new pool

[ramoniqque]

Don't know what to do first.. I just read somewhere on the forum that before shocking you have to raise the ph up to 7.5 ppm , mine is at 7.2 ppm , or should I increase the alkalinity first like the guy at Leslie'S said by adding 24 Lb of Alkalinity Up?.. It seems like a lot ..I also read that it should be introduced slowly and at the pool solution site I read that if you have a vinyl liner it's not that big of a deal if your Ph does not go up and down ( I found a reading from Leslie that my husband did and the PH was the same 1 week ago) I know I HAVE to shock tonight no matter what.. CAN I INCREASE PH BY ADDING BORAX tonight right before shocking ??will it work quickly? AND MOST IMPORTANT..What do I shock with?? I need something from wal mart which is still open now. Since I have a reading of CYA 20 ppm is it a good idea to find some kind of shock treatment with added cyanuric acid?? Pls .. pls HELP.. I don't want my husband to return to a pool full of green algae nor do I want to break our tight buget by buying the wrong stuff that will result in more cost afterwords to clean up the mess..

[Watermom]

As Janet suggested above, go and buy a bunch of jugs of generic Walmart bleach. You can use it to shock your pool. Tonight, pour in 3 of the big jugs of bleach that are around 1.5 gallons each. That will take your chlorine level up to around 10ish. Pour it slowly in the skimmer while the pump is running or slowly in front of a return jet, being careful not to splash you or your liner.

Run your pump 24/7 while you are fighting this.

What kind of filter do you have?

Don't add 24 lbs. of anything to a pool! Don't worry about the alk or CYA right now. Your pH is ok at 7.2 but if it drops any lower, you'll want to bump it up some. For right now, let's just worry about the chlorine level unless your pH goes below 7.0. If it does then you can add Borax. Or, since your pH and alk are both a little low, you could use a Arm & Hammer washing soda which will raise both at the same time.

Also, while at Walmart, buy the OTO kit like Janet suggested above to use for now but order a Taylor K-2006 or 2006C.

[ramoniqque]

Thank you soooo much .. I'm running to Wal Mart right now to buy the Bleach. I had a feeling It was wrong to add that much Alkalinity Up..
I have a Hayward Dreamline Sand filter S230TSCPE with Zeobrite ( they said it was better than sand) now I don't know if that's even true. The pump is also a Hayward 1.5 hp Power Flo Lx - SP1580X15FP.. NO CHLORINATOR AT all.. we just had the pool up for 2 weeks.
SO Nice of you to respond.. Thank you!

[Watermom]

Janet (Aylad) uses zeobrite and likes it.

Keep us posted how things are going.

[ramoniqque]

Thank you for all your help. I did the shock with bleach last night and brushed the pool. I just did the test and CL is at 3 ( maybe higher.. I did not have distilled water)and the PH looks like between 7.2 or 7.6.. I really can't tell based on the color. Watermom said to use Arm and Hammer washing soda.. I don't have any but I do gave the Alkalinity up which my husband already bought .. Can I use it ? if yes how much? Also what do I do with the stabilizer? Keep using the pucks? what are my next steps ?

[aylad]

Your pH is fine, as long as it's over 7.0, don't worry about it. If the pool is clear and the biofilm is gone, then you can let the chlorine stay between 3-6 ppm for now and use the pool. If it's not clear, and you still feel the biofilm, then you need to raise the chlorine back up and hold it there until the biofilm is gone, and THEN let your chlorine drift back down.

If the film is gone and you're letting the chlorine drift back down, then you can either maintain your chlorine level by using the pucks (as long as they don't contain copper--if they do, then take them back), which will add stabilizer and will tend to drive your pH down, or by just using the bleach, which most of us use since it has no other side effect on the pool water. It's your decision, but you don't want your chlorine to be less than 3 ppm, EVER.

If you want to use the Alk up that your husband already bought, you can--but personally I would take it back and get my money back, go to WalMart and buy baking soda, which is the same thing but 1/3 of the price. I'm thinking that you'll need closer to 14 lbs of baking soda to raise TA from 40 to around 90, but don't add it all at once--I'd add a couple of pounds, give it a day or so to circulate, then add a couple more a day until you get it where you want to be. When adding pool chems, it's best not to add a bunch of anything at one time, but rather to sneak up on your target number rather than overshoot it. If you add 14 pounds of ANY kind of powder to your pool at once you're going to get a cloudy pool, and you don't want that.

So..decide if you need to continue the shock again or not, decide which form of chlorine you're going to use, and then slowly raise your TA...and go swimming!!

Janet

[Watermom]

To clarify what i wrote above ---

You can use Borax to raise pH, and baking soda to raise alk. OR if you need to raise both of them, you can just use washing soda instead of Borax and baking soda. Your choice. Either way is fine.