Brand New Pool, Want to start it RIGHT!

[karatekachick]

Hi,
I am in TN and have an above ground 24' pool being installed this week. Its 52" high and I seriously want to start it out right.

We have very very high Chlorine water here, so bad you can smell it coming out of the faucet, so that will be an issue. Plus I have 2 children who do not tolerate most peoples pools very well, just allergies and such. I want my kids to enjoy this summer. We had a friend with a salt system, the kids were fine, but thats not really in the budget or for above ground pools I have been told.

I almost bought $200 worth of Baqucil products the other day but just had an uneasy feeling about the whole thing. So, I began my online search. I really like the Nature2 thing, but still don't know enough about this stuff to really make an informed purchase.

I don't current have ANYTHING, so I need a kind person to give me some pointers, maybe a shopping list??? That would be incredible, a "Must Have's" list to get me started! LOL ohhh and a recipe, does anyone have one of those???

Please ask any questions, give any advice or just pop in and say Hi! I love to meet new people and would REALLY love to learn about caring for my pool the proper way. This seems to be the place! I also read something about maintaining a high Ph?? Does anyone have a few moments to explain that one to me?

We have a Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, Sams and several pool stores close by.

Thanks in advanced for any and all help, I really appreciate it!

Char

[aylad]

Hi Char, and welcome to the forum!!!!

First off, let me tell you that maintaining your pool will be so much easier and cheaper this year than it could have been--you were very, very smart to avoid the Bacquacil products--for what you were going to spend on them, you could have a clean, clear chlorine pool for almost the whole year!! You were also smart to skip the Nature 2--they don't do much at all for maintaining safe water, and they add metals. If you don't yet know what a nightmare that can be, go to the Metals forum and read a few of the current posts!!!!

I suspect that what you're smelling in the water there is chloramines, not chlorine--some municipal systems use that for water sanitation (don't ask me how it works, I just know they do!!). Once your pool is properly balanced, you shouldn't have that smell.

The first and foremost thing I would buy is a good, drop-based test kit. They can be kind of pricey, but if you get the right one, it will test everything you ever would need to maintain your pool, and will save you its price hundredfold in money, time, aggravation, and lost pool time trying to recover from all the junk the pool stores try to sell you when you go in to have your water tested (and often give inaccurate results). We recommend the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C (it's the same kit, just with more reagents). You can reorder reagents separately if/when you run out. Two of the best online prices I've seen are at http://www.spspools-spas.com and http://www.amatoind.com. Leslie's pools also sometimes carry a relabeled version of the same kit. A good test kit is going to be in the top 3 absolute necessities if you're going to get the most out of your pool!

You're going to need some plain, unscented bleach (WalMart's Ultra generic is what I buy) or if you live in a state where 12.5 % liquid chlorine is sold, many other folks on this forum use that. Carl, one of the other mods, buys it by the carboy. You are also going to need some stabilizer, also sold at pool stores, WalMart, and sometimes Lowe's or Home Depot. It is sometimes labeled as "balancer", "conditioner", or "stabilizer", but if you'll look at the ingredient list, the main ingredient should be cyanuric or isocyanuric acid. You'll need somewhere around 3 lbs. I bought a 4-lb container of it this year in the spa section of WalMart's chemicals.

Two of the other commonly used items here are Borax, for raising pH, and baking soda for raising alkalinity. Don't buy those in pool quantities yet, though--because you may not need them. When you fill the pool, use your test kit to run a set of tests for chlorine (free, combined, and/or total), pH, and alkalinity. Don't bother to test for CYA or stabilizer, because it won't be there until you add it. You can test for calcium hardness if you want, but it really doesn't matter for a vinyl pool unless it's over 250 ppm or so. Might not be a bad idea just to get a baseline.

When you get your test kit, it wouldn't hurt to run a complete set of those tests (except for the CYA) on your fill water. I realize it'll be much the same as testing the newly filled pool, but it won't hurt to practice with the kit. Once you get a set of results, post them here and we can help you go from there.

You're gonna love having a pool!!

Janet

[CarlD]

Yes, Jan's right.

Usually, what you smell is used-up chlorine, called combined chloramines. It smells like chlorine and irritates eyes and skin.

