Start up

[borrott]

Have been building pool as owner builder . Now nearly finished, 5 weeks in plaster going on soon Question? what do you (Members) suggest i put in to pool from startup chemicals wise . Will be using municipal water to fill pool.

16000Gal 30 x 15
1 skimmer
3 returns
DE filter. Need some advise.

[aylad]

You need to test your fill water to see where your starting point is. Basically, you need enough chlorine to start off at a 1-3 ppm range. since your'e going to need 200-400 ppm calcium in your water to keep the water from leaching the calcium out of your plaster, you might want to consider using cal-hypo for your chlorine source. You're going to have to add chlorine daily until you get some stabilizer (CYA) in the pool, which will take about a week to dissolve. Follow label directions on the CYA container to get your pool to 20-30 ppm CYA. Once your CYA level is registering in the pool, you'll need to adjust your chlorine level upward (see the Best Guess charg stickied at the top of the chlorine forum). You want your pH to be 7.0-7.8, use Borax to raise, use muriatic or dry acid (aka ph down) to lower it. Total alk needs to be in the 80-120 range. Use baking soda to raise it, or check the Sticky in the Alkalinity forum for the procedure to lower it using acid and aeration. Again, you really need to test your fill water to find out where your starting point is. If you'll test your fill water, and post those results, we can give you a little more useful advice about what needs to happen in YOUR pool. Congratulations on the new pool--you'll love it!!

Janet