Refilling and testing an AquaBright pool

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B

bjc123

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Jun 30, 2016
51
Germantown, TN
I've signed the papers and will hopefully be getting AquaBright (AB) in the next week or so. I didn't see in the contract where they were going to balance after refill, so I'm going to plan that I'm going to do it...which I'm ok with. As far as the calculations go, I've read to treat AB like a vinyl liner pool. Now I just need to know which levers to pull when balancing on a refill.

I'll be starting with everything at 0, except my pH is 7.4.

I know I'll need CYA and FC, but I don't want to screw up my pH getting crazy with CYA. As an aside, my AB installer (who owns a large pool supply store) is adamant that I not use bleach in the pool. Something about "it can cause major problems" with AB. I think that is bull...but would like to confirm that with anyone with AB surfaces here.

Thanks in advance for your help with this!
 
I assume you still have tile and grout in the pool so I actually suggest following the recommended levels for plaster.

Whether bleach or liquid chlorine (both are sodium Hypochlorite) doesn't matter and neither will hurt the surface.

Once they're done installing and the pool is filling, dump in a gallon of Startup Tec or whatever other sequestrant you can get your hands on. Then it's just a matter of balancing the water, adding CYA, and chlorinating to the appropriate level.
 
He is either sadly misinformed or less than truthful to keep you in his store. There is no doubt, chlorine is chlorine is chlorine. What is different is the concentration and the "packaging". The packaging is what allows something that is a gas in its normal state to be handled. Chlorine is a gas. It is bound to something so we can use it in our pools. The most common thing it is bound to is CYA in both DiChlor and trichlor. Other things are lithium and calcium, or get this - water. Whe. In a water solution it has several names, but in household use we call it bleach. Most pool stores call it "liquid shock". In either case it's the same thing, just a different concentration.

Does he sell liquid shock? Are you allowed to use liquid shock with AB?
 
He didn't mention anything about liquid shock and I'm not sure what the impact would be on the AB surface. He said to use the pucks, which I informed him add CYA...he then said to use "shock", to which I added increases CH. His last suggestion was to use lithium hypochlorite. Clearly, the pool stealerships don't want people using bleach. That's bad for their business.

The question on the balancing is where do I start? I guess with pH, but then adding TA can impact that and I want to try to avoid the big yo-yo of different things being added pulling my readings in all different directions
 
As Brian points out, full numbers will point you in the right direction. The top two things to adjust are generally FC & TA, both of which can be adjusted almost simultaneously.

Test the water and use PoolMath to determine what you need to add to get to where you want to be. Add the amount of bleach (pour slowly in front of a return or a little bit in front of several returns) to get to your desired number and wait 10 - 15 minutes with the pump running for it to mix well. Then adjust your pH.

You will probably need to add CH so be prepared.

I doubt if TA will need to be adjusted.

Find out the builders expectations on where you should maintain your numbers. Keep a log of all your testing. As he owns a retail store he may require monthly water samples to "test" to make sure you are maintaining the pool.

I generally avoid conversations on how I maintain my pool and just keep quiet and do it how I want to do it. Confronting pool professionals about how to maintain a pool is kind of like trying to teach a pig to whistle, it wastes your time and aggravates the pig.
 
For ecoFinish you will want to use lithium based shock. This is on a card enclosed in the box of powder from ecoFinish.
Click to expand...
Well, how will that work? If you used Lithium, then how do you sanitize the pool? Chlorine, right? So then why do you need Lithium as a shocking vehicle.
 
Guys, Brian explained this one once.

You absolutely do not NEED to use lithium hypo. EcoFinish only put that in there because (A) they are not water chemists and don't really understand the pool chemistry that well, and (B) when they were developing their product, some early pool owners put straight cal-hypo in and let it sit against the finish. It damaged the finish and needed to be reworked. So, as a precaution, they suggest using lithium hypo shock because it dissolves super-fast and it is less likely to cause problems.

But, when Brian inquired, the EcoFinish folks told him that any shock product can be used....as long as people follow the directions and use it appropriately....and, as we all know, that is not always the case...
 

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Sorry for the delay in the numbers. My tap water I'm going to be filling the pool with has:

pH- 7.4
TA- around 40-50 (turned somewhat red at 40, bright red at 50)
CH- 50

CYA and FC are obviously 0.

I'll need CH and CYA. Do you recommend using liquid CYA at all or the sock method? I'm going to want to get some CYA in the water pretty quickly. I have a monster-sized pool and I want to get a handle on FC consumption.
 
Pooldv, using PoolMath, to get my water up to 250, it says I need 1288 oz by weight or 1029 oz by volume of calcium chloride. That would be about 81 lbs of calcium chloride. How would you recommend spreading out the induction of that much calcium chloride into the pool?

Where is the best place to buy that kind of weight?
 
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