What steps to take?

Thank you CJadamec. We are having the landscaping crew put down fabric and gravel and rocks all around on Friday and the retaining wall on one side, where the top will be level with bottom of pool. Not doing anything much on the trench side except putting in a drain to help drainage...hopefully that is enough. They are coming Friday so will post picture after.

Regarding the chemicals, I put in half bottle of the stabilizer into stocking and by lunch all dissolved (I kept the pump running since yesterday morning). I just refilled with the remaining half bottle. Do I need to keep pump running for stabilizer? I will retest tomorrow. The kids are hoping to get into the pool this weekend, is that realistic? So I test CYA, then test chlorine again, then TA? Is there a ph in the Taylor kit? I realize that I didn’t get ph reading last night while testing.

After everything, then I test salt? Does the swg stays on with pump only (about 8 hrs a day) or does it stay on 24/7?

Thank you so much all!!
 
Thank you CJadamec. We are having the landscaping crew put down fabric and gravel and rocks all around on Friday and the retaining wall on one side, where the top will be level with bottom of pool. Not doing anything much on the trench side except putting in a drain to help drainage...hopefully that is enough. They are coming Friday so will post picture after.

Regarding the chemicals, I put in half bottle of the stabilizer into stocking and by lunch all dissolved (I kept the pump running since yesterday morning). I just refilled with the remaining half bottle. Do I need to keep pump running for stabilizer? I will retest tomorrow. The kids are hoping to get into the pool this weekend, is that realistic? So I test CYA, then test chlorine again, then TA? Is there a ph in the Taylor kit? I realize that I didn’t get ph reading last night while testing.

After everything, then I test salt? Does the swg stays on with pump only (about 8 hrs a day) or does it stay on 24/7?

Thank you so much all!!
It's a good idea to have the pump on while you have stabilizer in the skimmer. If you want to shut it off, pull the nylon and set it in a bucket until the pump is on again.

Yes, you need to test pH and TA in case pH needs adjusting. You also need to check the FC level. Whenever the pH is between 7.2 and 7.8 and you show 3 or more FC, the kids can get in. They don't need to wait for the CYA to dissolve, they just can't play with the sock. They don't need to wait for the salt to dissolve. In fact, some people like to get the pool swimmable and then add the salt so the kids can toss the crystals and swim through them as they sink. A few swimmers will do a good job mixing chemicals.

Every pool uses some chlorine every day. How much depends on how much sun, how many swimmers, how much CYA, how much stuff gets blown in, you name it. And the SWG only generates so much chlorine per hour. So you need to figure out where those two numbers meet.Maybe you can get by with 6 hours. Maybe you'll need 18. There's not even any way for us to guess where to start at this point without knowing how big the pool is and what model SWG you have.
 
I have a 24 feet round discovery pool, with 1.5 hp pump (supposed to be variable speed, pool company will replace soon) and pentair intellichlor salt system.

I realize I don’t have muriatic acid. Where do I buy that? And do I need calcium hardness increaser if I have above ground? Trying to decide if should return.

Thx!!
 
I updated in “about me”. Is that where signature is? Sorry new to this...

I have stabilizer, ph up, chlorine and borax. Am I missing muriatic acid? And baking soda? I think I can get total
Alkalinity instead of baking soda (didn’t see it at Lowe’s) but not sure where to get muriatic acid?

Thx!!
 
I updated in “about me”. Is that where signature is? Sorry new to this...

I have stabilizer, ph up, chlorine and borax. Am I missing muriatic acid? And baking soda? I think I can get total
Alkalinity instead of baking soda (didn’t see it at Lowe’s) but not sure where to get muriatic acid?

Thx!!
Muriatic Acid can be bought at Lowes. They usually have some in the garden section by the pool chemicals. Otherwise it is in the paint department (used to etch concrete before painting) or possibly by the masonry stuff. Baking Soda can be had at any grocery store, or Walmart, Costco, wherever. Lowes can sell you the exact same chemical as a pool chemical for 4-5 times as much and call it Alkalinity Increaser.

I wouldn't buy any of that stuff until you know you need it. I have never ever in ten years had to raise my pH with borax, nor add Baking Soda, It just depends on your fill water and your test results.
 
How do I test ph level? Is it the block thing in K-1000? Or something else? Based on the block thing, it is very light...lighter than 6.8...what do I do? Chlorine color is also light...should I test with the detailed testing or go ahead and add some chlorinating liquid?
 
How do I test ph level? Is it the block thing in K-1000? Or something else? Based on the block thing, it is very light...lighter than 6.8...what do I do? Chlorine color is also light...should I test with the detailed testing or go ahead and add some chlorinating liquid?
"Light" doesn't mean much. Do you mean the pH color is less intense, or yellower? Less intense matters not. The shade matters. If it is yellower than the 6.8 block, then you need to test TA so you can have poolmath calculate how much Borax you need.

You should use the more precise test for chlorine, unless the color you see is so clear you want to call it zero. Otherwise that color test is just there as a sanity check. Certainly you want to keep the chlorine above minimum at all times.
 
Oki added 24 oz of chlorine. I think the yellow was lighter but not sure...will retest tomorrow. I did a TA test and it was 70. The kit says color changes to red, does pink count or must it be intense red? I usually stop as soon as color changes
 

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Hi, need to increase ph. Do I use entire box of borax? Do I need to dissolve first or just spread out the powder in pool? Thx! I added more cya and chlorine...don’t have baking soda right now, but 50TA is ok right?image.jpg
 

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Poolmath said 43 oz borax. That box is 64 ounces. Why would you want to dump the whole thing in?

I wouldn't even put 43 ounces in. Aim a little lower on the pH... looks like 4 cups -- measuring cups, like you use in the kitchen -- will shift your pH up. It will also add a little TA.

You can vacuum while the stuff is mixing. Just vacuum it into the filter. all you'll lose is the dirt. The rest goes back into the pool
 
I thought it is 83 oz of borax. I think the 43 is soda ash, that is different right? Maybe I vacuum now and then borax tomorrow in daytime with pump running? The borax shouldn’t take days like the cya right?
You are correct. I made a mistake, there. Yeah, add it all. It shouldn't take long. Dissolve it in a bucket of pool water and then pour it into the return stream.
 
Thank you. I added a box but didn’t quite dissolve it all...hopefully that is ok (heavily pregnant and no deck yet so hard to reach over). Is return stream = pour inside skimmer basket? That is what I did... hopefully ok. Will run pump 30 min.

Also, does this look like a leak? Thanks so much! You have been extremely helpful!
 

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