New San Antonio Pool

[roger4142]

Hi everybody, my pool was finished Nov 28th. A little over a month ago. The company did all of the start up and their pool cleaning guy gave a quick pool school. I'm definitely going to start BBB, but I'm not sure how the transition starts. I guess it's ok to start adding the liquid bleach while the chlorine from the tabs is still in the water? Also, they left me a couple of bottles of SHOCK and I was wondering if I should use it.

Test Results
FC - 4.5
CC - 0
pH - 8.2
TA - 110
CH - 200
CYA - 22
Borates - 50ppm

I just added stabilizer and muriatic acid per Pool Pal.
Thanks for any help. This site has been a huge help.

 

[danacc]

Welcome!

The TFPC method (aka BBB) is all about understanding your pool's chemistry and what your pool needs. You can just start adding liquid bleach for chlorine; no other "transition" is needed from the chlorine method that was used for your start-up.

The tablets in your chlorinator will continue to add chlorine and CYA. Do you know how many are in there? You will need to factor in what they are adding, or you can take them out, let them dry, and store them for use later. CYA will be tricky for a bit since additions can take up to a week to show on the test. When you added CYA according to Pool Pal what target CYA did you use?

 

[roger4142]

Thanks for the quick response. There are 2 tablets in the canister. They have been in there approx 3 weeks. The target I used was 40. It said to add 2 lbs of dry stabilizer, but I just started with 1lb. The pool guy also mentioned that some levels may seem off till the pool is a year old due to the gunite curing. Is that fairly common?

 

[danacc]

The plaster finish will continue to cure for the next 6-12 months. This happens with all plaster-finish (and pebble-finish) pools. Expect your pH to want to climb. You'll need to test it daily, and add acid to keep it in range. Try not to let it go above 7.8. See: pool-school/pool_plaster_start-up for more on start-up. You mentioned the builder did the start-up, which is also common. Brushing the pool is always a good thing, and it is especially important to brush at least once a week during the first year (more is better).

I'd leave the tabs in the chlorine dispenser. They will help slow the pH rise a little, the chlorine and CYA are good additions for you, and there's no rush to jump up to a CYA of 40 during the winter. So, you can take it slow. Once they dissolve, wait a week and test the CYA, then adjust it from there. In the meantime, assume your CYA is wherever adding that pound would put you plus another ~4 from the tablets. You can see what effect adding different chemicals has by scrolling to the bottom of this page: calc.html under "Effects of adding chemicals".


Edited to add: I just realized I didn't address your question about the "shock". There is no reason to go to shock level with chlorine unless your water isn't clear or you're seeing CC > 0.5 ppm. If you have powdered shock, check what chemical is in it. The popular formulations add either chlorine + calcium (cal-hypo) or chlorine + CYA (dichlor or trichlor). This can be useful if you need both chemicals, but it is more straightforward to add them separately than to use a mixed product like powdered shock.

 

[roger4142]

Great! I've been brushing once a day since a week after filling. The water is really clear so I won't worry about the shock. I'll look at the shock bottle tomorrow to see the ingredients. I feel a lot better. Thanks again.

 

[danacc]

Wonderful! Sounds like you're off to a great start.