Brand new and overwhelmed above ground pool owner...

[Watermom]

Yes, both are fine. And, by the way, don't let any pool store tell you that your pool needs calcium. We hear of that all the time but the fact is that vinyl pools do NOT need added calcium.

[JoeJet]

Hi again everyone!

So I've been keeping up with the pool and have maintained the following for a few days now.

Free Chlorine 1
Total Chlorine 6

PH 7.5

Alkalinity 100

CYA 30

My salt generator has been installed but I didn't want to start it until I had your blessing.

Where do I go from here?

Thanks as always,

Joe

[PoolDoc]

You probably need to raise your CYA level further, before you start the SWCG. Check your manual, but most units recommend (or 'require') levels above 60 ppm.

[Watermom]

Free Chlorine 1
Total Chlorine 6

I certainly hope this is testing error. It would NOT be good if you really did have a CC reading of 5ppm!

FC+CC=TC.

[JoeJet]

Hmmmm

3 x 0.2 = 0.6

Not 6

My Bad.

[PoolDoc]

3 x 0.2 = 0.6 Not 6

[JoeJet]

I'm back! Lots of rain this past week so basically I've been maintaining.

Here are this mornings readings:

2.8 Free Chlorine; 0.4 Combined Chlorine; 3.2 Total Chlorine
7.4 PH
90 Total Alkalinity
35ish CYA

So do I just keep throwing in Dichlor?

Thanks,

Joe
.

[Watermom]

Yes, you have some room to let your CYA rise a bit so you can continue to use dichlor. Look at your manual for your SWCG. It will tell you how high the CYA needs to be for your unit. Once you get it at that point, then just use your SWCG.

Just use a 10mL sample when you test chlorine instead of a 25mL one. It will make your testing reagents last longer. You can multiply the number of drops by 0.5 instead of 0.2.