Replaster of ivory quartzscape -start-up

[marshdweller1968]

Day 3 of my start up. Contractor put Jack’s Magic magenta on fill day. I filled with city water that’s good quality. 18 hours to fill. No metals and little calcium. The pool eats up acid to maintain pH (3 gallons of 31% so far). Started adding bleach as per NPT guidelines. Very little plaster dust and clear water from the beginning. Only minor issue was a green tint to the water that cleared up once I added the chlorine and dropped the pH down a bit to 7.2 from 7.6. Before and after pictures. Brushing twice a day.

 

[Bperry]

Day 3 of my start up. Contractor put Jack’s Magic magenta on fill day. I filled with city water that’s good quality. 18 hours to fill. No metals and little calcium. The pool eats up acid to maintain pH (3 gallons of 31% so far). Started adding bleach as per NPT guidelines. Very little plaster dust and clear water from the beginning. Only minor issue was a green tint to the water that cleared up once I added the chlorine and dropped the pH down a bit to 7.2 from 7.6. Before and after pictures. Brushing twice a day. View attachment 562908View attachment 562909

Better get some calcium in there.

 

[marshdweller1968]

It’s in the range where NPT says for day three. It’s 120 ppm. Day four start increasing up 200 ppm.

 

[marshdweller1968]

Day 7 post start up. Water is clear. Chemistry is as follows. Ca Hardness is 220 ppm, Alkalinity is 90 ppm. Free chlorine is 2 ppm. CYA is 35 ppm. pH still rises at night to about 7.8 but drops to 7.4 with a few ounces of 31% HCl. Most of the day it stays at 7.6. Brush entire surface 2-3 times a day and after adding chemicals. Since start-up….Used 4 gallons of HCl so far to keep pH in range. About 12 pounds of CaCl2 so far, and 20 lbs of bicarbonate. 6 lbs of CYA. Checking pool chemistry 2 times a day. Virtually zero plaster dust. Pool temps about 72-76.

 

[marshdweller1968]

Pool chemistry is stable except for pH. I have to add a small amount of HCl every morning to bring the pH back to 7.6 range. Ca hardness is 230ppm. Alkalinity is steady at 90 ppm. Residual chlorine is steady at 2ppm. Water temp is about 78F in the afternoon. Not much plaster dust if any. Still continue to brush the pool in the morning after adding HCl. Circulation is down to 12 hours at night.

 

[HermanTX]

You are on the right track. you will need to continue to monitor pH closely.
Is the PB guiding you on the startup or are you left on your own?
You can go to the NPC site to follow their recommended start up guideline.

Start-up Card for Swimming Pool Owners - Free Download | NPC

NPC Start-up Card. Free of Charge to Pool Owners! Get Yours Today! Proper start-up and maintenance of your freshly plastered pool is critical.

www.nationalplastererscouncil.com

Have you added any stablizer (CYA) yet? FC at 2ppm is ok with no CYA but adding CYA will require to adjust FC per this chart
FC/CYA Levels

 

[marshdweller1968]

You are on the right track. you will need to continue to monitor pH closely.
Is the PB guiding you on the startup or are you left on your own?
You can go to the NPC site to follow their recommended start up guideline.

Start-up Card for Swimming Pool Owners - Free Download | NPC

NPC Start-up Card. Free of Charge to Pool Owners! Get Yours Today! Proper start-up and maintenance of your freshly plastered pool is critical.

www.nationalplastererscouncil.com

Have you added any stablizer (CYA) yet? FC at 2ppm is ok with no CYA but adding CYA will require to adjust FC per this chart
FC/CYA Levels

I have added Cyanuric Acid. It’s at about 40 ppm. Sorry I missed that in my post. I am following the NPC guide my contractor gave me. They do not do start-ups so I am flying solo.

 

[HermanTX]

I have added Cyanuric Acid. It’s at about 40 ppm. Sorry I missed that in my post. I am following the NPC guide my contractor gave me. They do not do start-ups so I am flying solo.

OK great with following NPC guidelines for startup.
With CYA of 40, the FC level should be increased to the 5-7 range using liquid chlorine (LC)
Continue to test pH, TA and FC daily during the startup Check CH weekly and bring into range.

 

[marshdweller1968]

OK great with following NPC guidelines for startup.
With CYA of 40, the FC level should be increased to the 5-7 range using liquid chlorine (LC)
Continue to test pH, TA and FC daily during the startup Check CH weekly and bring into range.

Per the LSI score, I was perfect this morning. First time ever…. As per the NPC guidelines. I go to Leslie’s a couple times a week just to get a sanity check on my chemistry. I did add bleach last night and a touch more Alkalinity. Pumps ran all night on schedule. I did add some make up water yesterday to off set some evaporation. That diluted my CYA and Alkalinity a bit. This pool stuff is interesting!

 

[marshdweller1968]

My LSI score this am.

 

[HermanTX]

I go to Leslie’s a couple times a week just to get a sanity check on my chemistry.

If you have your own test kit, which is recommended, then no reason to “double check” at pool store. It can only confuse you - remember a man with 2 watches never really knows what time it is. Trust your own testing.

It is getting to be that time of year that pool stores will hire summer help - water catamination between customers, poor handling of the pool water sample, etc all lead to poor testing results. Trust your own testing.