Starting from Scratch

So, this season I am starting from scratch with "clean" water in a drained and refilled pool. Testing the new water for the first time:

FC=0
CC=0
pH=8.0
CYA=0
TA=80 (sweet!)

The pH is high, but only took 1 drop of the Taylor reagent (R-0005 I think) to drop it to 7.4, so it's not incredibly high. Should I go get some muriatic acid, or let it ride until I get the chlorine and CYA levels in check? I also have some sodium bisulfate "pH reducer" from In the Swim that I bought last year before I found you guys and became a BBB convert. I know you don't recommend this but can I use it since the pH levels are not that far off and shouldn't take too much?

As far as the CYA, I have about 4 lbs. granulated and a boatload of 3" trichlor pucks (also purchased before I saw the light). Seems like trichlor would work well as a startup in this situation to add both Cl and CYA, but which would you recommend and how much?

Andrew

Trichlor is acidic so if you decide to use it for awhile, it will drop the pH for you. The only drawback to using the trichlor is that until you have some CYA in there, you'll have to be adding chlorine often. So, you might want to go ahead and add your 4 lbs. of granular CYA which should add about 25ppm of CYA, to get some stabilizer in there more quickly. Then, use your trichlor for awhile. Once your CYA is 40-50, you'll want to switch to an unstabilized form of chlorine like bleach. Alternately, if you don't mind having to add chlorine so often (as in several times per day at first), then you can just use trichlor and not add the granular CYA. Either of these options will work just fine.

(Don't forget to watch your pH while using trichlor.)

So, I can use baking soda to lower pH? I know to use it to increase alkalinity.

No. My brain isn't working today! I edited my post above.

PH Reducer is sodium bisulfate. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. You can use the pH reducer (dry acid) but if you're going to use the Trichlor, I wouldn't bother. The trichlor will drop your pH.

Haha. I have a 2 month old and 1 year old at home so I completely understand being brain fried!

Thanks for clarification.