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Thread: Starting resurfaced pool

  1. #1
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    Default Starting resurfaced pool

    My pool just got resurfaced with pebble sheen and a measure at the water meter during fill up showed it is 14,000 gallons.

    I've been following national plasterers council instructions as per directions provided by pebble sheen installer.

    After 4 days, I have ph at 7.9, Total Alkalinity at 70, Calcium Hardness at 160 and a SI of 0.1.

    Instructions call for TA to be 80. Should I raise my TA with baking soda to 80 before lowering ph with prediluted muriatic acid? Instructions call for pump running 24/7 for 7/10 days which aerates the water and it seems raises ph every day...

    Help!

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Starting resurfaced pool

    Tonight I added ~2 lbs of Baking Soda to try raising total alkalinity by 10ppm to 80ppm.

    I will retest tomorrow morning with the Taylor kit I ordered through Ben's store. I hope to be doing the right thing by raising TA before trying to lower pH. Just hope pre-diluled muriatic acid will do the trick for lowering pH tomorrow without killing TA.

    Once this is in order, I am supposed to add chlorine then CYA and I surely hope delaying the chlorine does not result in some algae.

    Kidney

  3. #3
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  4. #4
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    Default Re: Starting resurfaced pool

    Thanks Watermom!

    Yes no chlorine yet. I thought of adding 9 cups of undiluted bleach (the max recommended by NPC right now) but knowing my pH is high at 8.0+ and seeing the little book that came with my K2006C says bleach is high pH, I thought I might add to my high pH/low TA issue and decided to add Baking Soda to address my lowish TA of 70.

    This (rainy) morning:
    Ph 8.0+ (max on K2006C)
    TA 90
    CH 160
    Water temp: 82°F
    FC 0
    CYA 0
    (Non SWCG pool.)

    Should I wait for dusk to add my 9 cups of liquid 8.25% bleach or do it during the day today? When can I and should I add diluted muriatic acid to lower pH?

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Starting resurfaced pool

    Revisiting pebble tech's warranty card, it reads "Do not chlorinate your pool until water is filtered and pH and alkalinity are acceptable. Chlorine is highly reactive and can cause metals or minerals to precipitate (cloud water, scale and/or stain)." As I know chlorine would dissipate quite fast added mid day, I first added 22.4 fl oz of muriatic acid to lower pH, which I assume will also lower TA.

    I hope when I retest in late afternoon that TA will be no lower than 80 and pH at most 7.6: I can then add chlorine (using 8.25% bleach) at dusk. Tomorrow I can add cyanuric acid to the 25ppm that my installer recommended.

    I will update. Hopefully I do not have to keep adjusting TA then pH for too long. I suspect running my filtration system continuously at full speed (as per installer's directions) aerates the water and increases pH: this should stop once I reach 7 days after fill up this Wednesday and drastically lower the speed of my variable speed pump.

    Advice welcome!

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Starting resurfaced pool

    Ok, 5 hours after adding muriatic acid:

    pH = 7.5
    TA = 90
    CH = 160
    Water temp = 83F
    SI ~ -0.17

    I realize these will likely change but for now I should be ready to add chlorine at dusk today and CYA tomorrow morning. Still not sure I should simply use 8.25% bleach or another type of chlorine (as bleach is high pH and I don't want pH to shoot back up).

    Since I am planning to use the BBB method and will adjust daily, I don't think I need that much CYA. I was going to follow the 25ppm recommended by my installer however I have no idea how much CYA to add except for Leslie's recommending 3.5 pounds for my 14K-gallon pool: should I use a different dose the first time?

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Starting resurfaced pool

    I forgot I have 4 trichlor chlorine tabs I could use in my old floater to get things started with chlorine and CYA at dusk. Should I bother to use them or should I just start using bleach and CYA?

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    Default Re: Starting resurfaced pool

    Sorry to be slow to reply. I've been out running errands all day. (Even Watermom has a life outside of this forum! )

    Bleach is not going to affect your pH much. However, since you need chlorine, are fighting high pH and need CYA, a good choice for you would be to use dichlor. It will add the needed things and the acidity of it will lower your pH some. You actually might benefit from using our Super Simple Startup Recipe since this a new fill. Info about that can be found at this link: http://pool9.net/ssr/ (It is appropriate for any freshly filled pool -- not just Intex.)

    I think you are going to find that a CYA of 25 is too low. It is simply too hard to keep chlorine in a pool at that level especially on hot sunny days and in Texas, you're going to have plenty of them. I would suggest at least 40-50 as a target.

    If you decide that you don't want to use the 'recipe' but instead are going to use bleach and add CYA separately, every pound of stabilizer will add 10ppm of CYA. Also, in your pool, each quart of 8.25% bleach will add about 1.5ppm of chlorine and each 121-oz jug will add about 5.6ppm. Use those as a reference as you are figuring out how much to add.

    Hope this helps.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Starting resurfaced pool

    I fully understand the need to run errands Watermom ;-) No need to be sorry, and thank you for your help!

    I am on day 5 following fill up so I am not sure I still qualify as a fresh fill and can use the Super Simple Startup Recipe. Dichlor sounds great and it looks like I could also use Leslie's Chlor Brite Granular (99% sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione, right?) as I don't have a Sam's Club membership. Amazon would take too long to deliver. Leslie's is closed now so I think I will go ahead at dusk today and add 2 quarts of 8.25% bleach to remain in line with what the NPC instructions my installer provided suggest. I can get CYA tomorrow or start using dichlor tabs. Once I reach a sufficient CYA level, what do I do: start using bleach only?

    As for CYA level, I used to have high readings by using trichlor tablets but I also had to empty the pool a couple of times to get things back on track. So I have no experience running lower levels (50 is low compared to what I was used to) and I don't know how fast FC disappears at that level. I was looking at 25ppm CYA only at first but was contemplating running at 30 after I found http://www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/healt...f/Cyanuric.pdf. This PDF states the CDC found CYA levels above 30ppm diminished "chlorine’s ability to inactivate the chlorine-resistant protozoan, cryptosporidium". Not sure the CDC still has this recommendation or not. This was a 2007 study...

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Starting resurfaced pool

    Have you only used bleach thus far? If you have not yet added any CYA, you could still follow the SS Recipe. It is just a simple way to build up CYA using Dichlor while adding chlorine. (Does the Leslie's Dichlor say 55 or 56% chlorine? If so, then it is fine to use.) (By the way, dichlor is granular, not tabs.)

    You are right that if you do decide to use dichlor, when you get your CYA to the level you want, then you just switch to using bleach so your CYA doesn't get too high.
    If you follow the chlorine levels in the chart at this link, your pool will be properly sanitized and will also keep algae at bay. http://pool9.net/cl-cya/

    As far as Amazon goes, have you ever heard of Amazon Prime? For $99 per year, you get free shipping on products they stock and also delivery within two days. If you shop a lot at Amazon, you'll get your money's worth. I know I save way more on the free shipping costs in a year than my $99.

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