Aquatica said:
some pools the pH locks in at TA of 80 and some TA of 60. seems its different for each pool so lowering pH weekly will bring TA down until pH locks in place. don't need much acid. Maybe 14 oz per week for a 15,000 gal pool. actually anywhere between 80-100 is actaully better as SWG % output can be reduced a lot more and this helps the cell last longer. I have some cells running at 20%. also depends on pump run time. but both need adjustment.
The key to where the pH locks in is based on the carbonate alkalinity. To get the carbonate alkalinity, you have to subtract the cyanurate alkalinity from the total alkalinity. You have to subtract a percentage of the cyanuric acid based on the pH.
pH.......% CYA
7.0.........22
7.2.........26
7.4.........30
7.6.........33
7.8.........35
8.0.........36
This is especially important when your calcium is so high because the carbonate alkalinity could get to zero and your plaster would be at risk. For example, if you had
pH = 7.8
TA = 35
Cyanuric acid = 100
then your carbonate alkalinity would be zero and your CSI would be non existant. I suggest that you not allow the carbonate alkalinity to get to less than 20 ppm to allow some room for test error and fluctuations.
Aquatica said:
put in 3 lbs of pH+ to raise pH and TA.
pool went cloudy. this has happened before. DE filter usually clears it up over night and TA and pH is increased by morning.
I think its the high CH that causes the water to cloud after adding pH+.
client is coming back friday so hope it clears up. they want to swim but we are still waiting for the HeatPro pump..installing it as well as an Aqua Rite. want the water to be setup nicely for them.
pH increaser (sodium carbonate) should be avoided. It combines with the calcium to form calcium carbonate. When I suggested using a higher pH, I meant to allow it to rise on its own, not to increase it by adding anything.
Using pH or alkalinity increaser one day and then using acid the next is counterproductive. You are just wasting chemicals.
Since you will be heating the water, you should balance the water for the temperature you intend to heat it to.
If possible, using borates would be especially good in this pool to help reduce the possibility of cell scaling. You would have to also subtract the borate alkalinity from the total alkalinity to calculate the carbonate alkalinity. For example if the pH = 7.8 and the borate = 50 ppm, then the borate alkalinity would contribute 10.2 ppm to the total alkalinity.