Opening pool - going to try BBB/Best Guess method

[Nebuchadnezzar]

I'll try to keep this brief and to the point. My pool's stats are in my sig - came with the house and I got the impression that the pool was original while the equipment was fairly new, but the homeowner was unhelpful/dishonest about most things so I'm going by the condition. Long story involved, but the thing has been covered since last year and I'm now going to attempt to open it. I already pumped about 10 kgal off the pool cover and that has helped chase away the frogs.

I don't know exactly what to expect when I pull the cover off this weekend, but if I remember my plant biology correctly, algae need sunlight, so at least I won't have a green swamp - but I will probably have a lot of dead crap in there (here in the ATL the bane of my pool-owning existence has been pine straw).

I've been lurking here a while, reading up on things and I think I know what to do. So my plan is this: brush the sides and bottom, rake up what I can. Maybe vacuum but that's another story. Refill the pool as it's down about a third, and dump 8 gal of household bleach in, let the pump run for a while and see what happens.

I do not have a test kit that's worth a damn, I will get one, either from Amazon or maybe from Leslie's since it looks like they sell the real-deal ones that test for what I need to know. Though if I'm wrong I'm sure someone here will tell me about that. So right now I have no idea about CYA levels, my guess is they may be high as I was pool-storing it for about 2 years, but then the pool was drained/evaporated over the past year and I'll be adding a bunch of water. So I figured about 16ppm would be a good start.

I guess I could test the pH but the water hasn't really been circulating, and anyway does that matter right now? I know a high pH will make the Cl less effective, but at this point I'd think I just need to shock it and clean the crap out of it since I have no hard numbers to work with.

Anyway, let me know what you think, if I'm leaving anything out, etc. I feel a lot better about the pool now than I used to, the damn pool store always had an answer and never had a solution for my problems. When I read about CYA I about punched the wall. So frustrating, all the Cl, foaming algaecide, black stuff ("clarifier?" Can't remember) ... I think now I've got a handle on it and my wife needs it for her water therapy/aerobics so that's incentive.

[PoolDoc]

Hi nezzar;

Don't get your kit from Leslies -- they only sell the DPD tabs version (at least online). Use the Amazon links in my sig OR Google and order the Taylor K2006 or 2006C.

Do get a cheap OTO / phenol red kit from Walmart or where ever if you open before the Taylor unit arrives. Getting one is a good idea anyhow, for quick checks.

Do NOT assume you'll open algae free, or with stabilizer. Add 2 gallons of plain 6% bleach per 10,000 gallons IMMEDIATELY upon opening. If your chlorine is not high near sunset, repeat, and again in the AM if it's not high.

Don't put 8 gallons of bleach in small pool, until you know what your stabilizer is. That's 48 ppm dose, and would bleach the heck out of most liners and some paints. (If you have a plastered, but unpainted, concrete pool you can put whatever you like in.)

Good luck.

Ben

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Hi Ben, thanks for the fast response and the helpful tips.

I was actually looking at this kit from Leslies: http://www.lesliespool.com/Home/Pool-Chemicals/Water-Testing/Test-Kits/81329.html which looks to be exactly the same as the one on Amazon, just 20 bucks more for the impatient. I guess I could be wrong, though.

I already have a cheap kit that came with the house pool - should that be good enough if I were to wait for my new kit to arrive in the mail? Obviously if I could wait I'd prefer to throw you guys some help with your affiliate links.

My pool is about 30,000 gallons, which was why I was thinking 8 - that would work out to 16ppm, right? I figured I'd go for broke but if you think I could get by with 12 ppm (6 gallons of bleach), then OK. I have a concrete (unpainted) pool so I'm not worried about nuking anything with bleach in my pool, except, of course, all organic matter. Am I getting the math right on this? Should be 1 gal 6% household bleach = 2ppm in 10,000 gallons of pool water if I read your guides right.

Well, I will follow your advice when I open, since you didn't say either way I'm assuming the brushing/vaccuming/raking goes without saying. God knows what's under that cover.

BTW, thanks for your advice and for running this forum.


Hi nezzar;

Don't get your kit from Leslies -- they only sell the DPD tabs version (at least online). Use the Amazon links in my sig OR Google and order the Taylor K2006 or 2006C.

Do get a cheap OTO / phenol red kit from Walmart or where ever if you open before the Taylor unit arrives. Getting one is a good idea anyhow, for quick checks.

Do NOT assume you'll open algae free, or with stabilizer. Add 2 gallons of plain 6% bleach per 10,000 gallons IMMEDIATELY upon opening. If your chlorine is not high near sunset, repeat, and again in the AM if it's not high.

Don't put 8 gallons of bleach in small pool, until you know what your stabilizer is. That's 48 ppm dose, and would bleach the heck out of most liners and some paints. (If you have a plastered, but unpainted, concrete pool you can put whatever you like in.)

Good luck.

Ben

[PoolDoc]

Right kit; right calcs . . . and nothing to worry about if you have an unpainted concrete pool.

Go for it!

Ben

PS. Didn't know Leslie's had started selling the K2006.