Opened this week, and heater is getting us warmed up...but, Low TA, Low pH, and CH

[mjb62676]

We had a TON of rain over the winter, to the point the pool was nearly overflowed (epic flooding), so my chemistry is as messed up as I've seen it in a while. Even when it was green, my pool wasn't putting out numbers like this. Wondering exactly how to approach this so as to not screw it up. I'm thinking Baking Soda, but looking for input.

approx. 25000 gallon pool

pH is 6.8 or below
TC is 10 with no CC
CH is 80-100
TA is 20
CYA is actually a little higher than I'd like at 80


So, I've been trying to get some sun to the pool when mother nature cooperates, i'm aerating with the returns pointed up.

I was actually very excited at the end of last season as I had gotten pH and CH down and got rid of some serious scale....now everything is very, very low.

Planning to buy some Soda Ash/Borax/Baking soda today to start adjusting. Any input? Am I missing anything?

I'm not terribly concerned about CH because we are on well water and I'm certain as I have to add water this season, it will come up.

 

[kcindc]

Why the range of CH from 80 to 100?

Which test kit did you use to get your results?

Is the water crystal clear?

Do you have a SWG?

 

[Richard320]

If the CYA is higher than you want, you might as well start by draining it down some. What's the point in treating water you'll just dump? You'll have to rebalance after lowering CYA anyway. I'd only do it once.

If you don't drain first, start by raising TA to 50-60ish range. It doesn't have to be exact; just whatever works out to a nice even multiple of packages. Let it mix well. That should boost pH a little, so test pH and TA again and then adjust pH. You might be off the low end of the scale, so don't be surprised if you don't hit your target pH the first time you treat it.

Aeration won't work well to raise pH with the low TA you have. You'll need washing soda or borax for that.

How does the water look? Is there a lot of debris in the pool? If you need to SLAM, you start by removing organic sludge. Vacuuming to waste will get rid of the stuff and remove water so you can lower CYA. So do that first.

So, in order..

CYA reduction / debris removal as applicable.
TA coarse adjustment
pH adjustment
SLAM if needed

Fine tune the rest after SLAM is done.

 

[mjb62676]

If the CYA is higher than you want, you might as well start by draining it down some. What's the point in treating water you'll just dump? You'll have to rebalance after lowering CYA anyway. I'd only do it once.

If you don't drain first, start by raising TA to 50-60ish range. It doesn't have to be exact; just whatever works out to a nice even multiple of packages. Let it mix well. That should boost pH a little, so test pH and TA again and then adjust pH. You might be off the low end of the scale, so don't be surprised if you don't hit your target pH the first time you treat it.

Aeration won't work well to raise pH with the low TA you have. You'll need washing soda or borax for that.

How does the water look? Is there a lot of debris in the pool? If you need to SLAM, you start by removing organic sludge. Vacuuming to waste will get rid of the stuff and remove water so you can lower CYA. So do that first.

So, in order..

CYA reduction / debris removal as applicable.
TA coarse adjustment
pH adjustment
SLAM if needed

Fine tune the rest after SLAM is done.

The water is CRYSTAL clear. I use Bleach to chlorinate. Used Muriatic to lower pH last summer. Rain, I believe, is the main culprit for the acidity. We've probably gotten about 20" total since we closed. Over 10" came over 4 days at xmas.

Been using the methods here since we opened to a green cesspool 2 years ago and it's worked like a charm. This is the first time I've had to adjust pH up or TA up...everything has always been on higher side.

CYA is up as we have used a combo of Silk Tabs in the chlorinator with bleach shocks in past. I'm going to re-check everything before doing ANYTHING.


Thank you for help!

 

[mjb62676]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mjb62676]

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Oh...TF-100

Final numbers today after getting pool warmed up and adding baking soda

pH 7.2
TA 60
CH 100
CYA about 60
TC 10, 0 CC