Pool is Running, First test....

Hello all,
My pool was installed Thursday, a 28' by 54" above ground, it was full and I started the filter on Friday evening. It has a chlorinator on it, so I put in several pucks like the installer suggested and it has been running on low since for about 24 hours. I took some readings today and here is what I came up with......and where should I take it from here....

Total Chlorine......doesn't register
Total Alkalinity.....39
PH.....................7.5
CYA...................Also no reading

Not sure which direction to go first..........it looks great right now, but I'd hate to see it turn on me....I will wait for your advice....thanks in advance.......

Hi, Roxy,

First of all, you've done a good job.....very few folks come to the forum with a brand new pool AND test numbers that make sense!! Congrats.:) :)

Right now, I'd do nothing. Keep your pump running on low 24/7 for now. Take your tests again tomorrow AM and post those numbers. Some Chlorine should start to show up. hopefully some CYA as well. If it does, that'll be great. If you get no Cl to show up by tomorrow AM, I think you should plan on putting in some bleach. Perhaps some CYA and baking soda as well.....it'll depend on your numbers.

It just occurred to me that you had those tests done at a pool store. If so, Please purchase a good test kit that'll test for FC, TC, pH, Alk, and CYA . You'll use that kit over and over....it'll be a great investment.

I'm not comfortable with that ALK test so I don't think you should do anything right now. I think it'll be different when you get your own kit.:)

Dave,
I did test the water myself with the 5 way kit from HTH, until I get Ben's kit, I was not comfortable with the Alk test either. When I add the drops to turn the water red, should I be adding enough to get it bright red ....I may have lost count also...I have a four year old asking many questions as she watches me play chemist....from a safe distance of course. The bleach and baking soda are waiting in the garage, will have to pick up cya though, I didn't want to jump the gun and just start pouring until I heard from all of you. Thanks again....even though I don't anticipate swimming up here in NY for awhile, I am already enjoying this.

One of the first things i'd ask your pool installer is "did you put any CYA in the pool?" If he did, and you add more, you may have a LOT more than you want, mainly because CYA takes a while to dissolve.

Your alk is low. I like to see in the 100 - 120 range.

I'd be concerned with no Cl showing up. You should see *some*. You may want to turn up the dial on your Cl feed before you develop a green pond. If you don't show any Cl tomorrow, you should put 3 quarts of plain, unscented 6% (ultra) bleach in the pool. That will bring your Cl to around 3 ppm, which will prevent the "pond syndrome" :D

Michael

Hi, Roxy,

You, Michael and I are almost on the identical page. You seem to have a really good grip on this pool chemistry stuff. Wish I had learned that fast.

The problem with your Alk test is you should never get a 39. It should be measurable in units of 10.....80, 90, 100, 110, etc. Reread your test directions and try it again tomorrow.

If you had your pool installed, Michaels advice is on the money....check to see if any CYA was already added. :) :)

Good Morning all,
You guys are good...after rereading my directions and slooowwwing myself down a bit, I was supposed to multiply by ten....NOT 3. Just tested and came up with....

PH........7.5
Cl.........Can see just a whisper of yellow, I would say towards .5 ppm
TA........110

There was nothing added to the water, the installer left after there was about 2" of water in the liner, and told me when it was full just add the pucks and crank up the dial on the chlorinator. Using Michael's bleach calc, I am planning on adding enough bleach to get me up to 3 ppm. I am thinking the pucks will bring up the cya in time....is this correct or will I need to help it initially.

Thanks....and good catch on the alk test. I hope you experts have fun as much fun with this as us new guys.

]

Hi, Roxy,

About all you need now is some CYA and a little warm weather......you're gonna have a great Summer with your pool.

I do not use pucks so I can't tell you how quickly your CYA and Cl should register but it seems like yours needs a boost. I would put in enough CYA to bring it up to about 20ppm or thereabouts. Then let the pucks do the rest up to maybe 30-40.

Likewise, I would put in enough Clorox each evening to bring my Cl level up to about 3-5ppm. The Sun will burn it off the next day so you'll have to keep adding and testing each evening until your test indicates your holding about 3ppm.

As you keep reading the forum, you'll find most of us don't use pucks. They're very low in pH and, over time, they will cause your CYA to get too high. Right now, you WANT your CYA to come up so pucks (tri-chlor) are fine but you may want to consider some alternatives down the road.

You've started your pool nicely.:) :)

Looking good! I used to keep in my back pocket how much CYA was in a puck, but I forget off hand. Your alk looks fine, so you don't have to mess with that. Dave is right about the low pH of the pucks, so if you are running the feeder pretty hard, keep an eye on your pH. If it starts heading for 7.2, you'll want to add some borax to bring the pH back up.

