I just put together a 12×3 foot pool. Water is in and filter is going. I purchased a hth kit for small pools. It includes 1). Stabilizer. 2). Chlorine Granuals. 3). Shock and swim. I just tested the water. The chlorine is at zero. pH is at 8.4 and the alkalinity is at 120. I have no clue what I’m doing with these chemicals. I checked the website and it doesn’t clearly state how much of these chemicals to add to the water. Also, do I complete these 3 steps all at once? Or is this something that I need to do over a matter of days. Then, when can I let my children swim in it? Thank you soooo much for any help!
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Stabilizer is like sunscreen for chlorine. Too little, and it gets burned off quickly. Too much, and you have other problems.
Chlorine is a sanitizer. It destroys bacteria and algae. Your pool needs some level of chlorine in it at all times to prevent bacteria and algae growth.
Powdered Shock is just more chlorine. Depending on what kind of chlorine it is, it will contain calcium or stabilizer (but not both).
A 12×3 round pool holds about 2,5 gallons. Your CYA level should be from 30-50 ppm, so adding one pound of stabilizer will be perfect. Add a little less if the chlorine you’ve been using is di-chlor or tri-chlor, since they already contain stabilizer. Given a CYA of 40, you should aim to keep the chlorine level between 3 – 7 ppm. Every six ounces of bleach will increase your chlorine by 1 ppm. You can use the pool calculator link to find out how much of other chemicals will do the same thing, but unscented bleach is a perfectly acceptable source of chlorine. If you don’t believe me, look for “liquid chlorine” or “liquid sanitizer” at your pool store. The ingredients will be “sodium hypochlorite, water,” which is the exact same thing as regular ol’ bleach.
Now, if your pH is at 8.4, you need to add acid to bring it down. You want a range of between 7.5 – 7.8. You can either add dry acid (sold as “pH down) or muriatic acid (found in the paint supply area of your local hardware store.) Either will get the job done.
Source(s): http://www.poolcalculator.com/
http://www.troublefreepool.com/