Getting started with BBB pool care

[twdavis71]

My pool is 3' deep around the sides- out about 2-3 feet then goes down to about 6' in the middle - I think i used one of those online volume calculators to guess about 16k gallons back in November. I looked online and my local Walmart doesnt have the kit listed in the posts that have the Taylor kits listed. I will be out of town Wed-Fri so this weekend I plan to really read through as much as I can and do some 'real tests'

[Watermom]

There should be someplace locally that sells an OTO/Phenol Red kit. K-Mart, Lowe's, etc. Even a pool store ----- but don't let them talk you into buying anything else while you are there!

In regards to dosing: In a 16K gallon pool, each quart of 8.25% bleach will add about 1.3ppm of chlorine. Each of the 121 oz jugs will add just about 5ppm. Use those values as references to help you figure out doses. Your shock level and needed maintenance chlorine levels are based on your CYA reading. Take a look at the Best Guess Chlorine Chart for more about the connection between the two. http://pool9.net/cl-cya/

Once you get some good numbers, someone here can help you determine what you need to do next.

Hope this helps.

[PoolDoc]

. . . membership updated.

[twdavis71]

OK, I did some test with drops and got readings of:
Total Chlorine - 4
pH - 7.4
Alk - 50

So I'm needing to add baking soda - how much would you recommend for a 15-16k gallon pool?

[PoolDoc]

Nah. AG pool with liner? Don't worry too much about either TA or calcium unless they are TOO high. Or, if your pH is wandering around raising the TA will help with that.

Your 3 key valves: chlorine, pH and CYA (Stabilizer). If you don't know your stabilizer level, you can't know what your chlorine level should be! Read this page for explanations: http://pool9.net/cl-cya/