Hi Everyone,

I would like to thank everyone for all the info on this forum! Very good stuff.

I am having my first pool buillt down here in sunny Florida. Jacksonville area. Anyways they should be putting on the marcite/pebble stones today! I am told they have to come back and acid wash the next morning - and then I can fill it up!l

I read the posts aboout bleach being too high. Not sure if this is a good price, but Publix has bleach on sale - 96 oz for $1.50 each. It's a 6 % solution and the chemical is the only thing listed on the ingredients. So I am hoping it's good stuff as I bought 10 gallons. I also bought 5 boxes of Borax and 2 bottles of stablilizer. I already have 2 gallons of Muriatic Acid left over from doing a light acid wash to my deck. Any other start up things I need to get?

I bought a Color Pro 7 test kit. I know that's not the board's first choice and I haven't read too much about LaMotte, the manufacturer on this board. However I am basically colorblind and I need the digital read out.

Moving on - because of this board I decided that I can maintain my pool myself without freaking out - even though I am a complete newbie...

Here are some initial questions I have - and I appreciate any response!

First pool stats:
Concrete free form pool about 29 x 14. 3.5 at shallow 6 feet deep end. About 15000 gallons.
2 foot waterfall
Hayward 2 speed Max Flo II pump
Hayward Cartridge Filter
Pentair in-line chrlorinator

I dont have any water in there yet obviously so I don't have any water #'s. Ok:

When the pool is first filled the pool builder said the marcite will raise the PH up alot and i should run the filter pump on for about 48 hours before I do any pool chemicals.

Any comments on this?

I also read that the waterfall will raise the PH up a little bit as well.

I am planning on using bleach as my chlorine source:
Can I add that directly to the skimmer or in the pool right from the bottle?

I understand that using the 3" tabs in the inline chlorinator raises CYA and that's not a good thing (thanks again PF!). However I do leave town alot and sometimes its for several days at a time. With that said I am going to have to use the chlorinator at some point.

So my question is assuming that once I start adding chemicals to balance the pool - is it ok to have my CYA on the low end? Say 30. Knowing that when I leave town i'll be raising it up with the chrlorine tabs?

Assuming I brush the new marcite every day for a week or two at first to move the fresh "stuff" off the marcite and all that - how long generally should I wait to expect the PH to stabilize?

My pool builder dropped off 1 bag of shock - in case he wasnt around (go figure). Pretty much stated that maybe after 24 hours of circulation just drop in a bag of shock and that will start getting the water clean and ready.

So, if you we're building a new pool and we're experienced (like so many of you are) - how would you handle all this? I mean what would be the first thing you did or the first things you would do the first 1 - 3 weeks of pool ownership to make sure you had clear, clean water?

I promised my 10 year old daughter that we would have her birthday party here at my house (2 weeks from now) and she is SO excited. Just want to make sure I do this right!

Sorry for all the questions and, again, thanks in advance!

David