New to pool

[Goonadams]

I have just purchased a home with an
inground swimming pool vinyl liner. The pool is 16 ft by 32ft and is 6 ft deep at
the deepest and 4 ft deep at the shallow end. I tested my water and
have a TA of 50ppm total alkalinity as calcium carbonate. A pH of
around 6.8 and free chlorine of .5 and a total chlorine of .5. I was
wondering what I need to do to get pool ready to swim. It is a cloudy
light blue now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[CarlD]

First, you need to get your pH over 6.9 to avoid damaging your liner. Add on box of Borax, running the filter and test again in 1 hour. Repeat until pH is in the 7's.
You'll need to add bleach to clear the water. I'm guessing about 5 gallons of 6% bleach for now.
Then you should post a set of test values, including:
FC, CC or TC, pH, T/A, CYA and CH.
Also what kind of pump and filter you have and, if you know that gallonage (I'm ballparking at 20,000 gallons)
Check out our sister site, PoolSolutions.com. We'll guide you through it if it's not clear.
And you'll need a good test kit. Check it out there, too.

Carl

[Watermom]

Carl is right -- you'll need a good testkit. The one we recommend is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C (same kit, larger bottle of some reagents). If you buy it through the Amazon link in my signature, the Pool Forum makes a little money on the sale which helps us keep this form online. Only buy if the seller is Amato Industries, however. Some other sellers are substituting the K-2005 which you do NOT want.

[Goonadams]

Thanks. I just got home from work and added borax. Will wait an hour and recheck

[Goonadams]

It is a Hayward pro series high rate sand filter model s220t 20 gpm/sq ft. With 1hp j series motor

[Goonadams]

Tested this morning with the kit I have on hand and pH is still 6.8 FC is 1 TC is 1 TA is 60 Water is looking better there is a little bit of sediment on bottom I am going to vacuum up I can see the bottom of the pool even on the deep end :-) almost completely clear on shallow end real hazy on deep end but looks like progress. Should I add more borax and bleach or just borax. Thanks for all the help so far. Should I take my water to the pool store to have it tested until I can get a test kit ordered.

[Goonadams]

Water is looking better this morning. Almost completely clear on shallow end and hazy on the deep end. I can see the bottom all the way around now. :-). My test this morning are FC of 1. TC of 1. pH of 6.8 still and TA of 60. That's all my test kit test for besides acid demand. Should I take my water to a pool store to have tested until I get a test kit ordered. Should I go on and add more borax.

[aylad]

Yes, go ahead and add more Borax, until you get that pH up above 7.0. You can take a sample to the pool store if you want to, but be aware that they're going to try to sell you a bunch of stuff you don't need--RESIST, no matter how hard it seems !!

Or--you can go to WalMart and pick up the 6-way drop kit that they have for about $20 and probably do as good a job or better than the pool store...

Janet

[Goonadams]

I have an hth pool and spa deluxe test kit I am using now it is a dropper kit not strips Is that ok for now

[Watermom]

I assume that kit doesn't test for CYA. Is that correct? We really need to know that reading. If you can't test it, at least let a reputable pool store test it for you. The Taylor K-2006 will test for CYA. Once you post your CYA level, we can better advise you.