New Pool Setup

[chinewalker]

Hi All!

A buddy gave us a pool a few weeks ago and we just got it filled. Free pools are just about as free as a free puppy.
Testing the city water delivered, this is what I came up with: TC & FC obviously zero, TDS is about 190, PH about 8.2, total alk about 220, CYA is zero.

I shocked the pool immediately with shock-n-swim from HTH, added CYA, added metal remover, and a few ounces of muriatic acid. I'm also floating a 3" trichlor tab. My test results (24 hours after shock) are now: TC = .5, FC = .5, PH = 8.0, TA = 200, CYA = 20.

I have read most everything on PoolSolutions.com and I really like the BBB concept and would like to work with that.

I guess I'm looking for advise on what to do from here. My wife is freaking about the thought of using bleach and wants to know if there is any danger to the liner and I would like to know the best way to add and if it hurts anything to add bleach to the skimmer.

If we switch to bleach is there any reason to continue using a 'shock' product or do we just use the bleach?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[aylad]

Hi, and welcome to the world of pool ownership!!

Unfortunately, you're right on with your "puppy" analogy, but the good news is that it doesn't have to be really expensive, or time consuming, if you'll just be diligent about it. The very first thing you need to do is get a good test kit. You can get by with the $20 6-way drop kit from WalMart, but the one we recommend is the K-2006, which can be purchased through Amato Industries (their website is down but we can get you the number if you want it).

It looks like you have a pretty good idea of what you're doing with the pool so far....one question, did you fill with well water? If so, does it contain iron? I would say not to worry about TA for now, but your pH could come down just a tad more--if you can get it to 7.6 or so that's just about right. You need to keep at least 3-6 ppm of chlorine in your pool at all times. Bleach is an excellent, as well as the most efficient and cheapest way to go about this--you can tell your wife there is no problem with pouring it into the skimmer (as long as there's no trichlor tabs or any other chemical in the skimmer at the same time). I pour mine slowly into the return stream in the deep end, so the movement from the water helps to disperse the bleach. Just be careful not to splash it on your liner or clothes. If you haven't already, check out the "best guess" table in the link in my sig, and as long as you keep your chlorine in the recommended ranges, you shouldn't have any problem at all,. No reason to use a "shock product" (actually, shock is a verb, not a noun), bleach does just fine.
Welcome to the forum!!

[Watermom]

Liquid pool store chlorine is either 10 or 12.5% sodium hypochlorite and household bleach is 6% sodium hypochlorite. Tell your wife that if she isn't scared of the pool store stuff, then there is no reason to be scared of bleach -- same stuff, half as strong. (We've heard this fear many times through the years, believe me!)

By the way, the phone number to order the kit Janet told you about is 800-992-6286. I second her advice that you should buy the kit. It will make your pool maintenance so much easier!

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[chinewalker]

Thanks for getting back so quickly Janet.

The pool was filled by a tanker with city water from a nearby village. Test kit is ordered. Thanks!

I came across a chart or calculator somewhere that told how much of each chemical to use, but I have been on the internet reading for about a week now and I don't remember where it was at. Could you tell me where I might find this information?

Thanks again!

[aylad]

I was just curious about why you added the metals treatment--usually if you're not using well water, metals aren't an issue. I think the calculator you're looking for is thepoolcalculator.com, which Chem-Geek helped to create.

[chinewalker]

I was just curious about why you added the metals treatment--usually if you're not using well water, metals aren't an issue. I think the calculator you're looking for is thepoolcalculator.com, which Chem-Geek helped to create.

The friend that I got the pool from the same village water supply as I did. His wife has blonde hair as does mine. She complained about green hair until he used a metal remover. Need I say more? lol After using the metal remover, there was a lot of debris on the pool bottom. Would that indicate that there were indeed a lot of metals in the water or are there other minerals, etc that are precipitated with the use of a metal remover?

This AM I checked the chlorine with strips again (K-2006 ordered). Total chlorine was at 3.0 and free chlorine was at 1.0. I seem to remember reading that if the TC is higher than the FC, it's time to shock. Is that true? I also mentioned that I was floating a 3" tri-chlor tab as well. Is that okay/necessary or not?

I'm sorry for all the questions, but it seems the more I read, the more I confuse myself. I'm going to stick to this forum and the BBB method if possible.

[aylad]

You were right in treating with metal remover--copper is what turns hair green, and with the metal remover (that actually just keeps the metals suspended, it doesn't actually remove it from the water) you shouldn't have any of the green staining. Since it doesn't actually remove metals from the water, I'm guessing the debris probably was sand, pollen, etc that was in the water or possibly settled in the truck that is finally falling to the bottom.

When your CC is greater than 1 ppm, it's time to shock--but I would not rely on test strips for gauging it--they are wildly inaccurate and unreliable. You really need to at least go to WalMart and get either the 6 way or just the plain OTO kit that has yellow and red drops, and use that to test your chlorine and pH. Floating the trichlor tab is okay, as long as you understand that it is adding stabilizer and can lower your pH. You'll want to stop using trichlor when you get your CYA to where you want to keep it--most people stay around 40 ppm. Also, check the ingredient label on the bucket. If they're labeled as "dual action",or list copper in the ingredients, then they are also adding copper, and in that case I wouldn't use them at all.

We welcome questions here, so don't worry about that. I know it seems like a whole lot of information to learn, but it will eventually all start to make sense!