Opening up new pool put in last fall

[Vanfull]

We had an 18X36 oval above ground put in last fall so we would be ready to go this summer. We had it closed last year by the pool company. Opened it up yesterday and the water is crystal clear. i have just a small test kit. The pH and Chlorine were both up to the darkest color comparison ( so CL at least 5 and pH at least 8. We put the hose in to fill up the pool and have the new DE filter waiting for the water to fill so we can get it up and running.

I bought test strips but am Looking for recommendations for a good test kit.

We previously ran our pool in our old house on just plain bleach but It was 10 years ago so I have alot of refreshing to do because I cant remember much about it!

Sny help on what we do next would be great! Also I have 2 cases of POOL SHOCK here that is 15% chlorine and 12 1/2 % sodium hypochlorite. Can I use that to chlorinate or should I go get plain bleach and put this away for fall?

[Watermom]

Sodium hypochlorite is bleach so unless there is something else mixed in with that, what you have is just strong bleach. (Regular household bleach is just 6% sodium hypochlorite). So, unless there is some other gunk in there, (which I doubt but you better look at the ingredients to be sure), then it should be fine to use.

If your chlorine is much higher than 5, your pH test may be inaccurate. High chlorine causes falsely high pH readings. Until you buy the good kit, you can use a dilution method to make your test kit read higher. More about that here: Testing Without a Good Kit (http://poolsolutions.com/gd/how-to-test-your-pool-without-a-good-testkit.html )

The test kit you want to get is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C which you can get from the testkit link in my signature below. It is the best one out there. You cannot buy it locally, however.

Hope this helps! Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[Vanfull]

Thanks! I found the link and ordered the kit from Amazon. The chlorine level was down today and so was the pH so I have stabilizer in a panyhose in the skimmer and added a gallon of shock to keep the water clean until my kit arrives.