Since I've switched to BBB method things have been going along well. The pool is beautiful and the kids are having their friends over again! However, I have some questions about pH.

I treated with borax, adding 1/2 last night and 1/2 the night before. 19 boxes borax and 5 1/2 gal MA in total. So yesterday morning the pH was only off by a little, but this morning's acid demand test called for a gallon of MA. I added that early, then by noon tested again and it called for another 2 1/2 qt! How is it I'm needing so much acid? I know I used the right amount with the borax.

Today's test results:
FC 7
CC 0
CH 250
TA 120

Last week:
CH 140
TA 80
CYA 70

The pH is too high to measure. I added 25 lb calcium chloride the night before the borax, if that makes any difference. Did the borax cause this rise in my TA? Is the higher TA what's giving me trouble with the pH?

I've been reading BBB for Beginners. The thing I don't understand about lowering my TA is this. Why do I aerate to raise my pH? That's what my whole problem is!

Help?

Jill

well, I definitely wouldn't have had two things going on at once, but it's a moot point now.
I can't explain your TA rise or ph demand, but it's definitely abnormal for a "normal" (following waterbear's instructions) borate addition.
did you buy a specific calcium increaser product? if so, what was it called?
as far as lowering TA, you should read this article: pool-school/lowering%20total%20alkalinity
you aerate to make lowering TA faster because you lower your ph to around 7.0 with acid, then aerate to make the ph rise faster, then add acid again. the acid additions are what lowers the TA. generally, ph rise is on the slow side, so you aerate to speed it up, add acid again (which lowers the TA some more) to get the ph back down to 7.0 and repeat until you reach your ideal levels.
you should focus on your ph right now, not your TA. just make sure you TA doesn't get way too low with all that acid.

It was called Balance Pak 300, just calcium chloride.

So the reason you aerate is so you can add all the acid you need in a shorter period of time?

lrh,

You really need to focus on getting your pH measurable. Regardless of the reason, Your pool water is very problematic if you can't detect pH. You need to be around 7.5

ok thanks for your help guys. My local store doesn't have MA I'll have to shop in a neighboring town tomorrow ASAP.

check hardware stores too. also, according to the msds, balance pak 300 has more than calcium chloride.
http://www.thepoolandspahouse.com/tools ... sbp300.pdf

That is nothing to worry about. None of the calcium chloride sources are completely pure and none of the listed impurities are going to cause a problem.

Any idea what the deal is with the seemingly large ph and ta rise?

lrh,

What's the strength of the acid you used?

It says Hydrogen Chloride 14.5%

From Lowe's

If you used 14.5% muriatic acid when you added the borates you didn't add anywhere near enough.

19 boxes of Borax with 5.5 gallons of muriatic acid is based on 31.45% muriatic acid. You will need to add almost twice that much if you are using 14.5%.

Get that pH in check quickly.

That's about half the strength of what I usually buy at Lowe's. I buy the 31.45% stuff (20 Baume), usually located over in the paint aisle. That may be why you're having to use so much. BTW, Jason's pool calculator has a field in the pH calculation where you can choose the strength of the acid you're using so it'll calculate the correct amount for the given strength.

OOPS!

I had no idea there were different concentrations. Thanks for straightening me out. now I'll get this fixed right away.

A bit more than twice as much, actually, I make it a grand total of about 11.75 gallons (so 6.25 more).
Only in the pH section, not in the borates section. I see a feature request coming...
--paulr

I also didn't realize there were different concentrations of MA! Good to know!

I found the 31.45% MA. My local hardware store had it all along in the paint aisle! I've been driving 20 miles for 5 years to buy the weaker stuff -- makes me feel like an idiot.

When I re-test it should be down to 7.5. Yea!

Did you ever get your CYA level down?

I decided to wait and see how much it goes down just with kids splashing water out. Now that the pool's so pretty they're doing more frequent cannonballs.