New pool start up

Jump to latest Follow Reply
O

Ozzy7750

0
Dec 2, 2016
16
Auckland, New Zealand
First time TFPC reader. Everything sounds great and much easier than getting tests done at the pool store, I always found myself questioning so.e of the advice they were giving me.

So I have bought a Taylor k-2006 kit, and yesterday filled my new pool with tap water. It is a fibreglass pool and while I will be putting a swg in, I do think have one yet.

So I tested my water today, pH if 7.7 and ta of 30. I did the test anything else since I figured there would be minimal/no FC or cya etc.

What order should I start adding things? Need to get TA, CYA and FC up, any particular order?

First I need to get my pool pump actually plumbed up... Hopefully tomorrow for that!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
Welcome to TFP! Good to have you here. Is it a plaster pool? Your TA might come up on its own if it is. Also I'd just like to double check that you used the 25 ml sample size and 3 drops to turn the sample "barbie" pink. If it's was the smaller 10 ml sample line, it would be 75.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk
 
Welcome Ozzy7750!

First thing you need to address is the chlorine and stabiliser levels. I would initially aim to get your CYA level up to 30- retest to see where your at and then target 50. See the Chlorine/CYA chart for the appropriate levels. Then confirm your pH- if it is 7.7 then it should be fine where it is for the time being. Then test for TA and and Calcium Hardness (CH) and adjust accordingly.

Familiarise yourself with the Poolmath tab up the top and it will become one of the most important tools you can use to manage your pool.

It would help us if add your details into your signature. Please read this Read this Before You Post
 
Hi Ozzy
Cheapest place to buy chems for your pool is generally bunnings in NZ, they are even cheaper than the warehouse.
Thats where i get my liquid chlorine, aka bleach, from. $29.98 for 12.5 litres of 12.5%. Best way to keep your FC up until your swg is working. You will also need it for when it gets too cold for your swg to work
HTH :cool:
 
Several mates and a few rellies told me Bunnings pool chems are suss, but I use them and checked my results against PoolMath. The Bunnings chems have always been fine so I get whatever I need there.
 
I would say the same thing, nothing wrong with the chems from bunnings. If you look at the ingredient labels on the chems they are exactly the same as the stuff you get from the pool store
I would however say their pool advice is suss, which kinda makes sense seeing as they are really a hardware store and the employees are not trained in pool chemistry
Maybe it could also be a price point thing, ie how can the chems at bunnings be any good, they are half the price of what the pool store charges. I know a lot of ppl who mistakenly think higher price means better quality, lol
 
welcome to tfp
once the information here clicks it really is trouble free
i buy everything from bunnings
be prepared for your pool to cost you up to $300 per year in chemicals
(first year will be slightly more as you are starting from scratch)
as compared to the pool shop $300 per visit
also dont add calcium and baking soda at the same time
or chlorine and hydrochloric acid at the same time
they react, i like to add them on separate days
i would add some liquid chlorine targeting 3-5ppm
add some stabilizer(cya) targeting 30ppm
and add some bicarbonate soda targeting 50ppm
check chlorine daily and adjust as required
after a few days run complete tests may need some hydrochloric acid(ma) to bring ph down
and adjust ta targeting 60 and cya targeting 60
now keep chlorine 6-8ppm
which is where tfp differs from pool store as they dont recognise the relationship between cya and fc
add salt when water has warmed up to 16c
poolmath https://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html is your best friend for how much of each chemical to add
 
Thanks for the advice everyone! Signature sorted now as well.

I have gone really well so far, currently have:

FC 4.8
CC 0
CYA 45
pH 7.0
TA 40

I added some hydrochloric acid to get the pH down, but went too far. I had just shocked the pool so maybe did something wrong in my testing with the high FC.

Getting to grips with the Taylor k-2006 kit now, quite enjoying the ritual of testing.

Thanks for the tip that Bunnings is good for chemicals, I got all my pool salt there, $11.90 for a 20kg bag. But I bought my liquid chlorine for about $50 for 10L from the pool store. Won't do that again! Will head to Bunnings tomorrow and try to get some Borax to get the pH closer to target.

Why is Borax recommended over soda ash?

Thanks for the tip about chlorine and hydrochloric at the same time. I did actually did that yesterday. Oops!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
Borax raises the TA less than washing soda for the same increase in pH. In your case, your TA is also a bit low, so soda ash won't hurt if that's cheaper or easier to get.

Your pH will probably rise on it's own, but it's not a bad idea to raise it to 7.2 unless it's already there next time you test it.

You should absolutely never mix concentrated acid and chlorinating liquid, but adding the chlorine to the pool, and then 5 minutes later adding acid to the pool is OK.

You're getting a very good handle on this. Merry Christmas!
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
I will change to the 10ml sample for the FC then. I actually bought the k-2006c kit so I have quite a lot of reagent ?

I hadn't seen the pool school page about the test kit, thanks for posting that. I had been doing most of the right but a couple of little things I will change.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply