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We just bought our first pool and filling it up tomorrow. Most likely we'll be filtering the well water to reduce orange water or using a fire dept to fill with city water. Either way...what is the best way to start treating the water.... Do we need to get rid of iron first with pool magnet or start with getting the PH and TA corrected first? Then should we use stabilizer / conditioner before we use chlorine tablets and shock and swim? Not really sure where to begin. Thx...
Hi, and welcome to the forum!!
Using well water is going to create some big challenges for you with a new pool, until you get a handle on how to deal with your chemistry, so if at all possible, I would try for city water (assuming it doesn't contain metals). If you do have to use the well water, if there's any way possible to pre-filter it, do so...the more metal you can filter out before it gets into the pool, the easier this is going to be for you. You can use the Google search link in my sig to search through the forums for ideas that other people have used in the past (you may have to log out in order to read those threads, until your registration is completed by Pooldoc). If you use the well water, you'll need to use a metal sequestrant (they don't actually remove the metals--they just keep them suspended in your water so they don't fall out and stain your pool). Don't worry about the TA for now, and just make sure the pH is in the 7.0-7.6 range. You'll need to add enough chlorine to keep algae from growing, but you can't immediately shock the pool due to the metals, so you need to keep your chlorine in the 2-4 ppm range. In order to do this, you're going to need a test kit. WalMart sells a 6-way hth kit that is pretty good, but at the very least you're going to need an OTO kit that uses yellow and red drops to measure pH and chlorine. Until you have stabilizer in the water, you're going to need to add chlorine throughout the day, because the sun will consume it pretty quickly. Using trichlor tabs in a floater (assuming they are not the copper-containing kind) might be the best way to keep it chlorinated for now, but make sure to take the floater out while there are kids in the pool. You'll also need to keep an eye on your pH, because the trichlor will tend to push it downward. If your tabs contain copper, I would take them back and try a different supplier. Not all tabs contain it, but the ones from WalMart down here do.
If you use the city water, you still need a good test kit, but once you get the chlorine and pH in the right place, you can add your stabilizer and not have to worry so much about the water chemistry.
What size/volume is your pool, what size pump do you have, and what size/type of filter?
Thank you! I'm hoping we can get city water and have it delivered..it would be so much quicker! Our pool is 18x48 and about 6400 gallons. It's an Intex pool with the 1500 gallon filter pump and Intex filters (type A). Would you recommend the OTO kit with drops over the test strips?
Absolutely. "Guess strips", as we call them, can often tell you if there IS or IS not a level of something in the pool, but will not reliably tell you "how much". Drop-based testing is always more reliable, even if the tests the kit will run are limited. The 6-way hth would be even better....Quote:
Originally Posted by newbiepool
Yes, and the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C would be even better! Ben has written in a few posts today that our main sellers on Amazon are currently out of stock, so you may want to wait a couple of days before checking. One of the sellers on Amazon that we really like is Amato Industries. So, check Amazon a little later in the week and see if they have restocked yet. (See the test kit link in Janet's signature above.)Quote:
Originally Posted by aylad
Welcome to the Pool Forum!
Thanks Watermom. We had gotten the 6 hth kit so when we need another I will see if they are available on Amazon. :) We had to filter well water so hopefully our chlorine tablets are copperfree and the filtering helped!
If you have the HTH 6-Way kit, you can pick up a small add on kit (K-1515) which will give you the FAS-DPD kit a and you'll be good to go. It is on the test kit page in my signature.
Awesome...thx :)
You are welcome!
Quote:
If you use the well water, you'll need to use a metal sequestrant (they don't actually remove the metals--they just keep them suspended in your water so they don't fall out and stain your pool). Don't worry about the TA for now, and just make sure the pH is in the 7.0-7.6 range. You'll need to add enough chlorine to keep algae from growing, but you can't immediately shock the pool due to the metals, so you need to keep your chlorine in the 2-4 ppm range.
We added a couple trichlor tablets this morning and they aren't doing much...just sitting there. It is really cold today (55degrees) not sure if that matters. We did use filtered well water to fill it and it doesn't seem as rusty. We also wondered about the BBB method...should we skip the tablets and use bleach? If so how much? I did use the kit to check chlorine and pH and the pH is good but no chlorine. Not really what to do next...any suggestions?
Thanks! :)
You can definitely just use bleach if you want but if you do, you'll have to add some CYA separately which would be fine.
In your small pool, each quart of 6% bleach will add about 2.3ppm of chlorine. Until you get some CYA in there, the chlorine will disappear fast especially on a hot sunny day. I'd add a couple quarts and see if that will give you enough to make it through the day without it all disappearing by evening.
If you decide to go this route (bleach) you'll want to add some CYA to an old sock and hang it in front of a return jet. 2 lbs. of it would give you a reading of about 40ppm which would be good. If you give the sock a squeeze every once in awhile, it will dissolve faster. But, if you do add this CYA separately, you won't want to use the trichlor pucks or dichlor shock powder since they both have CYA in them. When you buy it, it may be labeled as stabilizer or conditioner. Check the label ingredients. You want cyanuric or isocyanuric acid.
Will the iron and other metals in the well water affect the bleach or cyanuric or isocyanuric acid or will they affect the ability of the iron to filter out of the pool?
Iron doesn't affect much of anything, except pools and swimsuits -- those, it turns brown or orange. But it's harmless to people and doesn't really interfere with the chemistry. It CAN make the pool very cloudy.
If you are already up and running, do all these things, and you may find you can operate without lots of complexity:
1. Keep your pH on the low end of the scale (7.0 - 7.4) -- this minimizes the problems with iron.
2. Run your filter a lot, and keep the cartridges clean.
3. Very carefully, use a liquid clarifier, to help your filter remove the iron as particles form.
4. Try to avoid adding a lot of chlorine all at once -- it tends to make the iron drop out all at once. Raising it gradually is better.
5. As soon as you have a complete set of test results, please post them.
Thanks! We are using or trying to use BBB method. Just adding a little bleach every day. Today the water temp got up to about 70 degrees so no one has used it yet. We'll get a clarifier in and I will try to post some results tomorrow. :) Thanks for your help..
Test results today were pH 7.2, Chlorine 5, TA 220 (I added 17 drops and it was starting to turn red added more and it was mostly red when I got to 22 - I am new to testing so I'm just going by what the paper said to do). Should I add borax to lower the TA? How much?
If you would, please enter your pool info in this form:Pool Chart Entry FormMakes it much easier for us to give good answers.
Pool Chart Results
+ Borax doesn't lower TA; it raises pH. Right now, you don't need to raise pH OR lower TA.
+ Filter, filter filter.
+ Don't let your chlorine get below 2 ppm.