My TA was up to 130, my PH 7.8. I used MA to lower my PH down to 7.2 and am now using my pressure washer to aereate the pool water to bring the PH back up to 7.8. This first process has lowered my TA down to 110. Ideally, I want to get it down to 80. I will need to do this process at least one more time (hopefully) to reach my TA goal. Can someone tell me approximately how long the aeration process takes?

It is very difficult to predict how long aeration will take. How effective the aeration is depend on both the number of bubbles and their size (you want lots of small bubbles). Both of those are difficult to measure or describe, so it is difficult to compare one situation to another.

Extremely effective aeration will take hours, less effective aeration can take days to raise the PH.

Hopefully, my process is extremely effective, then, LOL. That gives me some idea. Its up to 7.5 but doesnt want to go up any higher - darn. Will keep at it. Thanks bunches, and thanks so much for this great website!

I've found I get the best results by keeping the PH between 7.0 - 7.2.

I lower my PH to 7.0, aerate to 7.2, add more acid down to 7.0, rinse and repeat.

this takes a little more attention, but it does make it go faster.


dave

You can always let the PH rise on its own too. It takes longer but if your not in a hurry..........

how are you using your pressure washer to do that? are you also adding water to the pool or somehow using the pool's own water?

Just hooking the hose up to the pressure washer. Yes, it adds water, but not all that much. Its mostly air/pressure. works great. I got rid of some water through "waste" on my filter, but it wasnt that much. I had a terrible problem with CYA two yrs ago when I had the pool put in(thanks to the pool store) but after converting to the BBB method last summer, finally got it into a more manageable 60 range and adding and removing water still helps it. My IG pool does not have "eyeballs" to turn up to help with aeration. I read somewhere on this forum where they used a pressure washer to raise their PH and I put it to use today. I dont take my PH any lower than 7.2 due to my vinyl liner. I dont like to take chances. The BBB method has helped me maintain a beautifully crystal clear pool. I am so glad I found this web site. I missesd my PS annual spring sale of chemicals - darn, tee hee.

I need to aerate my pool (TA is at 110) and I have an AquaGenie skimmer too. The skimmer is great, but there's no round return to hook up a fountain. How do you proceed with your pressure washer ? Do you just us it to spray all over the pool ?

As a fun pool toy, I made a bubbler for the pool. It's a length of 1/4" soaker hose zip-tied to a seven-foot piece of cement-filled PVC pipe for weight and rigidity. I connect it to my large air compressor, which is located in the garage, via 100' of air hose. With the pressure regulator set for 30 PSI, I get a solid curtain of tiny bubbles that is fun to swim through. It raises the pH measurably in just a few hours of use.

Here is a quick snapshot I just took of it in action. It's sitting in about five feet of water in this cellphone shot:

you probably already know this but acid is what lowers TA (and ph) and aeration raises your ph back up without raising your ta.

h2ctpdjl,

Unless I missed it in your sig, you don't have an SWG. It seems to me your TA of 110 is just fine. Am I overlooking something?

The autocover. Higher TA can cause more of a pH drop in a covered pool since CO2 cannot outgas and remains in the water. The higher the bicarbonates the higher the potential for CO2 to form.

Bluenoise, that is awesome!

Great invention !

I'll try it. My air compressor is not rated for continuous duty and it tends to heat up quickly. Maybe I can come up with something using my shop vac.

Thanks for the explanation on the PH drop when you have a cover. Last year when I didn't have the cover, my PH would tend to increase rapidly instead (I have a SWG). I was puzzled as to why it is getting lower now. I guess the cover is the reason.

Question:

My PH is at 6.8 and I ran my spa blower for over an hour but did not raise. How long should it take to raise PH to 7.2 by aeration?

What is your TA?

I used the hose that attaches my skimmer basket, hooked it to the one water return that my small pool has, and tied it to the ladder with two metal clips to flatten the end. This, strangely enough, raised my pH from 7.2 to 7.8 in an afternoon! I was quite happy and was able to add the pH Minus needed to lower my TA (that was 170) while only bringing my pH back to 7.2! Like I read before, rinse and repeat! So glad I found this site!!

PS: Sorry for the horrible cell phone photo...

I am skeptical as to how well using a pressure washer would work as a tool for aeration. For one thing in moves a very small volume of water. I run a pool slide for usually 12 hours and it is probably putting out approx 30 gallons per minute. I think it would take forever using my pressure washer to aerate 21,000 gallons of water. (approximate amount aerated with my pool slide in time given.)