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What Chemicals Do I Need To Start My Pool

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Clean And Store Your Winter Pool Cover

Pool Start Up – Chemicals and How to Add Them

Find a large, easily accessible area like your lawn, deck, or driveway, and spread the cover flat. Make sure the areas clear of sharp objects and other potentially damaging items.

Wash your cover with water, cover cleaner , and a scrub brush or rubber broom.

Scrub it thoroughly, but gently. Youll ensure a longer life for your pool cover, which can save you quite a bit of money since you wont have to replace it. Make sure you allow your cover to dry thoroughly before storing it to avoid damage from moisture and mold.

Stash your winter cover in a durable, tightly sealed plastic tub or other large storage container during the off season. This will keep rats and other critters from making a nest in your expensive cover or, worse yet, chomping it into tiny bits.

What Chemicals Do I Need To Open My Pool

Before you start adding chemicals to your pool, figure out the condition of your water. For that, use ahome test kit such as a liquid testing kit or easy-to-use test strips. For a more precise analysis, youcan bring a water sample to your local pool store for professional testing. After you analyze your poolchemical levels, you may need to add these opening pool chemicals:

Set Up And Run Your Filter And Pump

Reinstall the drain plugs in your pump and filter using thread seal tape. Lubricate any O-rings with pool gasket lubricant to protect them.

Use the same lubricant on your pump housing O-ring. If you see any cracks in that O-ring, replace it immediately to avoid sucking air into your pump. Your pool heater and chlorinator, if you have them, also have drain plugs.

Next, open your return side valves to be sure the water being pulled into your pump has somewhere to go. If you have a multiport valve, turn the handle to waste, and replace the air bleeder, sight glass, and pressure gauge.

Flip your circuit breaker, then turn on your pump. Once water is flowing through, your pump is primed. Take a look at your filter. Wash or replace it, if necessary. Switch your multiport valve to filter.

If you used antifreeze when you closed your pool, this process will expel from the lines. Most of it will come out while the valve is turned to waste, but a little of it may still make it into your pool water. Dont be concerned. The antifreeze made for pools is non-toxic, and the rest of it will be filtered out in subsequent filtering cycles.

Tip: If your pressure gauge shows a sudden spike, shut off your pump immediately. Check to make sure nothing is impeding water flow through your system. If necessary, you can prime the pool pump again.

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Use Ph Adjusters For Your Swimming Pool

Adjusting your pH is relatively straightforward.

While following normal pool maintenance routines, it should be taken care of. If not, then use one of the following.

Alkaline Tablets:Suppose the pH level has risen to high. If that is the case, then at an alkaline tablet. Afterward, it should lower quite a bit.

Pool Shock:On the other hand, if things have become too basic, then you should talk about the water. That way, its pH will rise.

Freshly Filled Pool Chemical Guide

What Chemicals Do I Need To Start Up My Pool

What start-up chemicals are needed for a new pool, or for a pool that has been drained and refilled with fresh water?

That depends on the water balance of your source water – some tap water makes excellent pool water, while other sources need major adjustment, for water balance that works well with chlorine and won’t stain, scale, fade or corrode your soft and shiny pool surfaces.

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Inventory Your Pool Chemicals

Youll want to have all of your chemicals ready to go before you start opening your pool. Check the expiration dates on all of your pool chemicals, and replace any that are past their prime. . You should also replace any chemicals that werent properly sealed before they were stored.

Chemicals Checklist: Everything You Need to Open Your Pool

Need to do a pre-opening pool chemical supply run? Heres what youll need to get the job done right:

  • A good test kit or test strips for checking your pools pH, calcium hardness, total alkalinity,and chlorine levels
  • Chlorine granules or tablets
  • Stain treatment

Understanding Chlorine Vs Bromine

In most pools, there will be one of these halogens. Chlorine and bromine share several characteristics on the chemical level. Since they have an identical number of valence electrons, they behave similarly. Thus, you can use them in the same applications to produce substantially comparable results.

Chlorine:In most instances, chlorine is the pool sanitizer of choice. Once you add some of this, none of those bacteria can thrive.

Bromine:If you are sensitive to chlorine, then bromine might be an appropriate substitute. Sometimes, people develop rashes when swimming in chlorinated water. If you are in those truths, then try some of this. Typically, it will perform much better.

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Testing Your Freshly Filled Pool Water

To find out the water balance of your source water, just use a pool test kit or test strips. Be sure that your kit or strips are fresh, last years supply may produce inaccurate results.

To produce the full battery of water tests , you will need a complete test kit like the Taylor Deluxe K-2005. If you prefer test strips, AquaChek Select 7-Way, and LaMotte Insta Test 6 are both complete test strips.

Taking a water sample to the pool store may not be the best option, as their system is designed to sell you chemicals, after which you will need to test the water again, and test all summer – so you may as well buy the K-2005 , or buy some fresh 6-way or 7-way test strips, which aren’t as accurate, but may be close enough.

How To Shock Your Pool

What Chemicals Do I Need for My Pool?

