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Thread: Just Set Up Pool...Need some pointers

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    Default Just Set Up Pool...Need some pointers

    I just found this forum this morning and have been reading ALL DAY! Very Informative and helpful! I will be bookmarking!

    Anyways, the closest I have ever come to owning a pool is filling up the bath! It only requires bubbles so I was able to manage that .

    We just set up an Intex Ultra 16' x 48" with like a 5900 gal capacity.

    Water is almost full as we speak. When I get off work I will be heading to Walmart to get the BBB and a test kit...

    I some what understand what to use for which problems thanks to this forum. My first question is...once testing is completed what is the first chemical I add? Do I start with my bleach? How do I know how to add for the levels to be achieved? Once I add the required bleach how long do I have to wait to add the next thing - Borax or Acid? I am hoping I only have to use Borax. I have city water which is actually filling my pool and causing a brackish color. I read that was normal even with city water....hoping thats correct. Kinda scary to know I make my babies bottle with that water...

    Anyways, after getting in my bleach and other chemicals needed. When do I add the Stabilizer? A friend told me not to use bleach but to use the chlorine from walmart that contained a stabilizer just because it would help it to stay longer... My pool is in FLORIDA in the direct sun!

    After adding cholorine WITH stabilizer (if anyone knows the name please feel free to post it) and then the borax assuming it will need to be brought up, how long do I have to wait before we can swim?

    If we do the bleach with stabilzer tablets, how long after the tablets are put in can we swim? Is it a matter of a time frame or the actual numbers evening out as needed? If using tablets and bleach, do I just continue to 'sock' the tablets and use them AS NEEDED every few weeks or what?

    Sorry to be so long winded and ask so many questions? I've learned a lot on this board but didn't seem to understand this part!

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    aylad's Avatar
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    Default Re: Just Set Up Pool...Need some pointers

    Hello, and welcome to the forum!!

    The best thing to do is get your test kit and run a set of tests on your fill water and post them here, and then we can help you go from there regarding which chems you'll need. It will also help us know if you can use the trichlor pucks (the chlorine pucks with stabilizer in them) or not. If WalMart has the 6-way drop test, get that one. If not, then at least get the cheapie OTO test that just tests for chlorine and pH. Drop testing is WAY more reliable than strips. The best kit to get is actually the K2006, which you can order through Amazon in the link in my sig and the forum gets a donation from the sale. That kit contains most everything you'll need throughout your pool season, with accurate results.

    So...get a test kit, test your fill water, and post results here. You'll first need to add bleach (gotta get some chlorine in to keep it from going green), and you'll want to target 3-6 ppm, since right now you don't have any stabilizer. In a 5900 gallon pool, each 2 cups of 6% bleach you add will raise your chlorine level by approximately 1 ppm, so you can use that as a guide. Add it either into your skimmer, or in front of the return. You have no stabilizer in the water for now, so the sun will consume your chlorine pretty quickly, so plan on adding more at least once a day until the stabilizer (also called CYA) is in the pool.

    You can either add your chlorine via bleach, and buy the CYA (stabilizer) seperately at WalMart, Lowe's, Home depot, etc. or you can use the trichlor tablets which are chlorine with stabilizer. The downside to trichlor is that it will significantly lower your pH, which is why I want to know the pH of your fill water before recommending them. Also, once your stabilizer gets to the level it needs to stay, you'll need to switch to a non-stabilized form of chlorine. The pH issue can be addressed by adding Borax to raise it, if need be--but again, we need to know a starting point.

    If you use the stabilized tablets, they are normally put in a floater--but you don't want them to float next to your liner, or you'll probably end up with fading. Many people recommend to anchor it from both sides with string or rope to keep it in the middle. If you use the floater, I would recommend that you take it out while the pool is in use. With the high chlorine content and low pH, it could be damaging to little eyes if they get into a pocket of the trichlor, and the floater may appear to be a toy. If you remove the floater, and stir the water up well, you can swim immediately.

    If using tabs and bleach, you'll keep the tabs in the floater, test your water daily, and add whatever bleach is needed to maintain that 3-6 ppm level, at least until you have some stabilizer in the water. The higher the CYA level gets, the higher you'll need to keep your chlorine. See the "Best Guess" chart link in my sig for a guideline to use. I live in Louisiana and tend to run my CYA higher than most, but I find that I use less chlorine in the long run than those who keep theirs at 40 or so. Just depends on the pool, but you can always decide that later. If you decide to buy CYA seperately, you'll want to target about 30 ppm or so, and add it via sock tied in front of your return. It will take a few days to dissolve and register, though, so you'll need to be diligent about adding chlorine daily until then. You never want it to get to zero.

    This is a start--hope it helps. I know this method seems very overwhelming at first, but hang in there-- it's really very easy, and way, way less expensive than the pool store method!!

    Edit: Also, if you do decide to use the trichlor pucks, don't get them from WalMart without checking the label. If one of the ingredients is copper, stay away from them, and get them from somewhere else. Our WalMart pucks contain copper, which you don't want. I get mine from the pool store when they go on sale....

    Janet
    Janet

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    Default Re: Just Set Up Pool...Need some pointers

    One other thing that I might mention -------------- when I first put up my pool years ago, I couldn't believe how fast the chlorine would disappear. i found that if I added some in the morning, it was gone by afternoon. So, in addition to the good advice Janet gave you, i would suggest that for a week or so until you get some stabilizer to register, you'll probably find that you need to add bleach at least a couple of times a day. After there is some stabilizer buildup, then you'll be able to test and dose in the evenings only.

