High pH Low Alkalinity. What to do?

[MrcTag]

Hi All.

I'm having a dilemma. My pH is reading 8.1 and my alkalinity is reading 56, how in the world do I get these two reading in sync. When I raise or lower one the other is adversly affected.

I have a 30,000 gallon in ground pool with new plaster.

 

[MikeInTN]

With new plaster your pH and TA will keep rising for a while. Keep adding acid to keep your pH in the proper range.

 

[JasonLion]

You don't want to adjust the TA or CH level of the pool for about three weeks after fresh plaster is applied, unless your plaster people tell you to, but you do need to keep the PH in range. Try to keep the PH between 7.2 and 7.8, and never higher than 8.0. That will require quite a bit of acid for several weeks, and then lower amounts of acid for up to a year.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

So if your plaster is older than 3 weeks, you should use Baking Soda to raise the TA if necessary, but I wouldn't go higher than 70. Be sure to pre-dissolve it.

Do you know how to use the Pool Calculator?

 

[MrcTag]

You don't want to adjust the TA or CH level of the pool for about three weeks after fresh plaster is applied, unless your plaster people tell you to, but you do need to keep the PH in range. Try to keep the PH between 7.2 and 7.8, and never higher than 8.0. That will require quite a bit of acid for several weeks, and then lower amounts of acid for up to a year.

Thanks but with my pH being 8.1 and my alkalinity being 56 if I try to bring the pH down it's going to push my alkalinity down even further. If i try to bring my alkalinity up it pushes my pH up. I don't understand how I can adjust one without affecting the other.

PS my plaster is 6 weeks old. My replasterer told me to keep my pH at around 7.2 for the first month and my alkalinity around 80.

 

[JasonLion]

Any adjustment to either PH or TA will change the other, but not by very much. With a little care, you can get them both to where you want them. In this particular case, you want to lower the PH by about 0.1 extra with muriatic acid, measure the TA again at this point since it will have changed, and then raise the TA with baking soda. The baking soda will raise the PH a little, but the extra 0.1 reduction beforehand should take care of that.