Pool has been filled two days

[jbk000]

I have an Intex oval 12' x 20' x 42"

It holds about 5000 gallons, and so I plan on running the pump 4 hours daily. Pump is connected and has run once. I haven't put anything in it except water. I tested for pH, and it seemed to say that pH was 6.8 or below, but I'm not sure if I did the test right. I filled with water to the top two windows (or top dark line between them) then added 5 drops of red pH. I read that low pH can damage the liner, so I need to know what to do to bring it up, but I also wanted to be sure that I did the test correctly.

[PoolDoc]

1. Add a box of borax ( borax @ Walmart )

2. Read the Super Simple recipe. It has LOTS of info relevant to your situation.

Membership updated; welcome to the forum.

[jbk000]

1. Add a box of borax ( borax @ Walmart )

2. Read the Super Simple recipe. It has LOTS of info relevant to your situation.

Membership updated; welcome to the forum.

Thanks.

I added a 76-ounce box of borax, and pH is now somewhere well above 8.2. (I did an acid-demand test, and had to add 6 drops before it got down to 7.5) Is the pool safe to swim in, and is there any way to lower it without resorting to muriatic acid? Could I just take out say 10 bucketfulls and replace the water?

[PoolDoc]

The pool is safe for swimming pH wise -- it is NOT necessarily safe, chlorine wise.

If you had an acid demand test, why didn't you report your alkalinity or your base demand? We have to treat reports of pH = 6.8 as what they really are with most testing method -- 6.8 or LOWER. That is, your 6.8 might mean your pool was a liner-damaging 5.0! But, if you'd posed a base demand, I could have responded more specifically.

You can use either muriatic acid or sodium bisulfate (pH Down) to lower the pH; replacing 10 buckets full of water will have no effect.

Please report a COMPLETE set of test results: including chlorine level, pH, alkalinity, calcium and stabilizer. (If you haven't added any chlorine or stabilizer, you don't need to test for stabilizer: there is none in well or tap water.)

BUT . . . you'd better add some chlorine quick, or you will have a green pool! Again, the SS Recipe will give you a place to start.

[jbk000]

I didn't report alkalinity or base demand out of sheer ignorance, my apologies for that. Unfortunately, I didn't discover this forum until I had already filled my pool, so I couldn't follow the recipe from the beginning, and it's hard to figure out how much bleach I'm supposed to have in there already. 4 doses?

Alkalinity is 80 ppm, pH is well above 8.2, stabilizer ???, calcium ??? Cl Br doesn't change color. This kit tests for bromine, and does not test for stabilizer or calcium apparently, although calcium carbonate is mentioned in the total alkalinity test. So I will get the test kit that you recommend.

The bleach bottle reads "sodium hypochlorite 8.25%." I don't know if this is the "PLAIN 6%" bleach that you recommend. I've got "sodium dichloro-s-triazintrione 99% with 55.5% available chlorine." Is this the dichlor that you're talking about? The first thing the directions say is to adjust the pH to between 7.2-7.6 and "check for metals" before using it. But I'll go ahead and put in what it calls a "maintenance dose" ASAP.

Thanks for your help!

[PoolDoc]

The bleach bottle reads "sodium hypochlorite 8.25%." I don't know if this is the "PLAIN 6%" bleach that you recommend.

The most common bleach % has changed from 6% to 8.25%; I updated the page. The dosing doesn't have to change -- a little extra bleach is better than not enough.

Here's the dosing from that page:

Dose Chart

• 2500 - 3500 gallons => 1/2 cup = 1 dose
• 3500 - 5000 gallons => 3/4 cups = 1 dose
• 5000 - 7000 gallons => 1 cups = 1 dose
• 7000 - 11,000 gallons => 1 1/2 cups = 1 dose
• 11,000 - 14,000 gallons => 2 cups = 1 dose

"sodium dichloro-s-triazintrione 99% with 55.5% available chlorine." Is this the dichlor that you're talking about?

Yes.