Testing & treating pool fill water

[PoolDoc]

Filling a pool with water containing iron can be tricky, if you want to avoid stains.

You may want to order several quarts of polyquat, and a quart of HEDP. The polyquat will allow you to avoid algae, without precipitating iron, and the HEDP will help keep the iron IN the water (instead of ON the pool) till you can begin filtering.

Once the pool is full and the filter is operating normally, you'll want to lower pH levels gradually to around 7.0. Then you'll need to raise your total alkalinity to at least 80 ppm, by dosing with baking soda, 3 lbs at a time. The pH will rise; if it gets above 7.6, add acid to lower it to 7.2 before adding more baking soda. You can also add stabilizer during this time.

Once the TA is 80 - 100 ppm, with the pH around 7.4, you can begin gradually raising chlorine levels.

Tell us how you intend to chlorinate, and we can tell you how much stabilizer to add.

Here are links for the HEDP and polyquat:

Polyquat @ Amazon (Kem-Tek polyquat)
HEDP @ Amazon (Jacks Magic Pink Stuff)

[blyon]

The new liner is being delivered Tuesday. They will probably come start draining the pool tomorrow. Today I'm painting the aluminum coping. I've ordered the polyquat and HEDP and some stabilizer.

I am planning on learning to use the BBB method this summer. I still have a box of shock and a bucket of trichlor tabs. We have an inline chlorinator. I also have a few gallons of Costco chlorine that I use for many things around the house, but can use it to chlorinate the pool.

I imagine that I will keep using the inline chlorinator this summer, but I won't shock on a regular basis. Shall I use the shock as startup chlorine for the pool? I'll mix it with water in a 5 gal bucket before adding it to the pool.

How does the type of chlorine affect the amount of stabilizer? Either way, I'm up for good advice on chlorinating and stabilizing Thank you!

[PoolDoc]

Look on the label of the "shock" you have find the % chlorine, and the % of all listed ingredients, and tell us what they are.

Trichlor (usually 3" tabs, but sometimes other forms) and dichlor (always coarse granules) add 1/2 ppm or more of stabilizer for each ppm of chlorine added.

[blyon]

Both the shock and the tabs are Pool Brand from Sam's,

The shock has 99% Sodium Dichloro-s-Triazinetrione, and 1% other ingredients. Available Chlorine 55.5%
The tabs have 99% Trichloro-s-Triazinetrione, and 1% other ingredients. Available Chlorine 99%

[PoolDoc]

OK, you've got pretty much pure trichlor and dichlor. That's good -- a lot of companies are diluting the stuff, sometimes using chemicals that can cause problems.

Assuming you are treating newly filled water, I'd use the dichlor for awhile, to rapidly build up stabilizer, and then start using the tabs.

[blyon]

Alright, the new liner is half-installed and the pool is filling. They will come complete the installation tomorrow and I am guessing it will take a couple more days to fill completely.

Let me make sure I understand:

Until the pool is full, nothing but the pink stuff and some polyquat.
Then, when the pump is running, first lower pH to 7.0
Second, raise TA to 80 ppm
and THEN start chlorinating slowly (2ppm/day). Since I'm using Dichlor, I don't need to add additional stabilizer.

A couple of questions:
What should my goal FC be? 4ppm? And CC < .5ppm?
Should I check CYA each day while I'm chlorinating to make sure I don't get it too high?
Will the pink stuff keep working all summer?

Thank you again for all your help! The pool looks so new and shiny, I want to keep it that way.

[PoolDoc]

Sorry I overlooked this:

Target FC is determined by CYA level => see http://pool9.net/cl-cya/ (Best Guess Chart)

Do NOT check CYA daily; you'll consume your reagents. It doesn't change that rapidly. Here's the CYA refill if you need it: Taylor R-0013-E @ Amazon