Looking for some guidance. We just bought a house with a pool. When the cover came off the liner was ripped. We had to replace the liner and just finished filling the pool. Obviously there is no chlorine in it so I understand I need to slam in order to get it to where it needs to be but I can't seem to find out what quantity. I'm estimating the gallons. The pool store thought 17,500 but using the calculator here it is closer to 19,000. I was able to test for everything else using the Taylor kit but after reading everything on here I'm feeling overwhelmed. It seems very complicated and I'm not sure if I should just focus on chlorine or do I need to worry about the other stuff? Do I make all these changes at the same time? I'm hoping it will become very logical once I get the hang of it.
Overwhelmed
- Thread starter Sue1813
- Start date
Welcome! 
You're in a great spot! Nobody's messed up the chemistry with magic potions.
You don't need to slam. It's all fresh water and a clean liner.
Just post your results and we can walk you through it. First thing, though, is some bleach. With no CYA added yet, target 3. And for the moment, we'll go with 18000 on the volume so that means 2.5 quarts of plain old 8.25% bleach.
You're in a great spot! Nobody's messed up the chemistry with magic potions.
You don't need to slam. It's all fresh water and a clean liner.
Just post your results and we can walk you through it. First thing, though, is some bleach. With no CYA added yet, target 3. And for the moment, we'll go with 18000 on the volume so that means 2.5 quarts of plain old 8.25% bleach.
Sue,
Welcome to TFP... A Great resource for all overwhelmed pool owners...
The first thing you should do is take a deep breath and relax... :calm:
If you just filled the pool, and it is not green, than the first thing you need to add some Liquid Chlorine or plain bleach...
Pool Math PoolMath can tell you how much.. Since your pool is about 18K then to bring your FC (Chlorine level) up to 5 ppm will take one jug (121 oz) of plain (not splash-less or scented) 8.25% bleach.
You would slowly pour it in front of a return with the pump running..
The next thing you want to do is put some CYA (Stabilizer) in your water, because without CYA the chlorine will quickly get used up. We like to see about 30 ppm of CYA, and pool math tells us for your pool we will need 4 pounds of Stabilizer.
To add CYA you put it in a sock and hang the old sock in front of a pool return. It will take a couple of days to dissolve and it helps if every time you walk by you squeeze the sock a little...
That will get you started...
The following day you should use your test kit and see where you are..
Report back here and I'm sure we can get you pointed in the right direction..
Thanks for posting,
Jim R.
Welcome to TFP... A Great resource for all overwhelmed pool owners...
The first thing you should do is take a deep breath and relax... :calm:
If you just filled the pool, and it is not green, than the first thing you need to add some Liquid Chlorine or plain bleach...
Pool Math PoolMath can tell you how much.. Since your pool is about 18K then to bring your FC (Chlorine level) up to 5 ppm will take one jug (121 oz) of plain (not splash-less or scented) 8.25% bleach.
You would slowly pour it in front of a return with the pump running..
The next thing you want to do is put some CYA (Stabilizer) in your water, because without CYA the chlorine will quickly get used up. We like to see about 30 ppm of CYA, and pool math tells us for your pool we will need 4 pounds of Stabilizer.
To add CYA you put it in a sock and hang the old sock in front of a pool return. It will take a couple of days to dissolve and it helps if every time you walk by you squeeze the sock a little...
That will get you started...
The following day you should use your test kit and see where you are..
Report back here and I'm sure we can get you pointed in the right direction..
Thanks for posting,
Jim R.
borjis
LifeTime Supporter
Keep track of how much bleach you added this first time.
Then test your FC after about 30 minutes of pump running.
If you use pool math and put in the bleach added and percentage strength of
that bleach, then put in your test result as the target, if the bleach amount changes,
adjust the pool volume size up or down until the amount of bleach added is accurate.
That's how I found out my actual pool volume was 13,000 gallons and not 15,000.
Pool care can seem overwhelming when you first get the test kit and read
all the stuff here, but within about a week or two it will seem much easier.
Then test your FC after about 30 minutes of pump running.
If you use pool math and put in the bleach added and percentage strength of
that bleach, then put in your test result as the target, if the bleach amount changes,
adjust the pool volume size up or down until the amount of bleach added is accurate.
That's how I found out my actual pool volume was 13,000 gallons and not 15,000.
Pool care can seem overwhelming when you first get the test kit and read
all the stuff here, but within about a week or two it will seem much easier.
Ok I'm making progress I think. I added the stabilizer. So right now:
Cya is 40
alkaline is 70
ph is 7.0
chlorine is 1.9
no combined chlorine
so I think I'm just working on getting ph up and chlorine right? And do I need to worry about calcium hardness? It's at 70 and I don't know what m adding to fix that and how important is it? I have a vinyl liner no plaster.
Cya is 40
alkaline is 70
ph is 7.0
chlorine is 1.9
no combined chlorine
so I think I'm just working on getting ph up and chlorine right? And do I need to worry about calcium hardness? It's at 70 and I don't know what m adding to fix that and how important is it? I have a vinyl liner no plaster.
Just chlorine. pH will rise soon enough on its own or you can accelerate it by pointing a return up or running any waterfalls or spas you might have.
Hey Sue, when you post your test results, follow this path, it helps when everyone is on the same page
FC
CC
ph
TA
CH
CYA
as far as your numbers, don't touch the ph...go swimming! splash and play naturally aerate the water, which will ever so slightly raise your ph naturally
with a CYA of 40, you don't want to drop that FC below 2ppm...for about a week, test your FC before adding bleach and about 30 mins after, (adding the same amount) that will give you a good idea of what that measurement will give you in FC. I would try a 1/2 gal everyday at the same time of day and see where your FC falls out at over the weeks time, adjust accordingly and document your numbers for reference
don't worry about your CH, it's low, be grateful....vinyl pools are less of a concern (non-existence) with CH than plaster pools
go swimming!
FC
CC
ph
TA
CH
CYA
as far as your numbers, don't touch the ph...go swimming! splash and play naturally aerate the water, which will ever so slightly raise your ph naturally
with a CYA of 40, you don't want to drop that FC below 2ppm...for about a week, test your FC before adding bleach and about 30 mins after, (adding the same amount) that will give you a good idea of what that measurement will give you in FC. I would try a 1/2 gal everyday at the same time of day and see where your FC falls out at over the weeks time, adjust accordingly and document your numbers for reference
don't worry about your CH, it's low, be grateful....vinyl pools are less of a concern (non-existence) with CH than plaster pools
go swimming!