New Pool-Starting the chemical regimen

[Labpool]

Thanks for the warm welcome Janet........ I did as Watermom suggested and added a cup of acid and some more chlorine this evening. I've got the chlorine over 3 ppm (that was as high as the cheap test kit I had went, though I could tell by color it was slightly higher) and ph came down to 7.2! CYA dissolved nicely in the skimmer. So, looks as though I'm on the right track. I'll keep checking morning and evening and adding chlorine as needed...... Two questions; 1. When is it safe to get in the pool? It does have a vinyl liner and the installation guy had said "not to go in for a couple of days as I may put footprints underneath the liner in the newly tamped sand." I don't mind doing things right, though I would think with the weight of 10,000 gallons of water that the sand won't be going anywhere. Anyone know if there is any truth to his advice? 2. I was looking into chlorine tablets for ease. Everything I looked at had a certain level of hypochlorite (say 49%-89%) and "other ingredients". Most products were HTH brand. Is that a good way to maintain chlorine levels? And if so, what should I look for in tabs? The pool came with a full bucket of HTH dual action tabs. When I looked at ingredients I saw Copper Sulfate and decided to heed advice and not use them as I have read copper is bad for you pool. Thanks again , Andy

[Watermom]

Sounds like you are doing fine. Being smart, too! You are right to not use those pucks. You do NOT want copper in your pool!

I think you are fine to swim. We swam the day our pool was installed.

I would just use bleach for your chlorine. You have already added CYA and chlorine tabs have CYA in them. You don't need more. Stay away from HTH products. They are not good quality and sometimes have a bunch of unwanted junk in them. As Ben says, HTH has gone over to the 'dark side' and you're better off not buying their stuff.

Keep us posted how it is going and let us know if you have any further questions. Enjoy the pool!

[Labpool]

Thanks. Tested this morning....ph-7.2, FC-5.2ppm, TA- 50-60ppm. Couple questions? As far as the chlorine testing is testing for CC a waste of reagent or even necessary? And should I be raising my TA or wait for stabilization to take place?

[Watermom]

My opinion is that you unless you are having some problems, you can use a cheap OTO kit for daily testing and then use the good kit once a week or so to check other levels. Check chlorine every day, pH every day until you get it where you want it and then a couple times per week after that, alk a couple times per month after you get it where you want it, CYA a couple times per summer after you get it where you want it.

If it were my pool, I'd bump the TA up to about 100. Also, pH is ok at 7.2 but you don't want it to drop lower.

Also, if I haven't already done so, I want to thank you for becoming a subscriber. We really appreciate that as it helps keep this forum going!