Bought a pool today now help!

[GA Mark]

I purchased a 24' Pacifica pool today from the local Recreational Warehouse. How I need help.

Here is what I purchased.

24' Pacifica pool
J-hook 20Mill Liner
BaquaPure 2200 Filtration System
2Hp 2 speed Pump
Wide Mouth Skimmer
Laddder
150lb Sand Filter
Kirby Automatic pool cleaner
Cover
Baquilcil Start up kit
Leisur tabs
Light
Baquacil Start up Kit

I think we got a decant deal for $2300.

We paid $800 to have the pool installed and an additional $100 to have the installer include a Concreate pad and have the pool "hard Piped" and Zapit applacation.

I have a couple of Questions.

I was very interested in a Clorine Salt Generatior. " My dad has on on his in ground and I love it." They sell them for $299.00 however they stated that they have not had good luck with them for several reasons, IE they hang on the side and are not inline, the don't have a light to let you know they are working, They are hard to use. Is this correct?

Do I use the chemicals that came with the pool?

Do I need to look out for anything while they are installing it?

They are coming out on Moday to install it so any help or if I forgot anything would be greatly appreciated.


Thansk,

Mark

[RavenNS]

Considering what I've read here, I ask them to change your "start-up kit" to not have the baqu-crap...
keep reading about the heck that people here have gone through converting from that stuff...
regular Chlorine is the way to go!

also, is a 2hp (I assume that's full-rated) pump necessary? ( I'm asking the pool gods here, that question)

[aylad]

I would stay as far away from the baq as possible--see if they'll give you an equal amount of store credit, or knock the price of the baq off the total. It's a VERY expensive system, and you will end up converting to chlorine within the first 4 years anyway--save yourself the time and hassle. Plus, if you do decide to go with a SWG, you'll have to convert anyway.

Janet

[GA Mark]

OK now I really need help! what is the Baq-stuff anyway? Is it just the box of chemicals that came with it? Or do I need another filter system. I could care less if it cost me a little money to buy some diffrent chemicals and throw the chemicals that came with it away. I found this site after I pruchased my pool, so sorry for all of the questions so late in the process.

I quess my question is this. What do i need to go and buy for the pool installers on Monday? How do I add the chemicals when they forst set it up?

Thanks for all of your help,
Mark

[aylad]

It shouldn't change your equipment. The Baquacil system is a chemical that is advertised as an alternative to chlorine. The Baq people want you to think that dried out hair and irritated eyes are caused by Chlorine, and Baq is a way to avoid that. (The real deal is that dried hair and irritated eyes are usually from improperly chlorinated pools and/or those with improperly balanced pH, and green hair comes from copper additives, not chlorine.) The problem is that while baq can be used to maintain a clear pool, it is very, very, very, very expensive to do, and most people just don't have the time, patience, and money to properly care for it. Do yourself a favor, and go to the Baq part of this forum and read through the posts there, especially the ones during conversions.

You can start up your own water...you need a drop-based test kit (WalMart sells a 5-way for $15 that will do to get you started, most of us use the PS-234 that Ben sells on this site--you can go to Poolsolutions.com to see and order it), several gallons of plain, unscented bleach, a box of arm and hammer baking soda, a box of 20-Mule Team Borax (found in the laundry aisle at any grocery store or WalMart), and a container of cyanuric acid (also called balancer, conditioner, stabilizer--check the ingredient label, and cyanuric or isocyanuric acid will be the active ingredient. This can be found at WalMart, too). Armed with those things, we can help you balance your water and keep it clear and sparkling, while the Baqua users battle constantly cloudy water.

Janet

[GA Mark]

Janet, I first want to thank you for your generous time helping me with this. How many gallons of bleach bo you think I will need to get started?

[aylad]

I don't know how many gallons your pool holds, but you're going to need to keep your Cl level at 1-3 ppm until you get some stabilizer in the water, which is going to be at least a week. Without stabilizer, you're going to have to add the bleach daily. Here's a link to the bleach calculator a lot of us use (credit to forum member mwsmith for the calculator) to figure how much bleach to add. http://home.earthlink.net/~mwsmith70/data/BleachCalc262.exe

Change the settings to imperial, then enter your pool volume in gallons, put 6% in for strength, put 1 in for ppm desired, and hit calculate--it'll tell you how much bleach to put in to raise your ppm by 1, and you need to keep 1-3. It also performs other calculations that you can use to help balance your water.

I would probably buy 5 or 6 gallons of bleach off the bat, and then you can always get more when needed. Use the plain, unscented, generic kind. If you use Clorox brand, make sure it's not the new stuff with the added whitening ingredient.

Janet

[matt4x4]

For a 24 foot pool, you're good to go with 1 gallon of 5.25% bleach (no name walmart brand for about $1.00). If you're questionable on the water source and feel the water should be brought to shock level immediately then add 3 bottles.
For your size pool, get 1 container (approximately) 2 lbs of CYA - that's cyanuric acid, also known as stabilizer or conditioner. Place about 2/3rd into a sock and tie to the stairs, don't leave it near the liner, it's relatively corrosive.
Measure your CYA level using the kit described above after it has dissolved (about 2 days) and add more if needed. Keep CYA level between 35-50ppm, do not add too much since this is something you can only deplete by removing and replacing water, and too much of it makes your chlorine less effective forcing you to run higher chlorine levels.
For everything else, read the post under the appropriate chemical sections of teh forum, it will show you how to apply the BBB method of pool maintenance, the best method hands down.

[aylad]

I only disagree with Matt's advice on one point--I would wait at least 4-6 days before retesting for CYA and adding more. It takes a very long time to dissolve and, as he pointed out, the only way to remove it is drain/refill. I many cases, waiting 2 days isn't long enough.

Janet

[GA Mark]

OK I have determined that my pool is 15,200 gallons. So when I use the chart the you gave the link to I need to add 1 quart to raise the PPM 1. You said i need to keep it at 1-3 so i fiquire when the pool is full I will dump in 3 quarts. Correct? I am guessing that I dump it in the skimmer. Then I am confused. Janet said a week for stabalzer If I understood me correctly. And Matt said right away.

[aylad]

Add the stabilizer right away, because until you get dissolved stabilizer showing up in the water, you're going to have to add bleach daily to maintain at least 1 ppm.

It takes a long time for the stabilizer to fully dissolve. Matt said to retest for it after 2 days. I'm saying you need to wait longer than that, because in my experience it takes more like 5 days or sometimes longer to fully dissolve. If you re-test too early, you'll add more, and then when it all finishes dissolving you're likely to find that you've added too much. Since the only way to lower it is to drain water and refill, you're much better off to sneak up on the target number (I'd say 20-40 ppm) than to try to hit it all at once and overshoot. It's your call, it's your pool...my advice is to be a little conservative.

And you can either put the 3 quarts in the skimmer, or pour it slowly in front of a return--either way works fine. Just be careful not to splash it on you or the pool edge.

Janet

[jenpen400]

If you fill water is from a well you may want the pool store to test it for metals before hand. Congrats!

jennifer

[matt4x4]

Janet - if you put it in a sock, once the sock is empty, it is dissolved - thus why I said to put it in a sock. from my experience, it took 2 days for the sock to empty - water temp and amount of flow past the sock will have a lot to do with how long the dissolving takes.
I like the sock method because you CAN keep an eye on it, sprinkling it around makes it guesswork.