No questions yet...

Hello to PF. I will soon be the new owner of an Intex 15' X 48" Steel pole frame pool. After ordering the pool I did a google search and found the pool forum. I've been reading a lot, there is a wealth of information here! After reading, I've decided that I want a sand filter and a SWCG. The Intex 1600gph sand filter/SWCG combo seems to be an upgrade to the pump/filter that comes with the pool and hopefully will meet my needs as I have it ordered.

I have a neighbor who is a contractor who will be levelling an area for my pool with his skidsteer and laser level. I will be using a k-2006 test kit. I will be purchasing salt, sand, bleach, borax, muriatic acid, and stabilizer/CYA. The water here is from a utility company well and is fairly hard. I'm not sure about metals yet but hoping that won't be a problem.

So like I said, no questions yet. Just a hello and hoping I'm on the right track. Any suggestions, advice, and/or corrections would be appreciated!

Great start! Many of us (Me) put up our first intex then have to drain it and rebuild it when we learn that looks level and is level are different.
Great start! The K-2006 lets you know what you need to know to manage your pool.
Great start! You know where your water's coming from and have given it some thought. The utility should be able to give you a water quality report - probably on thier website. It would be good to know if you have significant metals in addition to hard water.
Great start! You've considered your startup chems and will have them on hand before you fill.

Have you considered starting your pool by manually chlorinating with dichlor until you reach your CYA target? This will likely be the quickest way to get CYA in your pool as dichlor adds 9ppm CYA with every 10ppm FC. Do make sure it doesn't have mystery ingredients or metals.

Welcome to the forum, you do seem to be on the right track.

If you would, fill out the Pool Chart; it takes 30 seconds, and makes it MUCH easier for us to give you good advice:

Pool Chart Entry Form
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Thanks for the response Dave. Good idea to check the utilities report, and I have done this now. The report is not very complete, doesn't include calcium, hardness, alkalinity, iron, or much of anything that appeared to be useful, plus it's from 2010. It does show that the pH was 7.93, copper= .23 ppm, chloride= 33 ppm, soduim= 28 ppm, and sulfate= 37 ppm.

The dichlor is an excellent suggestion! I'll see what is available here. I also want to test the fill water before I make any final decisions.

Thanks again!

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Originally Posted by rmk_racer

The dichlor is an excellent suggestion! I'll see what is available here. I also want to test the fill water before I make any final decisions.

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If you need stabilizer, and have access to a Sams Club, buy their 24lb pack of 1# bags of 100% dichlor shock. Each bag will add about 7 ppm of chlorine, and about 6 ppm of stabilizer, per 10K gallons of water. Otherwise, order dichlor from Amazon:

Kem-Tek Dichlor 22 lbs

We do NOT recommend buying dichlor locally, otherwise, at least until you are an EXPERT reader of chemical labels. The chlorinating pool chemicals sold at Walmart, Kmart, Costco, and most other local stores are diluted blends, sometimes with copper and other products with bad side-effects.

Hi Watermom and thanks for the advice! I'm far from an expert at reading chemical labels but I do have a minor in chemistry so I don't feel uncomfortable reading the labels. I am concerned that my water will already have plenty of TA. I just need my K-2006 to show up so I can find out and go from there. Thanks again!

You are welcome!

Well my pool is up and is looking good! I built a 2X4 frame, leveled it, and filled with sand. The pool is about 1/2" off level, not bad. I've added salt, and some bleach (about 1/2 gallon) the first night. I also added 2# of stabilizer via a sock and have been running the pump 24/7, and the SWCG for 4 hours per day. This morning these were my #'s:
FC = 4
CC = 0
pH = 7.2
CYA = 35
TA = 120
CH = 90

Water is clear and sparkling. And cold, 68*! Hopefully the solar cover will help with that soon. I'm planning on adding an additional pound of stabilizer which should raise the level to 50-60. I think I'm on the right track, any suggestion tho? Thanks!

Looks good. Why is it so cold?

Well Ben, northeast Nevada is high desert, nothing like Vegas (thank goodness!). The elevation at my house is approx. 5800 feet. While it's getting into the upper 80's or mid
90's during the day, it's cooling off into the low 40's at night. It snowed over Memorial Day weekend. Summers are relatively short here, hence the small inexpensive pool. But it sure feels good on the days it does get hot!

Ok. The plastic solar mats would work well for you. AND, any kind of cover that prevented evaporative heat loss would be a big difference, as well.

Thanks PoolDoc. The solar panel is working well. I couldn't be more pleased with how my pool turned out. Thanks Pool Forum!

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Originally Posted by rmk_racer

I couldn't be more pleased with how my pool turned out. Thanks Pool Forum!

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Great to hear and ........ you are very welcome! Enjoy the pool!

Wanted to give an update!
My pool has been fantastic!! Water temp. is about 85*, clear, and sparkling.

Here are my test results from the K-2006 kit:
pH = 7.2 I haven't had to add borax or muriatic acid
FC has been holding at 6-8.5 ppm
CC = 0
CYA = 55-60

To maintain FC I've been running the SWCG for 1 to 3 hours per day depending on use. I did NOT connect the copper ionizer.

This has been super simple and easy thanks to this forum and all of you! Thanks pool forum!!

"Super simple and easy" also thanks to your planning and research - kudos to you!