New Pool Questions

[CarlD]

Carl said: "However, Gunite pools should keep a calcium level of 200-400--no more or less, and a T/A of 80 or 90 to 125. You don't want to be out of that range."

Carl, At the risk of sounding like a broken record, that's not necessarily true for new pools; especially with regard to alkalinity in high-acid start-ups of exposed aggregate/quartz finishes. In those cases you want the water to eat some of the plaster (which will also increase your calcium hardness, I think).

I would defer to the builder to avoid voiding the warranty, and I am not an expert on plaster pools--Ben is FAR more knowledgable but these are the general rules of thumb. You seem to be as well.

[KurtV]

Far from an expert; I just hired a bad pool builder so I had to keep checking up on the right way to do things vs. his way.

[md_rider]

Well, I re-checked everything this morning. Here are the results:

Cl - 3
pH - 7.2
TA - 20
CH - 210
CYA - did not really register

Seems like things are starting to come together. I guess it's not bad after 1 week of water.

I added 2 more Chlorine pucks to the skimmer, the first 2 were just about gone. I figure I will wait a few more days before I try and raise the TA, let things settle out more. Seem reasonable?

[KurtV]

md rider,
You should probably check with your builder or the manufacturer of your plaster on how long you're supposed to keep your pool in the "high-acid" state before adjusting the alkalinity. At least for DiamondBrite, high-acid essentially means zero alkalinity.

[md_rider]

Kurtv: We just have regular white plaster. The builder never mentioned anything about a "high-acid" start-up. Just said to keep an eye on the pH because of the plaster curing and add acid as necessary. I will check to make sure. Thanks.

[md_rider]

I checked the water again this morning. I have a question. The Calcium Hardness was 210 a couple days ago. When I measured today, the solution did not turn red when adding the first drops, just turned a pale yellow. Does anyone know what this means? The CL, Alk and pH were all in the good range. Didn't check CYA again, ran out of reagent.

Thanks Again!

[sunofthebeach]

The same thing happens to me with the Walmart 5 way test kit. I think there is something in the pool water that throws off the results and gives that pale yellow color.

Test some tap water and the test will work correctly, so its not the test.

I have not really been able to figure it out and I have seen a couple of threads on this on the old board.