What Chemicals to add to a new pool?

Question

We just had a 24ft above ground pool installed. We are trying to get the water right (it's very cloudy) and add the correct chemicals. I heard not to take a sample of the water to the dealer and to purchase your chemicals elsewhere. Does anyone know what chemicals we need to put in the pool to start it up and maintain it? Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks!

Answer 1

Liquid chlorine is the best.

Put half a bucketful in and give it a good swish round and switch on the filter. Then when that's running, after 10 or 20 minutes, get another half bucketful of chlorine and "shock" the pool - throw the contents at the surface of the water, and follow up with 4 or 5 more of plain water (from the pool).

Then leave the pool alone for 3 or 4 hours (best over night).

I've had a similar above-ground pool for 15 years approx.

One of the fun things to do in your new pool is to get everyone using it to make a whirl pool before they get out.

All walk as fast as you can in the same direction around the inside edge of the pool, until the water is seen to be moving really quickly. By that time everyone should be running (and falling over!). Then get out.

The advantage is that as the water turns, all the heavy particles of dirt, etc, get deposited in the centre of the pool making it easier for you to scoop them out before the next swimming session!

Make the kids work for their pleasure!

Answer 2

You'll most definitely be needing to add stabilizer as one of your first things to do. Without it, any chlorine you add to the pool will have a hard time staying in and not getting zapped by ultra violet rays from the sun. The rest of what you need to add, will depend entirely on what your water chemistry is right now and the pool's appearance. None of which you have any info provided here (other than cloudy (whitish?greenish?)), so it's kind of tough to tell you what to add besides the stabilizer, since there's nothing else you've told us other than it's a new pool, with new water. It needs to be stabilized.

Whoever told you not to get your water tested at a local pool shop, is not helping you. You actually should, at least for the time being, since some of what they will test for you won't find in an ordinary, run of the mill, homeowner test kit. Things like stabilizer levels, dissolved metals and calcium hardness are just a few of the things they test for and it's important to get them in range or in the case of metals, eliminated altogether. Water from the tap isn't the same everywhere. Some sources will have high iron, others copper, others still, a high calcium count. By getting your water tested at a dealer, they'll be able to tell you ( usually for free) what it is you need to get that water balanced. You don't have to buy your chemicals there if you don't want to, but at least take the shop staff's advice on what you need to do. One thing to keep in mind. Not all pool chemicals are created equal. That bargain pail of chlorine pucks, for example, could be almost entirely filler, with little chlorine content. Same goes for shock and even algaecide. Bottom line is that you get what you pay for.

The service company I worked 10 years for, actually had a neat little program they offered to new pool people. Pool School. It was included with the purchase of a pool or if the pool wasn't built by us, a small service charge applied ( about 50 bucks). A service tech would conduct a course for an hour, strictly about that particular pool and it's equipment in the customer's backyard and a decent overview on water chemistry. I had many customers taking notes and even filming the entire thing for review later. Most were able to deal with their pools by themselves afterwards. Try some of your local pool shops that have service departments. They may offer something similar. It's a bargain actually, because not only do you get schooled, the service tech does a complete service on your pool, including a vac.

Answer 3

if you are not sure what to put in go to your local pool store ours checks the customers for free. what we generally use for our pool customers when we open them up for the year is a case of chlorine (4 gal) not the crappy walmart meijer c**p but the good stuff, a really good algecide (glb algimycin 2000 qt is what we put in the whole quart), a sequestering agent (glb sequa-sol, removes stain, scale, and rust from the water - the whole quart) and tablets in a floater/or automatic chlorinator. and then use the chemicals weekly plus any adjustments to your ph, alkalinity, stabilizer, calcium hardness, phosphate level, etc.