New Pool Owner: Splash Superpool 13x17 (7000 gal).

So I now have a Splash Superpool brand above ground pool. I bought it used and in very good condition. I have filled it and with the help of this poolsolutions am now working on my chems. So far I have only had this website at my place of any pool care eduation beyond the manuals for my pool and filter.

I have the chlorine functioning, but I need stabalizers to lenghten the life of my clorine and have CYA That I am going to start testing in small doses.

I also need to add my baking soda to buffer Ph fluctuation, right now I am at 7.8 on a Phenol Red test.

I have a basic OTO/Phenol Red test kit. The Taylor kit is in the mail.

Any tips based on this first post would be welcome.

Did you get your Taylor kit yet? Great decision to order one. You'll be glad that you did!

Tell us exactly what all you have added to the pool, meaning ingredients and not just 'shock.'

How does your water look? What is your chlorine level?

What kind of filter do you have?

Post back with the requested info and somebody here will try and help you get started.

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

Sorry for the delay, I have my taylor kit and have been taking time to learn how to use it well:

Currently my chem levels are:

Chlorine: 5 ppm
PH: 7.5
CYA: <20 ppm
Alkalinity: not checked

I wasn't too worried about Alkalinity as I have now had my pool full for 4 weeks while ramping up and testing chems. The ph was not changing. I stayed at 7.8 which I thought was about right. We took it out for a first run yesterday with about 10 people in at one time. Afterwards, I shocked it overnight and the water is clear, The ph dripped to 7.5 So I added borax (about 16 oz.) and will check later to see. I think I will pickup some baking soda just in case I experience flux now that the pool is in use.

I added CYA as per the instructions on the container I was suprised to learn how slow disslovling it is. Anyway, I added more today because my current amount seemed below impact levels. Anyway, the pool is looking good and clear I found that placing a hand held skimmer net over the skimmer basket keeps the floaties in check overnight. Overall I am still uncertain about the CYA levels and the best method to add it. I am uncertain about baking soda amounts. I think I am getting the chlorine and ph worked out.

RB
Splash Superpool 13x17 @ 7000 gal.

How much CYA did you add and when did you add it? How did you add it?

You can either put CYA in an old sock and hang it in front of return jet, or just pour the CYA slowly into your skimmer basket (what I do) and let it dissolve in the filter. You will want to keep your pump running 24/7 for 4 or 5 days afterward. Also, don't retest for a week after adding CYA to be sure it is all dissolved.

Some labels tell you to broadcast it across the pool but you don't want to do that or else it is just gonna sit on your liner. Not good.

Baking soda is used to increase alk. Go ahead and test your alk. A good reading would be somewhere between about 80-120 or so.

I added approx 2lbs of cya(hth brand) I tested ahead of recommended sched as realized the filter had not been cleaned and needed to do so before company on July 4. So I tested that am and cya just abov 30 ppm. Not bad but below min recommend. So I added about a 3/4 lb more to a sock and am letting is come up slowly. I will test in another week. The chlorine seems to be doing well and the ppm drops, but slowly from one day to the next. So I am feeling confident that I am getting a good balance of chlorine and stabalizer and will add just a little more cya slowly as described above.

The alkalinity is the shocker. I have added nothing to the water and have a 200 ppm alk. This explains my Ph being so steady. I live in an area noted for it's hard water, we all have water softeners and run lime-away through our dishwahers 2x a year. I know muriatic acid can break down the alk but also lower the Ph. I am inclined to leave the Ph alone for now, but am concerned about scale over time, especially in the filter. Maybe I need to attach a water softenter to my pool.

We had a large 4th Jul. gathering and had about 12 people in the pool which a lot for a 12x17 pool. The water is a little turbid this eve. So I decided to shock the pool. It's a good afternoon to do so as we have t-storms, wind and cloud cover so nobody will be swimming this eve. I did this and ran the pump and already it is clearer after 1 hour.

Overall, I am feeling pretty good about what I am doing and how the pool is performing. But if any suggestions based on this come to mind, let me know.

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RB
Splash Superpool 13x17, 7000 gal, above ground pool.