Reviewed April 2007

Pool Tips^™
Pool Opening II: The Water

You must read all of the Liability Agreement before taking any action, especially all safety and liability warnings.

1. Housekeeping: Remove all debris before adding chemicals. Scoop out leaves, pine needles and large debris. Brush walls to loosen up algae, water mold or slime. Vacuum pool bottom, preferably out to waste.

2. Filtration.
   1. Sand filter: Replace filter sand, or use a filter cleaner to clean last year's sand - unless the sand was cleaned at closing time last year.

   2. DE Filter: Remove the Diatomaceous Earth. Clean the filter elements with filter cleaner, and add new D.E. - unless the elements were cleaned at closing time last year.

   3. Cartridge Filter: Clean the cartridge with filter cleaner unless you did it when it was closed.

   4. All filters: Run the filter 24 hours a day until the pool water is completely clear. Then, run at least 8 hours a day for the rest of the summer.

3. Testing: Finish adding any necessary water to the pool, and run the filter at least 6 hours to circulate. Do your normal home chemical test - make sure that all of your reagents are fresh this year. Remember the results. If it's convenient, it would be best to bring a pint of pool water in for our lab work. If you have a white plaster pool, or if you added a lot of water that may have high mineral content, definately come in now. Otherwise, continue on to the next step, and bring your water sample in at least four days after shocking the pool.

4. PH Adjustment: If you use chlorine or bromine, your pH must be adjusted to 7.4 or lower, or the shock will not work. A higher level may be allowable in some cases, depending on the water's Total Alkalinity and the form of shock being used. If you use Baquacil, it wouldn't hurt to adjust the pH now, but it's not critical.

5. Opening Chemicals: Add shock, algaecide, and sanitizer, but never mix chemicals together! Add them to different parts of the pool, according to the label directions. Run the filter at least 24 hours. If you use a Nature2 Ionization Purifier Cartridge, replace it before adding the shock, but after completing the computerized balance that we do. Even if you only used last year's cartridge a few weeks, you need a new one now. For ___________ gallons:
   1. Shock ______________________________ (see label)

   2. Sanitizer ______________________________ (see label, daily dose)

   3. Algaecide ______________________________ (see label, initial dose)
      (except Baquacil pools that closed with a water kit last year only need 1/4 to 1/2 an initial dose).

6. Follow Up:
   1. If you use Baquacil, you can swim 15 minutes after you shock. Don't bother to test again for a week, and don't expect to add Baquacil for at least two weeks.

   2. If you use chlorine or bromine, you probably cannot swim for a day or two after shocking. Test each day, until the chlorine or bromine level returns to normal. Do not trust your pH readings until then. Test your water every day until the end of summer. Vary the time of day, so that you can learn how your sanitizer levels vary with usage, time of day, and sunlight.

7. Water Balance and Secondary Chemicals: Ideally, you should have dealt with water balance or conditioners as part of the lab work in step three. However, if you skipped it, address it now. In general, you're looking at:
   1. Total Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness: Very important to long-range health of the pool, and there's no way of telling what you need without a good laboratory and a computer.

   2. Floc, Clarifier, Bee Kleer, Super Kleer, etc.: It couldn't hurt to add some, and you definitely want to use it if the water's not sparkling clear after 48 hours of continual filtration: _______________ (initial dose).

   3. Mineral Control: Even if metals didn't show in our laboratory test; we're only testing for 2 or 3 out of easily a dozen potential problems. And, trace levels of 10 minerals can cause the same problems as 10 times the amount of only one mineral. Recommended for everyone; imperative for pools with a plaster finish, heater, biguanide chemistry (Baquacil or Softswim), or a history of bioslime, water mold, mustard algae, staining, calcium deposits, high shock usage, or high sanitizer usage: ________________ (initial dose for 1-2 ppm).

   4. Chlorine Stabilizer: If you use Relax^™, Enjoy^™, a salt-chlorine generator, or unstabilized calcium hypochlorite chlorine (HTH, Freestyle, Pulsar, CLC, Sustain etc.) you'll probably need 1/2 initial dose every year. If you use stabilized chlorine (just about everything else) you shouldn't need any. In any case, we'd be afraid to let you add any until we tested your level - it is possible to over-dose.

   5. Conditioners, Preventatives: such as Proteam Supreme, Bioguard Optimizer, Baquacil Ultra, Baquacil CDX, etc. If you've never used it, we can assume an initial dose. If you've used it and kept it up last year, we can guess at 1/4 to 1/2 initial dose.

      Proteam Supreme for any system, and Bioguard Optimizer for Clorine or Bromine is 20 lbs. per 10,000 gallons initial dose. Optimizer for Softswim is 40 lbs. per 10,000 gallons. After that, maintaining levels should take about 10 lbs. per 10,000 gallons per year.

      In any case, expect to use up to 1 lb. pH reducer per pound of conditioner used, to bring your pH back down. We could tell more from a water test, but here's a guess:

Special Conditioner: ________________________,

pH Reducer: ________________________

P.S. If you do not already use one of these, ask us about them. In different ways, they can make your pool water clearer, more comfortable, and cheaper and easier to maintain:

Shopping List
___ Filter media
___ Filter Cleaner
___ Cover Pump
___ Vacuum
___ Test Kit
___ Test Reagents
___ pH Adjusters
___ Sanitizer
___ Algaecide
___ Shock
___ Conditioners
___ Water Balance

Please let us help you, anytime.

IMPORTANT

We write Pool Tips^™ for the exclusive use of our own local customers. They are meant as a summary of general information, to be discussed in our store, with our staff, to determine which items are best for specific pools. Pool Tips^™ are a trademark of Gull Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Our suggestions assume that you have given us a proper description of your pool's size, history and symptoms. Sometimes we can figure it out, sometimes we can't. Your doctor has years more training, far better diagnostic tools, and makes way more money—and sometimes he or she gets it wrong, too.

1. Read all labels carefully, and only use chemicals exactly as described on the label. Never mix chemicals together outside of the pool. Some of them can cause a fire or explosion.
2. Do Not follow any advice or suggestions here without coming into the store, customizing them to your specifics, and receiving them in writing.
3. Do Not print these out or reproduce for any purpose whatever. They are all copyrighted, and we take our copyrights very seriously.
4. Don't Blame Us for anything. It's free advice, and worth the price paid. We're trying to help, but pools are complex, and chemicals and electricity are dangerous.
5. Our Best Advice: Go find a local pool dealer who knows what they are doing, become a steady customer, and give them a chance to learn about you and your pool. Pick a brand, pick a store, and stay with them.

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