"Grocery" shopping list for my pool.

[OOsever]

Just finished painting my 36k gal IG concrete pool Saturday morning after buying the house last summer and doing much work to clean and prep. Going to start filling it in a couple days and my source will be city water from the hose. I want to try to get all the products I need to get the pool swim ready in a reasonable amount of time and I wanted to try to minimize the amount of trips to the store since the nearest reliable place to get most of the products is 20 miles round trip. Is there a calculator I can use (or is anyone really good at figuring these things out) that spits out relatively accurate amounts of product needed to reach a desired ppm level for the various readings we are looking for? I'd like to get CYA to 60, TA to 80, CH to 300, and Borate to 50 (is this enough for algae prevention?) How much cal-hypo, baking soda, muriatic acid, borax, stabilizer should I aim for in my first trip? Should I assume 0 ppm on everything out of the hose or is there likely a chance of something already there?

[aylad]

Don't assume a 0 ppm on everything--in some places, the water comes out almost perfect, except for the stabilizer. You really should get a test kit (see the test kit link in my sig) and test your tap water (except for CYA--there won't be any, so save your reagents). Post those numbers here and we'll be happy to help you go from there with an idea of what you're going to need.

[PoolDoc]

Complete our new Pool Chart form -- it takes about 30 seconds, but will save much more than that. And, we'll be able to help with your doses.
Pool Chart Entry Form (http://goo.gl/cNPUO)
Pool Chart Results (http://goo.gl/PXaLu)


Should I assume 0 ppm on everything out of the hose or is there likely a chance of something already there?
Absolutely. Tap water OFTEN has high TA or CH values.

But, don't obsess: it's a pool, not a concrete pit filled with numbers!

However, DO read the test kit page linked in my signature, and DO get a K2006. They are pretty important on all pools, but pretty essential on gunite pools, which require more careful management of alkalinity and calcium levels.

[Watermom]

You might find the bleach calculator in the following thread handy. (It is more than just a bleach calculator. If you click in the upper left-hand corner, it gives you some other calculators as well.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?11418-bleach-calc

[OOsever]

I bought the Taylor K-2006C(Through your link to amazon ;)) last week just hadn't gotten around to opening it yet. Ran the test on CH (80ppm) and TA (350ppm). TA looks rediculously high, thought I possibly messed the test up somehow, but ran it again at the 10ml sample and got the same thing. The only way to lower it is lowering pH and aerating correct?

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Already filled out the pool chart form on 6/7/12

[PoolDoc]

The high TA is possible; public utility water is sometimes treated with a method called "lime softening" that can leave exit water with very high TA.

And yes, the only practical way to lower it is to lower the pH to just below 7.0 (or as low as your test kit allows) and then aerate.

[waterbear]

You might find the bleach calculator in the following thread handy. (It is more than just a bleach calculator. If you click in the upper left-hand corner, it gives you some other calculators as well.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?11418-bleach-calc
Do not use the borax calculatoin section. It contains an error. When you get the water balanced and are ready to add the borax just start a thread and we can walk you through it (pick up some LaMotte borate test strips first).

HOWEVER, it is more important to get your TA in line and get the rest of your water where it needs to be before even thinking about adding borate. IT is the LAST step in water balancing.