Installing a new Intex AGP with saltwater chlorination.

[tigers75]

Have started to fill and after testing out water flow rate into a 5 gallon bucket, guessing 9 hrs to fill (+ or -). Have added the 2 doses of bleach. Plan on filling tonight, shutting water off before bed time and if not to late, may get the 110 lbs of pool salt into the pool tonight also. That brings up my next questions for tonight: I will start up filter pump and get things circulating (will wait to turn on SWCG until salt is completely dissolved).......do I add anything else tonight? I read that in the "CARE" section/recipe, to add dichlor and equal parts Borax together each evening. Do I officially start adding those tonight?

Thanks for the advice everyone! Did the bucket test (5 gallon bucket with 1/4 cup bleach) and water was clear as can be, so no initial issues I believe in water quality.

[Watermom]

You can start whenever your pool is full. Have you checked the pH of your fill water?

[tigers75]

YES--tested it this afternoon:
CL/BR=0....this was prior to 2 doses of bleach being added during filling
PH=7.5
ALKALINITY=70
HARDNESS=90
Did not test for CYA yet, was going to wait 24 hrs until pool was filled, salt was added and dissolved, and pump was running for a while. After filling and adding salt, how long should I run the filter/pump the first night? All night long to circulate the salt throughout the pool?

[Watermom]

You can ignore the bromine side of your tester since this is a chlorine pool.
Your pH, alk and hardness all look fine. Don't test for CYA. Since it is a fresh fill, there won't be any in there yet and you'll just be wasting your reagents. CYA is not a test you need to run all that often. Since you are using dichlor, it will gradually add CYA. (For every 10ppm of chlorine that it adds, it adds 9ppm of CYA.) So, wait awhile to test for it.

If it were my pool with new equipment, I would probably not run it unattended overnight in case there were any problems with something until you have had a chance to make sure everything is working properly. Run it as many hours as you can but I'd turn it off before going to bed the first night. Just my opinion.

[tigers75]

Great! Thanks for the advice! Plan on running filter for a couple of hours after adding salt to start recirculating. Will also start on nightly "care recipe" of dichlor and borax (equal parts). All this upfront advice has been so helpful!

[tigers75]

One question I forgot to check with: I occasionally have pine needles falling into the pool--will the acidity of those have a great enough effect that it will mess with readings?
And also...anything special to pay attention to if I have numerous days of rainfall?
Thanks again

[Watermom]

i have no idea about the pine needles, but I doubt it.

The biggest problem that rain causes is that people don't get check their pools. Then, they get algae and assume it was caused by the rain. As long as you remember that you still need to keep the chlorine and pH levels in check, you are fine.

[tigers75]

After I have added the 4lbs of dichlor to get the CYA up, my understanding is that the SWCG should be able to handle the levels at that point?

Is it still recommended to to the dichlor/borax combo every night from here on out?

[tigers75]

Full Day 2 for my new setup and filling. Salt was added the first night (sunday night) and the first dichlor /borax batch added the last two nights. Had less then 0.5 chlorine reading last night. Added nightly dose dichlor/borax mix and ran pump for 6.5 hrs overnight. This morning water readings are as followed:
CL=5
pH=7.5
Alkalinity=70ppm
Total Hardness=100ppm
CYA=filled tube to 30ppm and black dot faded but I could still see it. Not sure what to do about this?
Chlorine reading of 5.....Is that to high? I am using test kit "HTH 6-way" from Walmart, and the test guide says chlorine should be between 1-4 ppm.

Will this eventually lower on its own during day?
With CL reading of 5, should I still dichlor/borax nightly after SWCG is hooked up? Should I test the CL in the evening prior to adding the nightly dichlor/borax mix?
Pool will be sitting in full sunlight most of the day. No swimmers in it yet, still a little to cold at 60 degrees.
Planning on turning on salt water chlorine generator tonight and running along side filter/pump.

Thanks in advance again for your input.

[Watermom]

Chlorine in a pool without much CYA doesn't stick around long so, yes, your chlorine will come down. Your tester may say that chlorine should be between 1-4ppm but it actually isn't that simple. How high your chlorine level needs to be depends on your CYA level. (See the Best Guess Chlorine Chart below for more about that.) However, when you have a pool with a SWCG, you need to follow your SWCG manufacturers recommendation for how high the CYA needs to be. You'll want to continue to use dichlor until your CYA is a the level you need it to be. At that point, your SWCG will take over the chlorine production for you.

Your pH is great at 7.5 so no need right now to add any more Borax.

CarlD has an SWCG. I'm going to ask him to look in on this thread and walk you through the rest of your start up with it.