"New" Pool

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J

jerseyrails

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Jul 12, 2018
112
Marlboro, NJ
Long story short, I bought a house with a pool and I am feeling like it's the worst mistake I ever made. Pool was full, needed a new pump. Water was green at final walk through, which was OK, as pool was closed at the time (August) because the house was long-term vacant.

Concrete around the pool and the coping were shot. Wife wanted stairs. Needed a new liner at that point.

We put in a main drain. New liner went in this week. New filter, new pump, new salt system.

Now what? Pool is full of water, plumbing isn't done yet because the liner company has to come back and cut in the skimmers and returns.

How do I take care of the pool? I've got some chemicals left over from trying to clear it last year before the filter blew up, but at the time it was a chlorine pool. I'm not even sure what I have. Where do I start with the water? How long until a freshly-filled pool is safely swimmable?
 
Hi, welcome to TFP! If its going to be a couple of days before the pool is up and running, you can put in a jug of 6% plain, unscented bleach by pouring it around the perimeter of the pool and gently brush the pool to mix it in.

Which chemicals do you have? To start the pool you are going to need stabilizer/CYA, enough to reach 30ppm, and you are going to need liquid chlorine. You can use PoolMath to determine how much CYA and chlorine you will need. Do you have a drop based test kit? We recommend either the TF 100 or the Taylor K2006. Once the pH is adjusted to the 7.2 to 7.5 range and the pool has chlorine at the target level it is safe to swim.

We recommend you read through ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry for basic information on pool chemistry. List the chemicals you have and we can tell you which ones to keep and which ones to toss.
 
If the pool is filled you need to add some chlorine so algae doesn't start growing in the water. Right now you have stagnant water and it will turn green on you in a couple of days. You can get a 20 foot tape measure and you and a helper can measure the pool, or you can ask for a copy of the liner measurements and that will tell you everything you need to know to calculate how many gallons the pool holds.
 
The guy doing the plumbing said not to put anything in the water yet. He says the plumbing will be done tomorrow, as long as the liner company comes to cut out the skimmers and returns.

I edited my signature to include my equipment. I didn't order anything yet, chemical wise. He says he'll come with me to the local store to get what I need.
 
Make sure no one talks you into buying any calcium. Your pool won't need it because it is a vinyl liner. Make sure you get one of those 2 test kits. The pool store won't have them. They only sell the cheap incomplete ones. You need either of those two posted above. They are the only ones with the coveted FAS-DPD chlorine test. It consists of adding a tiny little scoop of powder to your 10 ml water sample, which will turn the sample pink, and then adding drops until the sample turns completely clear. You then divide by 2 to get your FC reading. It's very accurate and repeatable, unlike those yellow OTO chlorine tests that everyone else uses that only ready up to 5 PPM or so. This one is accurate up to 50 PPM, which you should never have to get to hopefully.

Once you get your pool equipment running, keep the SWG off until you get your water balanced. You will need some stabilizer in the water to get your CYA up to at least 30. Use the sock method where you put the dry stabilizer into a sock, tie the end and hang it in front of a return that is on. Use your pool pole so the sock doesn't touch either the bottom or the sides of the pool. Give the sock a few squeezes every 30 minutes or so to help the granules dissolve faster.

Get your FC up to 5 PPM with liquid chlorine only using pool math. Then check your pH to make sure it's in the 7.2 - 7.8 range. If it's higher, you should add some muriatic acid to lower it. Pool math will tell you how much you need.

Don't let them sell you any chlorine tablets or powdered shock or granules. Stick to liquid chlorine ONLY!

Once everything is dialed in, then it's time to turn on your SWG and bring it online. You'll need to increase your CYA up to 70-80 PPM to get maximum benefit out of your SWG. Of course you'll have to add salt to the pool first and mix it around with a brush a little to mix. You'll have to mess with both the SWG output % and the pump run time to dial it in. It will take a few days of trial and error until you find out where you need to have it.

You basically want the SWG to add the amount of FC you are using daily, or slightly a little more. You don't want to be losing FC day after day, so adjust it if you find that to be the case. SWG's are meant to add chlorine slow and steady over longs periods of time. If you ever find yourself really low in FC for whatever reason, bump it by adding liquid chlorine. Don't try to make the SWG catch up. It will save wear and tear on the unit and increase its life expectancy.
 
jerseyrails said:
The guy doing the plumbing said not to put anything in the water yet. He says the plumbing will be done tomorrow, as long as the liner company comes to cut out the skimmers and returns.

I edited my signature to include my equipment. I didn't order anything yet, chemical wise. He says he'll come with me to the local store to get what I need.
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The guy doing the plumbing knows squat about algae prevention..... half a gallon of bleach will have no effect on plumbing or cutting the liner.

Get on that test kit...you'll be falling behind the eight ball if you wait too much longer.

Maddie :flower:
 
I've ordered the test kit. I'm reading the manual for the VS Pump, and it looks like it's not supposed to be controlled by an external time clock. But the salt system wiring diagram shows the clock connected to the pump and SWG in parallel. Is that right? There's no relay on the pump. I'm doing the electrical wiring, I want to make sure I get it right.
 
That's what I did. Plumbing was completed yesterday, but found the air valve on the filter was cracked. So we shocked the pool, but have the valve on recirculate until we get the part.

I'm wondering if the salt cell is installed correctly, though. THe manual shows three 'recommended' configurations, and the way it's set up isn't one of them
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The unit installed right now is non-functional; the good unit is going to be installed after the water is balanced. The manual shows this type of connection is ok if it was installed vertically. But it says 'recommended'; it doesn't necessarily mean it can't go the way it is, he says.
 
Re: "New" Pool

getreal720 said:
How are you going to balance the water without your salt water generator working properly (IE... the "good" one is installed)...

Do you plan to manually chlorinate the pool in the mean time?
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We had a pouring rainstorm that took a lot of **** out of the trees. We've put shock in the pool and I have one of those floater chlorine things in there too.

- - - Updated - - -

I got in touch with Jandy support, and they said the same thing.
 
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