Once youve got your water balanced, youll want to shock your pool.

Use 2 pounds of pool shock for every 10,000 gallons of pool water, or 5 gallons of liquid shock for every 20,000 gallons of pool water. This is a double shock, using twice the normal amount. This will give your pool a sanitizing whammy to make sure the waters ready for swimming.

Important: Dont forget to shock at night or at dusk to keep sunlight from burning off the shock too quickly.

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What Chemicals Do You Need When Opening A Swimming Pool For The Summer

05/ 01/ 2015

When it’s time to open your swimming pool, many people have the reflex of immediately taking a water sample to the local pool store. This is actually a mistake.

See, after a winter season, more then likely the pool will be a little green by the time you remove the cover and re-fill it with water. So before you even think about adding any adjustment chemicals to the water, we suggest the following 3 items to add when opening a swimming pool.

What Is Breakpoint Oxidation

To reach breakpoint oxidation, the chlorine reading must be 10 ppm over your combined chlorine reading.

Your chlorine has two readings: free chlorine and combined chlorine . Free chlorine refers to the chlorine that is free and available to kill.

NOTE: Pool shock products are made with unstabilized chlorine or no chlorine at all. They will go in, do their job, and get eaten up by the suns UV rays very fast. Thats why its important to shock your pool at night or dusk, and let it work for 8 hours throughout the night.

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Stabilizers And Balancing Chemicals

Other important swimming pool chemicals include Water Balancing Pool Chemicals. Chemical levels in your pool water are affected by many factors, including sunlight, rain, evaporation and the presence of oils. This means that the waters chemical levels are always changing, which affects the waters pH levels and total alkalinity.

Balancing chemicals such as pH Increaser and pH Reducer allow you to keep pH and alkalinity levels in the right range and help maintain healthy and clean water. Water balancing pool chemicals also help enhance the performance of your sanitizer, reducing maintenance time and chemical use.

While bromine cannot be stabilized, or protected from the sun, chlorines life can be extended by using stabilizer, aka conditioner. Stabilizing pool chemicals provide protection for chlorine molecules, preventing them from becoming quickly destroyed by UV radiation from the sun. This allows your chlorine-based chemicals to last longer, which saves money and prevents rapid depletion on warm summer days.

Remove Plugs And Ice Compensator

What Chemicals Do I Need To Start Up My Pool

When you closed your inground swimming pool for the winter, you blew out the pipes and installed winterizing plugs to prevent water from getting back into them and freezing. Youll need to walk around the pool and remove all those plugs.

You should see some bubbles as the pool water flows back into the pipes. This is normal. Whether you used an ice compensator or a soda bottle, youll need to remove it and the winterizing plugs from your skimmer.

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Start Your Pump And Filter

Fire it up! Make sure the system starts, and check for any leaks or drips. Dont forget to make sure the ground wires are properly connected to the pump.

If you find your system is running dry, you may need to prime the pool pump. You can do this by shutting off your filter system, removing the pump lid, and adding water from your garden hose or a bucket of pool water.

This will give the pump the boost it needs to start pulling water. Put the pump lid back on, tighten it up, and restart the system.

Whether your filter uses sand or the tiny fossilized organisms known as diatomaceous earth , backwash it after you start your filter system up. The differences in technique between how to backwash a sand filter and how to backwash a DE filter are small but important. The biggest difference is adding DE after you backwash filters that use it.

Always follow your manufacturers instructions when backwashing any filter.

Closing Thoughts: Which Pool Chemicals Do You Need And How Much

Heres a quick recap of which pool chemicals you need to run your pool, and how much:

  • Chlorine Tablets
  • How much: 2 tablets for every 10,000 gallons, per week
  • Pool Shock
  • How much: one pound for every 10,000 gallons of water, per week
  • Alkalinity Increaser
  • How much: One pound for every 10,000 gallons to increase TA by 10 ppm
  • Alkalinity Decreaser
  • How much: 2 pounds for every 10,000 gallons to decrease TA by 10 ppm
  • Calcium Hardness Increaser
  • How much: One pound for every 10,000 gallons to increase Calcium Hardness by 8 ppm
  • Cyanuric Acid
  • How much: One pound for every 10,000 gallons to increase CYA by 12 ppm
  • Pool Algaecide
  • How much: 3 ounces for every 10,000 gallons per week
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    Should You Start A Pool Cleaning Business

    Starting a pool cleaning business isnt as simple as going door to door with a sweeping brush. It is going to require some work.

    If youve assessed the pros and cons and decided that a pool cleaning business is for you, you have to decide if youre going to be just cleaning or doing maintenance as well.

    One is quite a bit more complicated, but it will make it easier for you to find clients. In either case, you need to do quite a bit of research if you want to succeed.

    Pool cleaning and maintenance businesses really know their stuff when it comes to pools. Unless youre willing to undertake the training needed to understand all of it, then starting a pool cleaning business might not be for you.

