New Pool - Pool Guy added bleach in first fill 24 hours

[danielpatrick]

Just kicked off the start up of my new NPT Stonescape (basically PebbleTec). Per contract with the pool builder, I was required to use a professional pool start up service, and hired one of the few companies that would serve my area. Before he touched the pool I asked him what he would do, and he indicated brushing, measure levels, and maybe add muriatic acid.

Well, I went to test the levels after his visit, and he added chlorine! With my test kit I measured a jump from my AM measurement of 0.07PPM to 3PPM this afternoon. NPT start up guide is very clear that bleach should not be added in the first 48 hours of start up.

Timetable:
Aug 10 - Plaster installed and crew wrapped @ 10am
Aug 11 - Acid Washed and pool fill started @10am, 17K gallon pool filled by 10pm
Aug 12 - Brushed myself in early AM, pool guy came midday (12:30) (and poured liquid chlorine)

I've been through 4 months of waiting for this remodel and I'm freaking out about the potential impact. The only thing I can find anywhere online is that only bleach shouldn't be added, not what would happen. Does anyone have experience / explain the potential impact (if any)?

 

[PoolGate]

Let's see if a PT expert chimes in but I had chlorine in my new plaster pool on the day after the fill as well. I don't think it will hurt anything.

 

[ferretbone]

It's fine I do many hot starts on new plasters. Once in awhile I add a little chl when the pool is about to be flooded from a hard rain because id rather fight a chl stain than an algue stain.Tell him to put the brakes on adding any more for a few days and dont let him go over 3ppm. I've only stained 2 white plaster pools and they where on poolsure with a bad audio feeder.
Whats you PH and Alk? Just make sure those stay low for at least the first 3-4 days. Longer if you can.. Some crews do it the hard way and raise them day of. Keep on the pool guy about the cal levels, on colored plasters thats what you have to stay on top of with Alk and Cal for the warranty. Just keep brushing with a wire brush.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! "Professional". I love that term. Not always what you get though right? I suspect the FC of 3 won't last long anyways with no CYA, so it's probably about gone by now. Just another example of why we encourage owners to test and chemically treat their own water though. You can never be too sure of what others are going to dump in there. Good catch.

 

[danielpatrick]

It's fine I do many hot starts on new plasters. Once in awhile I add a little chl when the pool is about to be flooded from a hard rain because id rather fight a chl stain than an algue stain.Tell him to put the brakes on adding any more for a few days and dont let him go over 3ppm. I've only stained 2 white plaster pools and they where on poolsure with a bad audio feeder.
Whats you PH and Alk? Just make sure those stay low for at least the first 3-4 days. Longer if you can.. Some crews do it the hard way and raise them day of. Keep on the pool guy about the cal levels, on colored plasters thats what you have to stay on top of with Alk and Cal for the warranty. Just keep brushing with a wire brush.

PH is 7.2 (same as AM) Alk is 100 (was 105 AM). I'll definitely tell him to stop chlorine for the next couple of days. Calcium is 170 (compared to 118 measured in AM).

 

[danielpatrick]

Welcome to TFP! "Professional". I love that term. Not always what you get though right? I suspect the FC of 3 won't last long anyways with no CYA, so it's probably about gone by now. Just another example of why we encourage owners to test and chemically treat their own water though. You can never be too sure of what others are going to dump in there. Good catch.

Thanks! He did add CYA (I saw a large clear bag with solids). I'll check the solid count again tomorrow. Pool installer knew I was used to managing chemical levels from before, but wouldn't revise contract.

 

[Texas Splash]

He did add CYA

Another example since that usually doesn't get added until day 3. Did he dump it in the pool or in the skimmer?

 

[danielpatrick]

Another example since that usually doesn't get added until day 3. Did he dump it in the pool or in the skimmer?

Skimmer

 

[ferretbone]

Thanks! He did add CYA (I saw a large clear bag with solids). I'll check the solid count again tomorrow. Pool installer knew I was used to managing chemical levels from before, but wouldn't revise contract.

That is because they want to blame a pool company when you come screaming for them to cover the warranty if something goes wrong. Example your Cal levels being low 170, after filling the pool and balancing the chems they bounced. You should be over 200. The water is going to pull cal out of the plaster now. Check your tap water to see if its low or high in Cal.

Now listen carefully, I didnt say they did, or are doing any thing wrong. They might have calculated for that. Who knows, but I wouldn't use the Cal in the plaster to raise Cal levels because we all know what Cal does to pool surfaces. So my guess is they tested it at 200ppm. The contractor must be one of those big do everything and anything guys like BMR

That's why we dont trust the customer, or the other pool guy to do our after cares because I can't control the water balance. And the first 3-5 days are everything, I can catch a lot of problems before they are problems. The PH and Alk are going to rise on its own, seemingly over night. So your weekly pool guy will be useless for watching your PH and Alk levels. Get a case of acid and watch it like your doing. Stay on the low end, or even below 7.2

Get used to that because it could be that way for 1 week to months.
A day or two, to high, or to low wont hurt. But for the first week it can quickly cause a brown yellow stain and over a short time it will look like your plaster is loosing all it's color. Both can be fixed by dropping the bottom out of the PH in the water and starting over on the startup after it stained so no worries if that happens. It just takes a lot of scrubing

So you might as well raise the Cal a little now if your fill water isn't higher than 300pmm.

 

[danielpatrick]

That is because they want to blame a pool company when you come screaming for them to cover the warranty if something goes wrong. Example your Cal levels being low 170, after filling the pool and balancing the chems they bounced. You should be over 200. The water is going to pull cal out of the plaster now. Check your tap water to see if its low or high in Cal.

Now listen carefully, I didnt say they did, or are doing any thing wrong. They might have calculated for that. Who knows, but I wouldn't use the Cal in the plaster to raise Cal levels because we all know what Cal does to pool surfaces. So my guess is they tested it at 200ppm. The contractor must be one of those big do everything and anything guys like BMR

That's why we dont trust the customer, or the other pool guy to do our after cares because I can't control the water balance. And the first 3-5 days are everything, I can catch a lot of problems before they are problems. The PH and Alk are going to rise on its own, seemingly over night. So your weekly pool guy will be useless for watching your PH and Alk levels. Get a case of acid and watch it like your doing. Stay on the low end, or even below 7.2

Get used to that because it could be that way for 1 week to months.
A day or two, to high, or to low wont hurt. But for the first week it can quickly cause a brown yellow stain and over a short time it will look like your plaster is loosing all it's color. Both can be fixed by dropping the bottom out of the PH in the water and starting over on the startup after it stained so no worries if that happens. It just takes a lot of scrubing

So you might as well raise the Cal a little now if your fill water isn't higher than 300pmm.

Out the tap calcium is 95 so seems like it's already leeching. Will get some Hardness Plus for Calcium Hardness @ Leslies as there isn't a local pool shop in town (or not less than 30 minutes away). Really appreciate it Ferretbone! (And Texas Splash!)

 

[Texas Splash]

Will get some Hardness Plus for Calcium Hardness @ Leslies as there isn't a local pool shop in town

Take another look at your pH today. It should begin to rise fairly quickly which should help to compensate for your seemingly low CH level of about 170. Remember too, our PoolMath APP helps you with that. Enter all of your test result in there and see what "CSI" result it gives you. For the first 30 days we recommend a slightly positive CSI to help the plaster products cure well. After 30 days slightly negative to prevent scale. While you can certainly add CH, adjusting the pH has the most immediate and drastic impact on your CH number. Play around in PoolMath and you'll see what I mean.