Michael

Dave,
The only reason I am using the pucks is because they were included in the "package". My "package" included enough chemicals for three weeks and a test kit. That's about 10 pucks and "guess strips" as I have seen them called here. I will be changing shortly.......thank you

Roxy,

Some of us do use pucks, although sparingly. What you are doing is exactly the way I open my pool every year... and it works great for me. Please don't add any extra CYA as of yet, because you already have some dissolving in your pucks, it just isn't measuring. It can take a week before you can get accurate numbers on your CYA.

In the meantime, you do need to add bleach to get your levels up as Dave said. With the CYA in question and low, any bleach you add during the day will burn off before it has a chance to work so it is just a waste of money to add it in the mornings. When you add bleach be careful that you disperse it in away from your tri-chlor feeder.

The tri-chlor pucks are actually acidic and may drive your ph levels down. Once your CYA level is measurable enough to hold some chlorine in your pool you want to at LEAST decrease the number of pucks until you get to your desired CYA.

I prefer to open my pool with the method you are using, since my CYA goes down to nothing every year in the winter. I also am one of the board members that sees a rapid and major increase in ph due to using liquid bleach in their pool (some do, some don't) so for me I start out the year with a low CYA and float a puck or two a week in addition to bleach maintenance. That helps me balance the ph rise from the bleach and slowly raises my CYA levels over the summer. My CYA never gets higher than I can handle this way, and it is simple and economical for me.

Jean

I agree with everything Jean said except "please don't add any extra CYA as of yet, because you already have some dissolving in your pucks......."

The CYA from your pucks especially if your feeder is turned down, will not raise your CYA levels quickly enough to keep you from wasting a lot of money on bleach additions that are consumed by the sun. I would add enough CYA to get your levels to about 20 ppm, (and don't retest or backwash for at least a week because it does take a long time to dissolve) and then turn your feeder down to the slowest rate. Just check your chlorine level at least every couple of days and supplement with bleach as necessary.

Janet

Also, read the label on your chemicals to see what you are actually putting into the pool.

Many pucks/tabs/sticks are tri-chlor, which will add chlorine to the pool as well as CYA.

But some 'solid' forms of chlorine products may be something else (HTH Duration capsules are/were solid cal hypo) or may add other junk (Pace 'pucks' now have copper in them!).

And it's not so much that CYA doesn't show up on a test kit right away, as it is that the usual way to add CYA is to pour the CYA granules into a skimmer where it then goes to the filter and gets trapped where it will then slowly dissolve over 5 days or so. Once it's dissolved in the water, it will show up on a test kit right away.

IMHO, put in some bleach now so you have some FC there. You can try to put the CYA in via the pucks, but I'd just go get some CYA and add it directly. The little bit of CYA in ten pucks won't be all that much anyway. Your pool should need about 4 pounds of CYA to get 30 PPM, and no way are you going to get that much CYA out of ten little pucks.

Here's the update.....
After a week of running my new numbers are:
Cl......1
Ph......7.2
Cya is still not registering....the water is getting cloudy, but not enough to hide the black dot in the 5 way test kit.

This week I have been adding bleach, and added 3 lbs. of stabilizer.....I am wondering if should add more stabilizer , or let the pucks bring the cya up the rest of the way? It has been three days since I added the stabilizer.

Hi, Roxy,

I'd stay patient with the CYA. That said, it looks like your 3lbs will only get you to 20ppm, which I feel is a little low. It's a subject with a lot of opinions but I believe CYA of about 40 is ideal. It will probably take a few more days for your test.....putting in another 2-3 lbs wouldn't hurt you, either.

It seems like your puck dispenser is painfully slow. This might be a good time to drop it completely and go to bleach. If you put in one of the 3-qt bottles of 6% clorox, you should get about a 2.5 rise in your Cl. If you have any left at the end of the day, that'll mean your CYA is starting to work.

How does your water look? If it looks fine, I think you're in good shape. Be patient with the CYA for a few more days. Adding more won't hurt but I don't think it will make it show up any faster....just get you to a level I like better. :)

Dave,
The water looks fantastic, it has been several days since I added any bleach so I believe the cya is certainly starting to work. I agree that the pucks have been super slow, but they are doing their job. I will continue to let the pucks run until I am out, it seems as though it will be several weeks before any swimming occurs around here. I think by then the cya will be up to a reasonable level and I will switch to bleach.