).

After a few hours at the FC level retest, top up if needed - like a mini SLAM. An hour after this top off I think you could swim in it. But water temp is going to be a big factor in that.

The first day also start adding the CYA. At the end of the second day, I would, raise the FC target to above 8 because there will now be CYA in the pool. Keep using Chlorine until the water temp is above 55 or 60. Turn on the SWG and enjoy (after the salt has dissolved from the second addition)

Watch how the CYA dissolves (I use the sock method on a pole in front of a return and squeeze every few hours). When fully dissolved wait a day then test. Suggest you add 3/4 of what is needed, again until you confirm the gallons and how the water responds - easier to add more chemicals than to drain water and fill to lower chems.

FYI - Keep testing ph and FC daily until you get the hang of it and understand how your pool responds.

Enjoy your new pool
 
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-MacGyver- said:
Hey DB,
Set the expectation of a day or two after filling (could change based on water temp - everyone's threshold below 78 is different), maybe a week in Tampa.

You are right, test the water first to get a baseline, you want to know what the TA, CH, ph levels are. Also test FC for good measure, and water temp. No need to test fill for CYA (but others may differ in that opinion). Plug those numbers into pool math along with the setup (Pool size, Target Values, and the goals section). When you add the target for CYA it will tell you what to target for FC, verify after setting goals.

Then get the FC up to around 5. Keep at 5, for now. Adjust the ph if needed.

Next start adding the salt, half at first. Let mix for a day and retest. This will help confirm your gallons. Then add salt based on the new test value to the target. 24 hours after adding the second batch of salt measure again. If good you are one step closer to using the SWG (water temp is the other).

After a few hours at the FC level retest, top up if needed - like a mini SLAM. An hour after this top off I think you could swim in it. But water temp is going to be a big factor in that.

The first day also start adding the CYA. At the end of the second day, I would, raise the FC target to above 8 because there will now be CYA in the pool. Keep using Chlorine until the water temp is above 55 or 60. Turn on the SWG and enjoy (after the salt has dissolved from the second addition)

Watch how the CYA dissolves (I use the sock method on a pole in front of a return and squeeze every few hours). When fully dissolved wait a day then test. Suggest you add 3/4 of what is needed, again until you confirm the gallons and how the water responds - easier to add more chemicals than to drain water and fill to lower chems.

FYI - Keep testing ph and FC daily until you get the hang of it and understand how your pool responds.

Enjoy your new pool
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This is a huge help! Thank you for the guidance! I’m sure I’ll be back with more questions as I start learning and unpacking this entire process.
 
I'm picking this thread back up and apologize in advance for a possibly silly question. Our pool install is one week away and thus, I'm laser focused on getting this "opening" process down and water chemistry understood!
DiverGirl above mentions needing 18oz. of 10% of Liquid Chlorine per 1 unit of FC needed. So if I'm aiming to go from 0 to 5, then I will need to add 90oz straight out of the gate (assuming my first test registers 0 FC). This should be the first thing that I do to the water, am I correct here?

To get my CYA up, she estimates around 9lbs of granule stabilizer, which it sounds like I can get to work on shortly after I've added the chlorine (Day 1), of course I will use PoolMath to confirm these numbers. :) This is my step 2, correct?

Step 2b (Day 1) is to begin adding salt. I like the recommendation of half for the first day, then remeasure (Day 2) and add remainder to bring up to target. Am I good so far?

Step 3 is to raise the FC up a few ticks, now that CYA will be in the water. Of course I'll measure PH and adjust as needed as well.

My last question, I think, is assuming the water comes in off the fill truck at a temperature greater then 70 (since it's summer in FL, I'm assuming this shouldn't be a problem), at what point do I stop using liquid chlorine and start using the SWG?
 
Check with your pool builder if they will start up the pool for you. Mine did and they left me four gallons of muriatic acid and four gallons of chlorine to get me started, which was a good help because I didn't have any chemicals or even test strips.
You are ahead of the curve because you already found this forum. Get yourself a tf100 test kit or Taylor k2006C and don't even bother with test strips.

As far as getting chlorine, check your local grocery store chemical isle section, they may have some. Also check smaller home improvement stores like Ace hardware and there is always the pool stores, just don't buy anything else from them.
 
I’ve got a TF100 already on the way in preparation for next weekend. Also already have the 5 gallons of 10% liquid chlorine that was suggested so I’m good there. The water truck doesn’t come until after the pool build, keep in mind this is an AGP.

Any suggestions on my planned step formula in post number 14?
Also at what point do I go from adding liquid chlorine to letting the SWG produce it?
 
The step formula in Post 14 is great. I would suggest doing the CYA and salt additions in steps. Start with targeting 50 ppm CYA, get that dissolved and a couple days later test and add what you need to get to your target CYA. With salt, add 2/3 of what is needed, let it dissolve and test salinity after 24 hours or so and then add the balance that is needed.

Once your salinity is what the SWCG needs, start it up.
 
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