How do you start a pool for beginners?

How to Open a Pool

  1. Step 1: Clean up debris and check for wear and tear. …
  2. Step 2: Inventory your pool chemicals. …
  3. Step 3: Remove the Cover. …
  4. Step 4: Inspect the Pool. …
  5. Step 5: Fill Pool to Middle of Waterline Tile and Do Final Debris Removal. …
  6. Step 6: Turn on the Pool Filter and Test the Water.





What basic chemicals do you need for a pool?

What Chemicals Do You Need for a Pool?

  • CHLORINE: Probably the best-known pool chemical, chlorine is a sanitiser that keeps algae and bacteria at bay. …
  • SHOCK: …
  • BROMINE: …
  • CYANURIC ACID: …
  • CALCIUM CHLORIDE: …
  • ALGAECIDE: …
  • CLARIFIER: …
  • FLOCCULANT:


What should be adjusted first alkalinity or pH?

Alkalinity is the total alkaline material in your pool water. You should test alkalinity first because it will buffer pH. Your reading should be in the range of 80 to 120 parts per million (ppm).

What chemicals should I balance first in my pool?





Total Alkalinity

Total Alkalinity (TA) is the first thing you should balance in your pool water. TA refers to the amount of alkaline material in the water. And since alkaline is a pH stabilizer, the number of alkaline substances in water will affect the pH balance. The ideal Total Alkalinity range for pool water is 80 – 120 ppm.

Do I need to shock a new pool?

When opening your pool in the spring – When a pool is first opened, the chlorine level normally needs an immediate boost, and shock is the quickest and easiest way to accomplish this. If the chlorine level is already adquate, a non-chlorine shock may be used to treat the water.

What order do you add pool chemicals?

Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: First can help bring your ph. Into range if you need to raise your alkalinity. You can use an alkalinity increaser or baking soda. If you need to lower your alkalinity.

Is pool shock the same as chlorine?



Shock is chlorine, in a high dose, meant to shock your pool and raise the chlorine level quickly. Chlorine tabs (placed in a chlorinator, floater, or skimmer basket) maintain a chlorine residual in the water. You do need to use both tabs and shock.

How often should you shock your pool?

about once a week

How Often Should I Shock My Pool? Shocking your pool regularly will help to keep the water clean and free of contaminants. You should aim to shock your pool about once a week, with the additional shock after heavy use. Some tell-tale signs that your pool needs to be shocked are cloudy, foamy, green, or odourous water.

How often should I add chlorine to my pool?



Ideally, the chlorine value should be between 1 and 1.5 ppm. During the swimming season, we recommend checking these values twice a week. This can be done using a manual test kit, but there is also a digital version such as the Blue Connect Plus.

How do I treat my pool for the first time?

Chemicals Needed for Pool Start Ups

  1. Stain & Scale Preventer.
  2. Granular Shock Chlorine.
  3. Chlorine Tablets.
  4. pH Increaser and/or pH Decreaser.
  5. Alkalinity and/or Calcium Increaser.
  6. Cyanuric Acid (Stabilizer)
  7. Algaecide and Clarifiers if needed.
  8. Complete Test Kit or Test Strips.


Should I adjust chlorine or pH first?

Generally speaking you adjust PH first, chlorine second, and worry about everything else more gradually. However, there are many situations where you can adjust two or more numbers at the same time if the correct combination presents it’s self.

Do I add chlorine or stabilizer first?



Add Stabilizer (Cyanuric Acid)



Stabilizer is cyanuric acid. It’s important that you get this right BEFORE adjusting the chlorine levels. The right level of stabilizer basically makes the chlorine you add more effective and helps it last longer.

Is baking soda a pool stabilizer?

Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate is naturally alkaline, with a pH of 8. When you add baking soda to your pool water, you will raise both the pH and the alkalinity, improving stability and clarity. Many commercial pool products for raising alkalinity utilize baking soda as their main active ingredient.

Is shock the same as stabilizer?

Pool stabilizer is also known as pool conditioner, chlorine pool stabilizer, chlorine stabilizer, or Cyanuric Acid. And you can buy this chemical additive as either liquid or granular (powder). It’s also included in chlorine tablets or sticks (called trichlor) or shock (called dichlor).

What happens if you put too much stabilizer in a pool?

If the stabilizer level is too high in a pool, it will lock the chlorine molecules, rendering them ineffective as a sanitizer. This usually happens as a result of using chlorine tablets that contain cyanuric acid.

Do chlorine tablets have stabilizer?



A chlorine tab has two side effects that most pool owners don’t realize: It has a pH of 2.9 but more importantly, it lowers Total Alkalinity (TA). It is 52% cyanuric acid (aka conditioner or stabilizer) by weight and each one increases the cyanuric acid level (CYA) in your pool water.

How long do I wait between adding pool chemicals?

Wait times for adding pool chemicals



The wait times between adding pool chemicals is usually around 10 minutes each, as that is also sufficient time for the chemicals to mix in the water. Users also under normal conditions can swim roughly 10 minutes after adding chemicals.

Do I need cyanuric acid in my pool?

Because cyanuric acid protects chlorine from the sun, it’s really only required for outdoor pools (or indoor pools with some ultraviolet light exposure). CYA stays in a swimming pool for a long time, even after the water evaporates.

Does Clorox shock have cyanuric acid in it?

Clorox has absolutely NO Cyanuric Acid (CYA) in it nor does it increase CYA at all when you use it. You should show them. It’s mostly water, then sodium hypochlorite (i.e. chlorine), and sodium chloride salt, and then a small amount of sodium hydroxide and a very small amount of sodium polyacrylate.

Is chlorine stabilizer the same as cyanuric acid?

In the pool industry, Cyanuric Acid is known as chlorine stabilizer or pool conditioner. Cyanuric Acid (CYA) is a pool balancing product used to help chlorine last longer. Chlorine, in its natural form, is unstabilized—which means it degrades when exposed to sunlight.