    Welcome to the forum and thanks for becoming a subscriber. We appreciate the support!

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    madwil is offline Registered+ Widget Weaver madwil 0
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    Default Re: Just Set Up Pool...Need some pointers

    one more note- Dichlor powder (sold as "POOL SHOCK" at Walmart I think) will also add stabilizer, but without the pH shifts from trichlor- comes in 1 pound bags, just like the trichlor make sure no copper!
    once CYA levels are established, this should also shift to bleach for chlorine, or to much CYA will be in the pool eventually.

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    Default Re: Just Set Up Pool...Need some pointers

    Please! This is not true!

    Di-Chlor WILL lower your pH of your pool, just not as much as Tri-Chlor. I cannot reconstruct all the chemistry for you, but the gist is, that while Di-Chlor itself is neutral, the reaction from the chlorine lowers pH. I'm sure our chem whiz, Chem_Geek can show the chemical equations to demonstrate, but from my empirical experience I know it to be true.

    Bleach is actually a high pH chemical, but the same reaction of the chlorine lowering pH just offsets the increasing effect of the Bleach. This is why Bleach/Liquid Chlorine is the ONLY pH neutral chlorine source.

    Carl
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    Default Re: Just Set Up Pool...Need some pointers

    Thank you both! Got the pulled filled last night...let the baby play while it was filling up (figured since it was freshly running it was no different than the tub for those few hours...) Turned the pump on and added 38% of bleach around 12 am before I went to bed and it had finally finished filling.

    WALMART only had the strips and a cheap Chlorine/pH test so I got both just for a general idea on the other things as I know the strips are not very useful. But the moment they are the only option till this afternoon when I drive an hour to our pool store... (We are in the sticks). Walmart was out of borox. I use it for my husbands uniforms so I knew where to find it but they are usually out and was out last night. I did get a 12 lb bag of baking soda that was in the pool isle as it said it raises pH....NEEDLESS to say doesn't look like I will need it...

    Test results this morning (after adding 38oz of bleach last night):
    Chlorine: about 1 (hard to read the color changed on the test I bought from walmart)
    pH: 7.6-7.8

    According to the strips"
    Total Hardness: between low and high- stupid strip doesn't give and ok leval for nonplaster pools...seems to be closer to the higher end then the lower
    TC: ok-1
    FC: low - .75
    pH: HIGH. 7.8-8.4
    Total Alkalinity: between low and very low
    Stabilizer: ok - how is this possible when I haven't added any? Is it from the city water?


    Called the pool store, like I was saying will be buying a better test that tests everything with drops later today. I just added about 12oz of chlorine since it was low.

    ALSO, when I woke up this morning about 8 hours after filling the pool it looked like someone had taken a cup of motor oil and threw over in the pool on the bottom. It is a brown dust that can not be picked up. I just swirled my skim net around and it dissolved. Pump ran all night. With that being said, as I filled it with my 'fabulous' city water it did have a brackish tent. This morning that tent is GONE! Good thing of coarse. However, could this brown spot have been setiment from the water or dust/pollen. Live on a dirt road in the woods. There was nothing floating in the skimmer but there was a slight ring around the inside of the skimmer that I rubbed off. The water had dropped about an 1/2 inch apparently and so I had to rub it but there was no goo or feel to it.

    Thanks and sorry to be so long winded!

    Oh yeah, I also bought the Aqua Chem Liquid Chlorinzor but then wasn't sure if that was the same thing as bleach or if it had a CYA so I didn't add it.... Is this the same thing as bleach?

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Just Set Up Pool...Need some pointers

    Just checked it again after about 45 min of adding the extra chlorine and the levels are even lower. almost clear for the immediate free chlorine and total chlorine...I would say about .3 for TC....is this cause I'm just setting it up and because of the beautiful day with abundant sunshine? Should I say heck with it and poor a whole bottle?

  8. #8
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    Question Is my water safe to swim in?

    Sorry for so many questions! I hope I don't get the boot soon! Anyways, we got the pool set up last night, numbers are...

    pH 7.8
    CC: 1

    my strips say that the 'hardness is high' and the stabilizer is ok. It also says I have 0 calcium.

    Since we just set it up last night and it's such a beautiful day my niece is dying to get in! Is it safe for her to get in?

    I added another 12 oz of bleach this morning about 3-4 hours ago because it won't stay up. Will this hurt anything?

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Is my water safe to swim in?

    We don't mind questions!!

    Your strips are contradictory--"hardness" refers to calcium hardness, and it can't be "high" if the calcium is zero. Also, your stabilizer can't be "ok" if you haven't added any, because until you put some in, it's going to be zero. THat's why we like drop testing!!

    At any rate, If the water is clear, and the chlorine level is less than 6 but at least 1, it should be fine for your niece to get in.

    Enjoy!

    Janet
    Janet

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    Default Re: Is my water safe to swim in?

    OK, forget about calcium. You have a vinyl pool, calcium is therefore not important. For now, ignore Total Alkalinity as well. In fact you may not have to worry about it at all.

    The "OK" indicators on strips and some testers are to be ignored. Correct FC levels are absolutely related to the CYA (Stabilizer) level in the water. Strips frequently don't give the same reading as drop tests. Trust the drop test kit first.

    For now, only worry about pH, FC and CC levels, and CYA. Nothing else really matters for you (later, you'll know why, but for now let's just stick to these 3).

    Carl
    Carl

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