Refilling Salt Water Pool: Need Help for Party! :-)

[Earthman Bob]

We had emptied our pool to do some work and clean it up after it was dormant for a few years. I'm rebuilding a lot of the plumbing too. ;

Here's what I need help with. We're having a pool party on Saturday, but I won't be done with the pool equipment until Thursday. So I'll only have a couple of days to fill the pool. If I were to do everything just the way it's supposed to be done, is it possible to make the pool swimmable by Saturday? I know it'll be COLD.

I've got all my salt in a pile, ready to be added. I've got a Taylor test kit.

Is there a link to a step-by-step guide to starting up a SWG pool anybody could share with me? I had the pool open when we first bought the house, but then the last couple of year's it's been down. So I'm way out of practice and forget a lot of what I learned back then. Normally, I'd just start researching what to do and that would be that. Problem is I've been working 14 hour days for the last month, lately on rebuilding the plumbing, fixing tile, etc., so I don't have a lot time to research the next steps I need to take to get the pool up and running by Saturday.

Thanks for any help!

PS: It's not the end of the world if I don't get it open. We're all adults and everybody has been duly warned. However, I'm doing everything I can to make it happen!

 

[ajw22]

What is the pH, TA & CH of the fill water you will be using? Is it a municipal water source?

Get at least 50 ppm of stabilizer dissolving in the water using the sock method as soon as it is filled and pump is running. And add 6 ppm of liquid chlorine.

You don’t have time to get the salt dissolved and SWG running for Saturday so just give it daily doses of liquid chlorine.

If you would take a bath in the water then it will be good to swim in with some chlorine and stabilizer for Saturday.

 

[frogabog]

Probably want to get your kit on order like... tonight. It'll ship out tomorrow and probably be there for filling day.

See Test Kits Compared

We like the TF-100 because it's the better deal with larger bottles specifically set up for TFP methods.

Or do you have a kit already?

Once you get the water chemistry settled and ready for your party, you can use the salt to play in the pool with. It is pretty as it sinks and perfectly safe and actually nicely distributed in the water by the peoples. The kids love this. Bonus party fun for your guests, try at night with a light! Salt alone does nothing to the water chemistry.

 

[Earthman Bob]

What is the pH, TA & CH of the fill water you will be using? Is it a municipal water source?

Get at least 50 ppm of stabilizer dissolving in the water using the sock method as soon as it is filled and pump is running. And add 6 ppm of liquid chlorine.

You don’t have time to get the salt dissolved and SWG running for Saturday so just give it daily doses of liquid chlorine.

If you would take a bath in the water then it will be good to swim in with some chlorine and stabilizer for Saturday.

HI Allen-- Thanks for the info and great to hear! It is municipal water.

The PH is 7.0
The TA is 40ppm
The CH is 50ppm

What does that tell me?

I'll look up the sock method for the stabilizer.

 

[Earthman Bob]

Probably want to get your kit on order like... tonight. It'll ship out tomorrow and probably be there for filling day.

See Test Kits Compared

We like the TF-100 because it's the better deal with larger bottles specifically set up for TFP methods.

Or do you have a kit already?

Once you get the water chemistry settled and ready for your party, you can use the salt to play in the pool with. It is pretty as it sinks and perfectly safe and actually nicely distributed in the water by the peoples. The kids love this. Bonus party fun for your guests, try at night with a light! Salt alone does nothing to the water chemistry.

I do have a kit, and I just used it for the first time!

Salt as amusement, eh?

So I can add it before the party then?

 

[ajw22]

It tells you your water is fine to swim in as is. Let your party aerate the pool then check the pH after. If your pH isn’t up to 7.2 then you may want to up your TA to 50-60 using baking soda.

See the CYA section in ...

Recommended Pool Chemicals

Which should I buy? TFP's recommended pool chemicals are cheap, easy, and won't unbalance your pool water.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[frogabog]

I do have a kit, and I just used it for the first time!

Salt as amusement, eh?

So I can add it before the party then?

Yay! Did you get the salt kit too?

Just begin putting it in at the party with your friends, you don't need to mess with it before because then you gotta brush it yourself. You'll be doing liquid chlorine for a few days while it dissolves and you get the SWCG settled in anyway.

 

[Earthman Bob]

Yay! Did you get the salt kit too?

Just begin putting it in at the party with your friends, you don't need to mess with it before because then you gotta brush it yourself. You'll be doing liquid chlorine for a few days while it dissolves and you get the SWCG settled in anyway.

I did not get the salt kit. All I have is Aquacheck strips. Guess that's a Taylor K-1766 salt kit?

 

[Earthman Bob]

What is the pH, TA & CH of the fill water you will be using? Is it a municipal water source?

Get at least 50 ppm of stabilizer dissolving in the water using the sock method as soon as it is filled and pump is running. And add 6 ppm of liquid chlorine.