    More pool cleaning tips at YOUR tips:

    What Chemicals Are Needed For A Pool Start Up

    Pool Chemicals For Beginners Above Ground Pool Start Up Easy Care and Tips

    When youre finding the chemicals you need for a pool start up, it all starts with your water.

    Ideally, you should have properly cleaned your pool prior to filling it back up. Going through a full pool cleaning before filling it back up will cut down on contaminants in your water, equally a pool maintenance service can ensure chemically balanced water on start-up.

    If you are filling from a freshwater source, it isnt going to be perfect pool water. It would be a bit ridiculous to use entirely purified water too, so this is something youre going to have to deal with.

    The first thing that you need to do is test your water. While you can do this with a small test, it is better to go all-in with a full water test.

    You need to know exactly what it is that youre working with if you want to start your pool up right.

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    How To Start Up A Saltwater Swimming Pool

    So you’re feeling salty, huh? It’s actually a good thing! Salt pools offer a ton of benefits including less time spent on maintenance and more time enjoying your pool. Unlike traditional chlorine, salt pools are gentle on eyes, skin, and clothes. They can be harsh on some equipment though so make sure you follow these steps when starting up or converting to a salt pool!

    *As with any product, always refer to your salt chlorinator’s owner manual for detailed instructions specific to your model and brand.

    PRO TIP: Regardless of the type of pool you own the water does not need to be drained, even when converting a chlorine pool to salt pool. This is especially true if you have a vinyl liner pool. We cover the only time you should drain your vinyl pool here.

    Measure Water Chemistry At Home With Test Strips Or A Test Kit

    The easiest and quickest way to test your water at home is to use test strips or a test kit. It’s important to test your water chemistry before adding any chemicals, because this will help you know exactly what’s needed and how much chemical to add. To start with, test for total alkalinity, pH, chlorine, calcium hardness, and stabilizer levels.

    Pool chemistry can get way out of balance over the winter, and will need to return to safe levels before swimming. Whether opening the pool or maintaining water chemistry, safe and proper chemical levels for standard chlorine pool water are as follows:

    • Total Alkalinity : 80 to 120 ppm
    • pH: 7.4 to 7.6

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    Ph Adjusting Chemicals For Pool Start Up

    Your pH level is really important for keeping your pool in good working order. If this is off, then your chlorine wont be working properly which can lead to unsafe water and too much chlorine.

    Your pH level should be the second thing that you address when adding chemicals. The ideal range is between 7.2 and 7.6. This is perfect for your chlorine and for keeping your water safe for use.

    If your pH level is too high, you can use the same pH decreaser that you would use for adjusting alkalinity. Be sure to check that level again afterwards.

    Intex Pool Start Up Chemicals

    What Chemicals Do I Need To Start Up My Pool

    Intex pools are small aboveground pools, but they still need startup or opening chemicals as any other pool. Perhaps you arent as concerned about staining and scaling as an inground pool owner, but you certainly want clean and clear water, without any signs of algae.

    If you are starting with a freshly filled intex pool, consider screwing on a pre-filter to your garden hose before filling the pool, to remove excess solids and minerals, and reduce the workload for your pool filter.

    Step 1 – Water Balance First! As usual, start by balancing pH, Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness levels to the chart above. Calcium is not as critical in a vinyl Intex pool, but maintaining a minimum level of 150 ppm is still a good idea. Your pool water pH level is best in the 7.2-7.5 range, and to hold the pH steady, the waters Alkalinity should be around 100 ppm. Intex pool chemicals startup would not be complete without cyanuric acid ), to protect your chlorine from the sun. Add 1 lb per 2500 gallons, to raise CYA levels to 40 ppm.

    Step 2 Add Clarifier: Most Intex pool filter systems are decidedly small, and can use a helping hand. Swimming pool water clarifiers coagulate suspended material into larger clumps that are more easily filtered.

    Step 5 Add Algaecide: Following label instructions for dosage, treat your Intex pool with a good quality pool algaecide, as a supplement to your chlorine treatment, to prevent algae growth.

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    Stain Removal And Prevention

    Stains and ugly water lines are another issue that most pool owners have to deal with. Pool Stain Removal & Stain Prevention Chemicals effectively remove and prevent stains that can be caused by metals such as copper, iron, lead, silver, nickel, manganese, and cobalt. These metals are a major cause for discoloration and scaling in your pool water pool stain removers disperse these metals from your water, leaving it clear and clean. By using stain prevention chemicals on regular basis, the need for backbreaking scrubbing and cleaning will be greatly reduced and it will be far easier to maintain a beautifully clean pool environment.

    Once Every Other Day Test The Water

    At least three times each week, test the pH level of your water. As long as you test it that often, it shouldnt go out of balance by too much.

    Depending on the Results, Use an Appropriate Treatment:

    Lets say that the pH level was higher than usual. Then, you should try to lower it. Additionally, if the pH level is lower, then you should raise it.

    Usually, We Suggest Using a Litmus Strip:

    Perhaps, the litmus strip is among the easiest testing methods. With one of these, you just dip the paper into the water. Then, see what color it becomes. Depending on the results, youll have your answer

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