first results of year, re-filled pool end of last year

[vinouspleasure]

Hi,

we emptied our pool last year to resurface the bottom and fix tiles. We opened the pool a couple of weeks ago, had to replace our filter, so I've been using floaters to prevent an algae bloom and it's been pretty clear. This week we had the filter running, got all the leaves up, I vacuumed the pool yesterday and it was very clear.

Last night i tested the pool and there was zero chlorine and the ph was 6.8. I dumped in three boxes of borax and added bleach. Woke up this morning to a cloudy pool. Here are the results from the ps-234 test kit (serial number 6504!):

pool: 28K gunite
fc - 2
cc - 2
tc - 4
ph - 7
alk - 20
cal - 80
cya - dunno, my test kit is out of cya reagent!

all advice welcome.

tia,

[Watermom]

If your pool has only been open a couple of weeks and you have only been using a few trichlor tabs, your CYA can't be too high yet. So, I'm going to suggest shocking the pool up to about 15ppm and try and keep it at that level consistently by testing a couple times a day and each time adding enough bleach to get back to that level. Each gallon of bleach in your pool will add about 2ppm of chlorine. Use that as a reference to help you figure out doses of bleach to add when you test.

Your pH needs to come up some more. Go ahead and add some more Borax and try and get it between 7.2-7.8 although I like 7.4-7.6 best. Don't forget that pH test results will be inaccurate when your chlorine levels are high, so test it before you add bleach in the evenings. Your alk is also pretty low. Go ahead and start adding some baking soda to raise it a couple lbs. at a time. You can add baking soda and Borax at the same and they both go into the skimmer slowly while the pump is running.

Once your cloudiness is cleared, you should switch to using some cal-hypo for awhile to add needed calcium. You'll want a CH reading between 200-400.

Order some CYA reagent so you can get a reading as that is an important one to know.

Hope this helps!

[vinouspleasure]

thanks, you wouldn't add calcium? seems like it would be hard to move from 80 to 250 just using tabs.

[Watermom]

Cal-hypo is not tabs. It is a type of granular chlorine. You could just add calcium instead, if you prefer.

[vinouspleasure]

oh, got it, thanks!

[vinouspleasure]

ok, raised chlorine as advised for a couple of days, the water is no longer cloudy. Added calcium, baking soda and borax. I received the 2006-c kit, here are my first test results with the new kit:

pool: 28K gunite
fc - 1.2
cc - .4
ph - 7
alk - 30
cal - 150
cya - 10

dang, it looks to me like I need to add cy acid, more calcium, borax and baking soda. Any particular order?

tia

[Watermom]

You can actually work on all them. Or, maybe do bleach, borax, baking soda and then after you get your pH up a bit and get a little more chlorine in there, then worry about raising your calcium.

Are you just going to use the trichlor tabs to add your CYA or add some separately?

[vinouspleasure]

You can actually work on all them. Or, maybe do bleach, borax, baking soda and then after you get your pH up a bit and get a little more chlorine in there, then worry about raising your calcium.

Are you just going to use the trichlor tabs to add your CYA or add some separately?

thanks, I threw in a box of borax, a couple pounds of baking soda and 25 pounds of calcium tonight. I'm concerned the water is corrosive right now. My cl is low again probably because the cya is low, so I'm thinking adding cya is a quicker fix.

[Watermom]

25 lbs. of anything all at once is a LOT! I wouldn't recommend adding such large quantities of anything in one application. Better to use smaller amounts.

[vinouspleasure]

I guess I'm worried about the corrosive nature of the water, how long does it take before damage is done?

[vinouspleasure]

latest test:
pool: 28K gunite
fc - 1.2
cc - .4
ph - 7.2
alk - 70
cal - 240
cya - 10

today I threw in another 4 pounds of borax, 3 pounds of baking soda, 10 pounds of calcium and 4 pounds of cya. I also threw in enough bleach to raise fc to 4, hopefully the increase in cya will help keep it in range though I'll probably have to put more cya in to reach goal, I guess the cya can take about a week to show up in tests, so I plan to wait until next sun before testing for it again.

pool is crystal clear.

[Watermom]

You are right that CYA takes up to a week to dissolve and you are also right that you may end up needing to add a little more. In your pool, 4 lbs. should add about 20ppm of CYA.

For the next week or so, you'll probably need to add some bleach morning and evening. Once your CYA is up some, you should be able to test and dose in the evenings only.

[vinouspleasure]

moving in the right direction, water is perfectly clear, latest test:

pool: 28K gunite
fc - 3
cc - .5 (probably less, used .5 test)
ph - 7.6
alk - 80
cal - 250
cya - 20

I need to add a little more cya (goal is 30-50), I'm at the bottom of the goal range for calcium (250-400) and alk (80-100), should I adjust those up to get into the middle of the range?

[Watermom]

You can adjust those two a little if you want but actually, you're probably fine where you are. For CYA, I think you'll do better at 50 than at 30pm.