Inherited a pool with our home that we purchased 4 years ago. IG 22,000 gl Vinyl, Pentair Whisperflo, DE Filter, Propane Heater, Polaris 3900, Spillover Spa.

Just pulled up the old paver deck, and had new colored and stamped concrete put down. Replaced liner with GLI Gerano, replaced pump and valve actuators. Pool basically looks brand new. Added Proteam Supreme Plus this week (went the easy route rather than borax and MA). First time using borates, and am anxious to see how it goes. Target for me to start is 30-35 ppm. I prefer to start on the low side. I can bring it up some if I like it.

Readings before adding:

FC- 2.2
pH- 7.2
TA- 70
CYA- 30

Put half in late yesterday afternoon. Was surprised this morning when I checked my readings. pH as expected...moved from 7.3 to 7.4. However TA went from 70 to 110. I went ahead and added the second half this morning. At this point I plan to do nothing about the TA for a week or two. I am hoping it settles back in on its own. I plan to eventually try to get it down to 70 again. The spillover spa tends to push my pH up, which was one of the main reasons for me adding borates. I am hoping the other benefits (softer water, algae control, lower chlorine use) are icing on the cake. The water balance was terrible when we bought the place. CYA was off the chart, regular algae issues, had to keep FC really high. I switched to bleach after our first summer as I learned more to try a bring CYA down (didn't want to drain and add, but probably should have). After 2 years it never got down to where I could measure (Taylor kit only goes to 150).

Pumps are mounted high above the pool compared to ideal. Probably 8-9 ft above water line. I run them 24/7. Because they are so far above the pool I am a little concerned that if I leave them off (on a timer) for several hours that everything will drain back to the pool causing them to start up dry. May play around with that some this summer.

Great to start fresh this year. New liner, new deck, new pumps, new face plates, and fresh water. Plan to use the BBB method (only other additional thing I am using is Pool Perfect + Phos Free....had great reviews on Amazon) and enjoy the summer....now if it would only warm up.