Spring opening help

[waste]

Mike, Welcome to The Forum!!

You are doing the best thing by coming here and learning!

What you want to do is get a good test kit (links to the Taylor K-2006 are in the moderator's sigs). Test your water yourself and read the posts here (& at Pool Solutions). You'll soon learn how to care for your pool without having to rely on the (often inaccurate) pool store testing.

We'll be with you every step of the way to enable you to properly and efficiently care for your pool! (in terms of both time and $$$)

We will also be here to answer any questions you have (no matter how 'silly' they may seem to you - "the only stupid question is the one you don't ask"

Do some reading here, ask your questions and get a good test kit and by the end of the season, you'll not only have an easy to care for pool, but you may start answering questions for other new pool owners here

[Kayakersmith]

Good morning all,

An update on the state of my pool and a request for some feedback please. Two weeks and lots of chlorine and filter rinsing later the pool is clear and sparkling- the kids are so happy! My Taylor K-2006C arrived two days ago and generated the following test results: FC=1, CC=.5, ph=7.7, TA=170, CH=325, CYA=50- not too bad, right? I added 4 "leftover" BioGuard Silk Sticks (trichlor) to the skimmer baskets in an effort to raise the FC and tested again last night- FC was up to 1.5 and all other results are unchanged. Last night I added three lbs of "leftover" Bioguard Maintain Burnout 3 (57.8% Cal-Hypo) in an effort to raise the FC to the 5-6 ppm level- I'll test again this evening to determine the results.

Now I intend to commence the maintenance process without the help of the local pool store, so I'm hoping to get some direction from the folks here on a couple of issues.

My first observation is that the TA is high, however is it so elevated that I need to actively attempt to bring it down now or will it naturally come down over time without adverse consequences?

Secondly, I've got 10-15 Silk Sticks and 8-10 lbs of Burnout left from last year, is there any reason Not to use this up?

Thirdly, like everyone else, I'm interested in the most economical/least labor intensive method of routine maintenance. Last summer I used the Silk Sticks in the skimmer basket continuously and shocked weekly with 3 lbs. of Burnout/cal-hydro and took a water sample to the pool store weekly (sometimes every other week) for analysis. Pool looked great but the cost was very high. I'm considering the continued use of trichlor in the skimmer baskets to keep conditions stable during the week and then shocking with liquid chlorine as necessary- the rationale being that, from what I've read here, it seems like people are testing and adding bleach almost daily, which it not particularly appealing to me. Am I misinterpreting the BBB method and the level of effort required to chlorinate solely with bleach?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Mike
Ashton, MD

[PoolDoc]

Here's an answer to one of your questions: http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/lowe...p-by-step.html

Using up what you had is probably best, but you'll need to keep the pH low for a month or so, to strip both the existing high Alk, AND the additional alkalinity you are adding via the cal hypo.