Setting up 12' pool at the end of the summer - chemicals?

Hello again,

I have a question about chemicals. we just set up our Intex 12x30 metal frame pool this week, the first week of August. I know that in a few weeks it will be getting too cool to swim, but we wanted to give the kids a pool experience while summer was still here. I plan to drain and disassemble the pool to store it for winter.

Here is my question: what kind of chemical kit should I be looking at right now? I see the starter kits with the chlorine shock and all kinds of different things to get the pH balanced. But since the pool has just been filled, it isn't the same thing as cleaning up a pool that has sat over the winter. I bought a testing kit online, for the chlorine, pH, algae, and so on, but at this point in the season, would just adding pool bleach or chlorine bleach suffice to keep the pool safe until I take it apart next month?

Thanks again, for any help!

Audrey in NJ

While there's no substitute knowledge and testing, 1/4 cup of ultra bleach (8.25%) should raise the chlorine level to roughly 5ppm. But get yourself a simple OTO/pH test kit and test the water everyday, to make sure chlorine level stays up. Without other chemicals, testing your chlorine level and pH everyday at least once is critical. Most OTOs go only to 3, so if it's more yellow than the 3 level (ignore the bromine side) it should be fine. But if it's orange, it's too high and you'll want to let it wait and come down.

Better still, is start reading here and at our sister site, PoolSolutions.com. All it costs is the time to read.

Thank you, Carl. I will do some reading on in, and I have a testing kit arriving tomorrow in the mail. The water still looks really clear, so I'm hoping that it isn't too late to keep it nice.

I appreciate your help, thanks again!

We have a Super Simple Start-up Recipe that is perfect for newly filled pools. You can read about it here:> http://pool9.net/ssr/

What kind of test kit did you buy?

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

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Thanks for the welcome! The test kit that I bought was the Poolmaster 22260 Basic 5-way Test Kit. As Carl suggested, I put 1/4 cup of 8.25% bleach in the water last night before I went to bed. When the test kit arrived mid-morning, I checked the chlorine, pH, and total alkalinity. Chlorine was really really light, almost no yellow at all (lower than the 0.6 color), pH was lighter yellow than the 6.8, pretty acidic, and alkalinity was only ten. Reading a little about the BBB method, it said to add baking soda to bring alkalinity up and pH up. That pool calculator website was so neat, I added the amount that it said to add, and it was spot-on! Alkalinity was brought to exactly 50! Then I put in some borax to raise the pH and another 1/4 cup of bleach, and when I tested it later, the numbers were right where I wanted them to be. This is a neat website, so much useful information.

Thanks for your help!

Make sure that your pH is above 7 asap. Acidic readings can damage your pool and equipment.

Glad you are enjoying the forum!

You can use 20 Mule Team Borax or Arm&Hammer Washing Soda (both in the laundry aisle at your supermarket) to raise pH. I wouldn't add more than a cup at a time of either, wait a couple of hours, then test pH again. If the pH isn't in the 7.2-7.8 range, add more.

Also you can add another 1/4 cup of bleach, and test the chlorine when you test the pH. If it's still low, add more bleach.

One note of caution about the pool calculator website: With chlorine as a major exception, it's best to sneak up on your desired chem levels in the pool because in the real world things happen that the caculator wasn't designed to handle.

When you calculate an adjustment, dose half the calculated amount, let it mix and test again. If it still needs adjustment in the same direction, use half again as much and repeat. This test - adjust - test - adjust ... cycle will save you from the hassle of over adjust - then over adjust the other way - then back again - and on and on.

For chlorine, especially bleach, add what you need - if you go a little over, the sun will bring it down pretty quick.

BigDave is 100% correct and I'm annoyed with myself for not saying it! Yes, "sneak up" on levels you want for pH, T/A, CH and CYA, but not for chlorine.