New pool owner...this sound okay?

[BillyBumbler]

I have an 18000 gal. IG pool/spa combo that has been running a week. Until I a m allowed to start my SWC in a couple months, my basic plan on the Chlorine front was to keep a couple of 3" pucks in a floater and add a gallon of 12% chlorine once a week to shock. According to the bleach calc (nice little tool!), a gallon of 12% would be just right for shocking purposes. However no where can I find a formula for how many trichlor tabs to use at once. The avg. water temp is right around 85 degrees. So far my Ph is holding steady at 7.6, though I believe I am right on the edge of going to 7.8. TA is always 90. Is it too early to worry about Calcium hardness and TDS? Until I get my new kit I won't know how much CYA the pool guy added at start up. Thanks!

[Sherra]

Ditch the pucks. Stick with liquid chlorine for your routine chlorination needs. If you maintain your water properly (proper chlorine level according to your CYA level) and your water is clear, there is generally no reason to shock your pool (unless your combined chlorine gets over .5). The pucks will continue to add CYA to your water. What's you're current CYA level? "Ideal" level as a general consenus on this board is 30-40. It's my understanding that SWC manufacturers recommend levels higher than that once you get the SWC installed...thought I'm not sure why.

[aylad]

I have an 18000 gal. IG pool/spa combo that has been running a week. Until I a m allowed to start my SWC in a couple months, my basic plan on the Chlorine front was to keep a couple of 3" pucks in a floater and add a gallon of 12% chlorine once a week to shock. According to the bleach calc (nice little tool!), a gallon of 12% would be just right for shocking purposes. However no where can I find a formula for how many trichlor tabs to use at once. The avg. water temp is right around 85 degrees. So far my Ph is holding steady at 7.6, though I believe I am right on the edge of going to 7.8. TA is always 90. Is it too early to worry about Calcium hardness and TDS? Until I get my new kit I won't know how much CYA the pool guy added at start up. Thanks!

Don't worry about TDS, and only worry about calcium hardness if you have a concrete/plaster pool. If it's vinyl lined, don't worry about it at all.

As far as the puck usage goes, if your pool guy didn't add any CYA at startup, then the pucks are okay for now, provided you don't let your pH drop too low--they are very acidic and tend to pull your pH down. However, if your CYA is already at what your SWG needs, then I'd stop the pucks and just use the bleach.

Shocking with 12% is fine. As Sherra pointed out, shocking is really not necessary unless you have a CC reading or your water starts to look cloudy, but I do shock mine more often just to head off any problems before they get a chance to happen!

Janet

[Simmons99]

Why did your pool builder say you had to wait for a couple of months to use your SWG?

[BillyBumbler]

Thanks. The main reason I'm going with pucks for now is that I have read around here somewhere that a new pool benefits from the ease of pucks because you don't have to worry about high CYA levels the first year. Once the SWC comes on line I was planning on setting the CYA level around 40-50ppm even though the SWC manual states 60-80ppm (why? I have no clue. Perhaps it puts less strain on the SWC?) and then the occasional shock with Chlorine. Perhaps an automatic shock once a week is overdoing it, but where I live is VERY VERY hot in the summer, a day under 100 degrees in July is hard to come by. Wouldn't this kind of heat maybe require more frequent shocking?

[BillyBumbler]

Why did your pool builder say you had to wait for a couple of months to use your SWG?

It's the company that applied the aggregate finish. They are very explicit about waiting for it to completely cure for 60 days before turning it on.

[JohnT]

Perhaps an automatic shock once a week is overdoing it, but where I live is VERY VERY hot in the summer, a day under 100 degrees in July is hard to come by. Wouldn't this kind of heat maybe require more frequent shocking?

Heat has little to nothing to do with shocking frequency. You shock to get rid of combined chlorine. Usually the result of biological contaminants.

[aylad]

It won't hurt at all to shock it more frequently, but it's really not necessary IF you stay ahead of your water (thanks CarlD!) by frequent testing and adequate chlorine additions. However, if you're at all lazy about things, shocking once a week is probably a pretty good idea.

Janet