You don’t have time to get the salt dissolved and SWG running for Saturday so just give it daily doses of liquid chlorine.

If you would take a bath in the water then it will be good to swim in with some chlorine and stabilizer for Saturday.

Great to hear!

I'm using my Pool Math application (for the first time) and it says to add 224 oz of chlorine bleach to reach 6 ppm.

And also says to add 18 lbs of dry stabilizer to reach 60 of the stabilizer. That's a lot of socks.

Does it sound like I'm using the app correctly?

Thanks!

 

[frogabog]

I'd wait on half'ish that stabilizer till shortly (a few hours) before you turn the SWG on. It'll be less chlorine between fill up and then that you have to put in if it's lower at 30-40ppm CYA.

The app is rarely wrong if your volume is right so change the CYA to 30 or 40 (your choice) and and recalculate for the top number that it shows you. You want to add to aim for target so that you won't fall under minimum. Many of us dose the pool to target at night. I like to dose it 1ppm higher than target, personally.

Remember though, if you're going to have a bunch of bodies in the pool, those numbers will need to be adjusted for that. The target and minimum assume regular swimmers or no swimmers and a normal day with sun. Add swimmers, you're probably looking at .5 or so ppm FC loss per body (your pool is big, it may not be much more than that per person). But that means if you have 6 people in the pool, you'll proabably need to add an additional 3ppm of chlorine above what you added as your target.

A lot of people dose the pool prior to parties rather than afterward so they don't fall below minimum during the party.

 

[frogabog]

Oh, and yes. That's the salt kit you'll want to order.

 

[ajw22]

Your signature does not say how many gallons are in your pool.

Add the stabilizer in batches depending on how many socks you get going. I get two going, each by a return. Squeezing the sock once in a while helps it dissolve quicker.

CYA dangling in sock in front of return

• ajw22
• Jan 29, 2019

 

[Earthman Bob]

I'd wait on half'ish that stabilizer till shortly (a few hours) before you turn the SWG on. It'll be less chlorine between fill up and then that you have to put in if it's lower at 30-40ppm CYA.

The app is rarely wrong if your volume is right so change the CYA to 30 or 40 (your choice) and and recalculate for the top number that it shows you. You want to add to aim for target so that you won't fall under minimum. Many of us dose the pool to target at night. I like to dose it 1ppm higher than target, personally.

Remember though, if you're going to have a bunch of bodies in the pool, those numbers will need to be adjusted for that. The target and minimum assume regular swimmers or no swimmers and a normal day with sun. Add swimmers, you're probably looking at .5 or so ppm FC loss per body (your pool is big, it may not be much more than that per person). But that means if you have 6 people in the pool, you'll proabably need to add an additional 3ppm of chlorine above what you added as your target.

A lot of people dose the pool prior to parties rather than afterward so they don't fall below minimum during the party.

So my plan then is to:
-- Fill the pool.
-- Once filled, add chlorine to reach a target of around 5, since there will be people swimming. Otherwise, I'd follow the app and aim for 1-3.
-- Once filled, add CYA to target 40.
-- A few hours before turning on the SWG, I'll add the remaining necessary CYA via the sock.
-- After the party, add baking soda to bring the PH to 7.2 if it's not there already.

Is that it?

So the next question is, when do I turn on the SWG?

And yes, ordered the salt kit!

Thanks for all the helpful info!!!

 

[ajw22]

Baking soda is to raise your TA to 50-60, and it will raise your pH a small amount. The reason I said to only add it if your pH has not risen to 7.2 is If your pH is rising naturally then you don’t need to raise your TA. Just monitor it.

Turn on the SWG 24 hours after you added the salt.

 

[Earthman Bob]

Your signature does not say how many gallons are in your pool.

Add the stabilizer in batches depending on how many socks you get going. I get two going, each by a return. Squeezing the sock once in a while helps it dissolve quicker.

CYA dangling in sock in front of return

• ajw22
• Jan 29, 2019

Thanks. Added my estimation of the gallons. And thanks for the pic.

 

[ajw22]

I get 276 oz of 10% liquid chlorine to raise 36,000 gallons from 0 to 6 ppm.

 

[Earthman Bob]

Baking soda is to raise your TA to 50-60, and it will raise your pH a small amount. The reason I said to only add it if your pH has not risen to 7.2 is If your pH is rising naturally then you don’t need to raise your TA. Just monitor it.

Turn on the SWG 24 hours after you added the salt.

Got it!

 

[Earthman Bob]

I get 276 oz of 10% liquid chlorine to raise 36,000 gallons from 0 to 6 ppm.

Thanks.... I'm getting 374oz of liquid chlorine 6% to get to 5.

 

[Earthman Bob]

Thanks guys... the pool is now filling! Better late than never

 

[Earthman Bob]

Well, Amazon says they delivered my pool stabilizer, but it's not here. Fedex must have delivered it to the wrong house. Any big problems that can come from not having the stabilizer added for a few days?