Pool needing complete overhaul! But i'm willing to go the distance.

[Watermom]

Add some more bleach. A newly filled unchlorinated pool will turn green faster than you can imagine. Wait til you get your kit before trying to adjust the other things. For now, just concentrate on keeping some chlorine in there. It will be tough because with no CYA you'll lose it fast to the sun. When is the pump supposed to be there?

The only thing you need in that list from the pool store is the muriatic acid which will be used to lower the pH. You can just buy regular baking soda to raise the TA. Pool store Alk Plus is the same thing at a much higher cost. What kind of shock were they trying to sell you? Since this is a plaster pool, you'll need your calcium hardness to be between 200-400. So, it might be a good idea to use some cal-hypo as your source of chlorine until your CH comes up a bit. Then you can switch to bleach or some other form of liquid chlorine. One other thing you will need to buy is some stabilizer (a.k.a. as CYA, or conditioner). You're going to need about 7 lbs. of it. That will give you about 40ppm which will be a good level.

[OldPoolYoungKidFirstHouse]

Hey Watermom,

Thank you for your help. I just checked my tracking number again and the pump is being delivered today! It should be at the house when i get out of work. I will definately get some chlorine in the pool i like the idea of adding cal-hypo until the calcium comes up to between 200-400 ppm and then going back to bleach. I will also purchase stabilizer. Is there a certain kind of stabilizer to buy or whatever i can get. Baking soda for TA and muriatic acid to lower pH. Ok i think i got it, i will be waiting to add anything until my test kit arrives like you instructed. I am hoping i will get the plumbing done today if i can get started soon enough. I'll keep updating this thread because without it I would be lost. Thank you for your help.

[Watermom]

Is your kit also going to be delivered today? Do you have any kind of kit? If not, go ahead and pick up a cheap OTO/Phenol Red kit from Walmart (yellow and red drops). You cn use it in the interim until the good kit arrives. It won't test everything like the good kit will, but it will test pH and chlorine which is fine for now.

If the pH still reads above 8.0, go ahead and add a little muriatic acid (maybe a pint) slowly in front of a return jet once you get the pump running. After a couple hours, retest pH and add more acid if needed until you get the pH between 7.2-7.8. Muriatic acid is nasty stuff. Wear gloves, glasses, stay upwind of fumes, pour with the bottle very close to the surface of the water so it won't splash. With new plaster, you'll have to repeat this process frequently from time to time as newly plastered pools tend to have high pH.

You can also go ahead and add the CYA once your pump is up and running. Pour it slowly into the skimmer and then run the pump 24/7 for at least the next 4 to 5 days. Don't run the CYA test before then or else you'll just be wasting your reagents. It is slow dissolving and won't register on your test for about a week or so.

(BTW -- even with the Taylor K-2006, it will still be handy to have the little OTO kit for quick daily checks of chlorine and pH when you don't need to test everything. I of course have a good kit, but use my OTO kit frequently.)