SWG Install and Opening Help

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reaton

reaton

Member
Apr 16, 2025
8
York, PA
Pool Size
20000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I moved into my house last August and purchased the TF Pro testing kit. When I moved in all my levels were good, so the only thing I had to add the rest of the season was liquid chlorine once weekly. I did purchase refills for my TF Pro and also added in the extra dropper bottles that come with the TF Pro Salt kit, but I didn't buy the TF Pro Salt kit since I already had the other one.

We just opened the pool and are getting a SWG and variable speed pump installed tomorrow. My question is, how do I go about treating the water to open it? The pool people said to get my Ph in the right spot and then shock. He also said the SWG won't actually produce chlorine for a while until the water temperature gets above 50 degrees. I'm in southern Pennsylvania, so April and May don't get too warm. Do I need to SLAM with shock from the store? Just a boatload of liquid chlorine? Once I finish the SLAM will I need to continue with liquid chlorine until the water warms up? I've never opened a pool before, and I don't know if doing this conversion at the beginning of the season makes a difference or not. I'm going to scoop, skim, and brush today just to clean up the visible debris before anything is running.

Any step by step help to get my pool back up and running crystal clear would be awesome. I have read these forums last year and they did help a lot. I appreciate any help that is given.

Inground Pool Dimensions: 16ft x 32ft
Vinyl liner
20k gallons
Pentair IC-40 SWG
Pentair SuperFlo Variable speed pump
 
Hey reaton and belated Welcome !!!

1) mix for a day

2) get a FC baseline after the first 30 mins and bring the FC to 10. If the CYA depleted over the winter it's still safe and if you still have moderate CYA from last year, it's a healthy buffer above min.

3) get a good CYA reading after mixing 24 hours. Remeber you want overhead sun so it may have to wait for your schedule and the weather.

4) report back with full test results
 
Ok I'll remove debris and let the new motor run for 24 hours, then do a test and report back with my results. My last results before closing at the end of October had my CYA at 50, so we'll see where it went from there.
 
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Hows the pool look ? Is it green, a little hazy, some algae growing on the steps (etc) ?

Explain and post up some pics too. :)
 
Turns out the pump and SWG was a little too much for the current breaker setup so I'm getting that squared away. Hopefully I'll get the pump running and test results shortly after Easter.
 
Well, before we deal with actually treating the water I need to get this electric situation taken care of. I have a QO Square D panel that previously only has 1 line out to the pool area. It was on a 20 amp GFCI breaker. This breaker trips within 3-5 seconds when the pump turns on and starts to spin up. I've read that the pentair VS pumps need to be on a dedicated 2 pole 20 amp specialized siemans breaker, and the SWG also needs to be on it's own dedicated 1 pole 15 or 20 amp breaker. Does anyone has any experience with this situation and what would be the simplest correct solution to it?
 
Ok I have the electrical situation sorted out and the pump is now running. I have the Pentair Superflo running at 1400 rpms 24/7 at the moment. My plan was to run the pump for 24 hours before adding any chlorine, but since it's 7 PM at the moment, I'll probably wait until the following morning to add anything. Should I do my first test at the 24 hour mark and then add chlorine the following morning? I'll post my test results when I get them.
 

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Ok here are my test results:
FC: 0
CC: 0
CH: 175
TA: 70
CYA: 40
PH: 8.2

Are my first steps to get the PH down to around 7.5 before I do anything else? I have Ph down from Clorox, is that acceptable given I have a SWG even though it isn't on at the moment?

Also based on my numbers pool math says I should add 3.4 gallons of my 10% LC. Just want to verify that's my starting point and order of operations. Appreciate the help.
 
With pump running...
Add 5-7 ppm of liquid chlorine - use PoolMath to determine the amount
15 minutes after adding liquid chlorine.....
Lower pH to about 7.5-7.6 using muriatic acid (liquid) - use PoolMath to determine the amount
Leave pool pump running for at least 15-20 minutes after adding any chemical

It is highly recommended NOT to use dry acid (pH down) as it contains sulfates. Sulfates aren't good for equipment and SWG cell.

Add the liquid chlorine and muriatic acid in front of a running pool return to help disperse the liquid into the pool water. You can brush the area where you added it as well.

If you don't have muriatic acid on hand, get the chlorine into the pool anyway. Use the FC/CYA Levels chart to determine the correct FC for your CYA. Always shoot for the high number in the range. This allows a bit of head room as FC burns off when the sun is out.

Also recommend you do a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test tonight to rule out algae (even though you can't see it).
 
Last edited:
proavia said:
With pump running...
Add 5-7 ppm of liquid chlorine - use PoolMath to determine the amount
15 minutes after adding liquid chlorine.....
Lower pH to about 7.5-7.6 using muriatic acid (liquid) - use PoolMath to determine the amount
Leave pool pump running for at least 15-20 minutes after adding any chemical

It is highly recommended NOT to use dry acid (pH down) as it contains sulfates. Sulfates aren't good for equipment and SWG cell.

Add the liquid chlorine and muriatic acid in front of a running pool return to help disperse the liquid into the pool water. You can brush the area where you added it as well.

If you don't have muriatic acid on hand, get the chlorine into the pool anyway. Use the FC/CYA Levels chart to determine the correct FC for your CYA. Always shoot for the high number in the range. This allows a bit of head room as FC burns off when the sun is out.

Also recommend you do a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test tonight to rule out algae (even though you can't see it).
Click to expand...
I should have mentioned that the water is green and I believe there is visible algae so I was planning on doing a SLAM.
 
Add about 40 oz of 31.45% muriatic acid to lower pH to mid to low 7's.

Use the FC/CYA Levels chart and select the SLAM Process option. Add enough liquid chlorine to get to the SLAM level for your CYA.

Check the FC at least 3 times daily (but no more than every 2 hours) and replenish to SLAM level.
 
proavia said:
How much liquid chlorine do you have on hand?
Click to expand...
I got 8 gallons to be safe, which seems like the right amount. I need to try and find a place to get the muriatic acid. But I can start with the chlorine tonight and get the acid tomorrow if need be and add it?
 
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