Where to begin...

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Christine Fury

Christine Fury

Well-known member
Jun 15, 2021
45
Galloway ohio
Pool Size
13000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
I joined this site about a month ago when we tried to fill the 24' AG pool that came with our house. We knew absolutely nothing about owning/maintaining a pool and so we tried to have it filled about a month ago and the liner tore in multiple places and the walls started buckling. Since then, we ordered a new liner and installed it ourselves after watching many YouTube videos.

This morning, we began the filling process and have it half-filled at this point and the company is coming back in about an hour to continue filling as it is going to take about 2.5 truckloads to fill it.

Here is my initial (of MANY) question. Where do I begin with chemicals? I have the TF-100 kit in front of me and have looked at directions but not sure where to begin. A pool professional said that I should add Suspend. The second load of water is being added as I type this so the water has not been treated at all.

Thank you so much for this invaluable site and for all of your advice!!
 
I assume Suspend is an iron sequestrant. Do you have iron in your fill water? It might be a good idea to add an initial dose of sequestrant or be prepared to filter out oxidized iron when you add chlorine.

To start, add 3 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine. Start 30 ppm CYA worth of stabilizer dissolving using the sock method.
Test pH and TA. Adjust pH to be in the 7's.
 
Thank you for responding so quickly, mknauss! I am a first grade teacher but I think I need to go to Pool School to understand your directions:D. I am looking in my kit now to see which parts I need to start with per your directions. As far as liquid chlorine, I am just buying gallons of straight bleach like you would find in grocery stores but without any added chemicals, correct?
 
I'm already breathing easier thanks to both of you! We only filled it with the garden hose using water from our well for maybe an inch at most to get the bottom of the liner smooth. The rest of the water is city water according to the gentleman filling the pool. I will check out the quick reference guide right now as I don't want anything to go wrong chemically before we even have a chance to swim in it. No time soon as the water is like ice.
 
Christine Fury said:
I am just buying gallons of straight bleach like you would find in grocery stores but without any added chemicals, correct?
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It is very difficult to find plain household bleach. Better is liquid chlorine from Menards, Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Ace hardware, etc. Most of those will have stabilizer too. If your pH is above 8, you may need to get some muriatic acid.
 
Good to know about the bleach vs. liquid chlorine. I did the initial test with the K-1000 3-Way OTO test kit and the results were TC .5 and pH 7.8. The only things we could find related to chlorine at Menards were One Shot Shock treatments and large tubs of granulated chlorine. We bought both of those weeks ago as a friend told us there was a shortage of chlorine. We haven't used either one.
 
I don't know who you are but I have a feeling that you are going to be my new best friend!! I am heading to Menard's right now and purchasing as much as I can. How much do you recommend I buy for this first trip?
 
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mknauss said:

The closest Menards to you shows they have 849 gallons of liquid chlorine in stock.
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Another question...I only did the two tests with the small blue kit. Should I go ahead and do all of the testing in the entire kit or wait until I add the chlorine and then test? There are is a small pile of leaves that swirled to the center of the pool and are on the bottom. I'm guessing we should get those out right away so that they don't add more organic matter than there already is. Correct?
 
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Christine Fury said:
Another question...I only did the two tests with the small blue kit. Should I go ahead and do all of the testing in the entire kit or wait until I add the chlorine and then test? There are is a small pile of leaves that swirled to the center of the pool and are on the bottom. I'm guessing we should get those out right away so that they don't add more organic matter than there already is. Correct?
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please try to give as much information on the filtering system as you can. Pictures would help if lets say manufacture and model numbers are not available. This could/will change what how you maintain the pool in the future.

You are correct that leaves and other organic objects in the pool will add organic matter to your pool.
 
The pool is about 13000 gallons I would guess. So one gallon of 10% will add about 7 ppm FC.

You can get 6-8 gallons to start. You will need more as you go on as you will be adding about 1/2 gallon per day for maintenance.
 
mknauss said:
The pool is about 13000 gallons I would guess. So one gallon of 10% will add about 7 ppm FC.

You can get 6-8 gallons to start. You will need more as you go on as you will be adding about 1/2 gallon per day for maintenance.
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Yes, it's about 13 gallons. We just got home from Menards and I purchased ten 1-gallon bottles. We still have to get the pump up and running. We bought the pool sand to go inside as it was completely empty. We also have to attach the skimmer. It's been storming off and on here in Ohio so we are trying to work between storms to get everything up and running. I'm guessing that I have to wait until the pump is running in order to add the liquid chlorine or can I just walk around the circumference of the pool and add it? I apologize for all of the questions but I just don't want to mess up and "pollute" the clean, clear water currently in the pool.
 
If your pump will not be running for more than a day, then I would suggest adding some chlorine and using a brush, broom, leaf net, etc to mix it in.
 
I am going to go ahead and add it and will use a broom or something to get it circulating. We only used a small bit of water for the bottom of the pool so hopefully there won't be enough iron in it to turn it green or brown. Fingers crossed!!
 
Christine Fury said:
I am going to go ahead and add it and will use a broom or something to get it circulating. We only used a small bit of water for the bottom of the pool so hopefully there won't be enough iron in it to turn it green or brown. Fingers crossed!!
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Should I add a gallon and test and then retest with every gallon I add until I get to a certain number on the FC test?
 
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