Opening Numbers

[CarlD]

Just to piggy-back, I started my opening today, too!

First thing I did after the safety mesh was off was test the water:
FC:0
CC:0
TC:0
pH: ~7.0
T/A: 0-10 ppm
Calcium: 20 ppm
CYA: 0

Despite this the water was (as it usually is at opening) clear. Lots of junk on the bottom, and some algae on the walls, but I tossed in the Blue Diamond for the first pass and 2 gallons of 12.5% LC. Just for starters.

Tomorrow, I'm going to hook up the pump and drop the return and drain plugs and get it filtering. Probably add a stack of Tri-chlor in a floater or two for chlorine and CYA and a box of Washing Soda for pH AND T/A.

[BigStein]

Sunday morning update. The water may have cleared a little bit, but not much. The filter pressure was up about 10 from yesterday so backwashed. Chlorine is holding fine, came in at 5. There continues to be some sediment, which I think is the fallout from metal, although I find this surprising given that I have put in 3 bottles of sequestering agent and there is no green color that I had with the copper last season. pH is still below 7 and I don't think I am going to bring this up much until after I figure out the cloudiness, as I know the sequesterant works best at lower pH (feel free to correct me if anyone thinks I need to start bringing this up now).

Not much I can do today as we have company here, so will get metals re-tested at the pool store tomorrow.

[aylad]

If your pool is a vinyl pool, then your pH needs to at least come up to 7.0 to keep from being too acidic so the liner gets damaged.

Janet

[mbar]

Hi, Do you have any calcium in your pool? Is it a vinyl liner? Just a few more numbers. Sometimes when adding sequestering agent the water gets cloudy, as it causes fallout of calcium, and metals, and sometimes alkalinity. This is when the water gets saturated with too much stuff - I know it isn't scientific, but it is my experience that this happens a lot. I would just let it filter 24/7 for a few more days. I wouldn't add any chlorine, and I would test the alkalinity and calcium again to see if it is lower now. If the water doesn't clear up in a week, then I would take the chlorine up to shock to break down the remaining sediment. If you have a vinyl liner, then it is important to get the ph back up to 7, as aylad says, but don't let it get higher than 7.2 for a while. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have, and let us know how things turn out

[BigStein]

The pool is vinyl liner and the total hardness measured at 40 when I had the water tested (no specific number for calcium). I did add a little under a gallon of bleach this morning just to see if it would help and have noticed some clearing of the cloudiness today. There continues to be some sediment (or fallout from the metal) and I vacuumed that twice today. The filter is taking something out as I just had to backwash (DE filter) due to pressure build up (and had to backwash yesterday as well). I tested pH earlier today and then added a cup of Borax and just tested again and it is still low so put in another cup, I will continue to do this two or three times a day until I get it to 7.1 or 7.2 but understand not to go higher. I will re-test alkalinity in the morning.

All in all, it does seem to be just a matter of time. The water certainly seems clean other than the cloudiness. Will post tomorrow morning with any changes that take place overnight.

As always, thanks for the help.

[BigStein]

Monday morning and the pool has cleared more. Looks like patience is the key. Will get my water tested today or tomorrow at the store but I just ran pH and it is still low so still adding Borax a cup at a time. Will do another alkalinity a bit later too.

[aylad]

Hang in there, you're doing it all right and your efforts will pay off. Patience is the key!

Janet

[BigStein]

Thanks for the input Janet. As I say, things are clearing up nicely so not worried at this point. I will just do the Borax thing for now and backwash the filter as necessary. Threw the solar cover on and turned on the heater this morning as the kids are getting anxious to swim, even though the water is only 50 degrees! I have a heat pump so will take a few days to get the water even close to swimming temp. although we are expecting warmer weather through the week so I am guessing the kids will jump in on Thursday or Friday, even though it likely will not be warm enough for me.