Amazingly, the BEST way to get rid of it is to add more chlorine! It breaks down the combined chloramines.

I frequently have high levels of chlorine but you can't smell chlorine! If you stick your arm in the water, you'll smell it because the chlorine is neutralizing what's on your skin, which, technically, are contaminants.

The Leslies kit Jan referred to is called the FAS-DPD Service Test Kit and it's only available from Leslies on-line, not in the stores. Most pool store workers don't have a clue what the FAS-DPD chlorine test is.

If you decide, at some point, you really don't like using chlorine (and it happens) you can easily go to bromine (which seems to be better than Baquacil) or Bacquacil. But once you learn our easy methods of maintenance, you'll figure out the chlorine problems your child had were due to poor pool maintenance.

[adesalvo]

Your pool is about 14,500 gallons.

You will need about 3.5 pounds of stabilizer/conditioner/CYA to start.

After that you need

Muriatic acid - 1 gallon
Bleach - 3 or 4 gallons
Arm and Hammer baking soda - 12 lb bag can usually be found at Sam's/Costco
Borax - 1 or 2 4# boxes

This is the test kit that I use...http://tftestkits.net/splash-page.html

and $55 is a great price https://asp5.secure-shopping.com/spspools/details.asp?prodid=1259&cat=1200&path=


Finally, you can use poolcalculator.com/ to figure out how much to add

[karatekachick]

Thank You everyone! Awesome information already! Please please keep the info coming, even if its a repeat, I am going against the flow here and its going to be interesting!

OK, this is what I have done.

I bought a VERY SMALL test kit from the pool store ( they only had one, a little $10 one at that, LOL, rest were test strip ones), to test the water coming out of the faucet and such and ordered a big one, but that one will take a few days. So I grabbed the Mini just in case the other does not get here in time for pool setup.

Going to Walmart today to compare all these labels, last time I checked the walmart brand was exactly the same as the other, so we will see.

And I am going to read every word I can find on this website! LOL

[Watermom]

Welcome to the forum! You have been given some good advice so far. I'm just gonna tweak it a little and throw in my opinion.

Don't buy any muriatic acid yet. You may find that you don't need it and you can always get it later if you do. I have had my pool for 10 years and have never once needed to add any.

I wouldn't buy the 12 lb. bag of baking soda. Although he is right that it is probably a much better price per pound, you most likely won't need anywhere near that much. I know I have not used that much total in all the years I have had my pool. Maybe just pick up a 2 or 3 small boxes to have on hand. If you find that you need it, you can always get a big bag later.

Do buy the Borax though. It is good to have on hand and you will more than likely need it once in awhile.

I want to caution you to go slow especially with adding the cya (stabilizer) to the pool. You want to gradually get to your desired level (I like around 40ppm) instead of adding a huge dose and then overshooting your target. The only way to get rid of it, is to do a partial drain. Aim for an initial level of about 25-30 and then tweak it from there.

Glad you found us. Let us know when you get set up and do your first water testing. Post your numbers and we'll point you in the right direction!

BTW -- If you are planning to read every word you can find on this website, you better get started and I hope you don't need any sleep! This forum is a BIG place!

[karatekachick]

Yeah my numbers are BAD wonkey.

Ph: 7.2
Clo: 5.1
Alk: 140
FC: 1.5

OK so my Clo is way low, I know what to do with that, a DUH moment. But the PH is low and the Alk is High.

The water was very irritating to my sons eyes, I really need some help with this, I dont want to add anything till I hear from y'all....................

[PoolDoc]

OK, I give.

What is "Clo"?

Is that total chlorine? And your free chlorine is 1.5?

Ok questions:

1. You filled with 'stinky' tap water, right? Are these readings before, or after you added chemicals?
2. If you added chemicals, what chemicals did you add?
3. Regardless of everything else, please test your tap water (assuming that that's what you fill with) and include those results, too.
4. Have you added ANYTHING from your Baquacil purchase? If so, what?

Basically, your next post needs to list everything you've added to your pool water; an explanation of what "Clo" is, or how you tested for it (kit brand name?); your POOL test results, AND your fill water (tap water?) test results.

PoolDoc