Alkalinity Nightmare

[JulieS]

Hi There!

This is my first year with a pool, it is an Intex 4400 Gallon above ground pool. I filled it with my well water (First Mistake), which has extremely high alkalinity (240), therefore I have been battling high alkalinity from the beginning. I have been using HTH pH Minus to lower the alkalinity, and after a week, I was down from 180 to 80, and my pH bottomed out at about 6.2. After two days there was no change in ANYTHING, though everyone at HTH was telling me that the pH would regulate itself. Today, they told me to add pH Plus, retest and repeat every two hours. At the end of 6 hours (two doses) my pH had not changed, but my alkalinity is back to 140. This is the second time that I have filled this particular pool this summer (had an issue with it tipping over) and the first go round, I started with HTH Metal Control (due to high iron), then HTH Chlorine Granules, and daily testing. My alkalinity was a bit high, so I used one dose of pH Minus and everything balanced out. This time, I started the same way, but the alkalinity just kept going up, no matter what I did.

I am open to ANY AND ALL advise!!

Thanks
~Julie

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

You should never lower your PH below 7.0. If PH is still below 7.0, raise it back up to at least 7.0 as soon as practical.

For the correct procedure for lowering TA see the article on lowering TA in Pool School.

 

[woodyp]

pool-school/lowering%20total%20alkalinity <<<<Your link!

 

[JulieS]

I was told by several of the people from the HTH instant messaging to not worry about the pH, as it won't stabilize until the alkalinity is in range. I thought this was odd, but went with it, not knowing any better. Yesterday I started adding pH Plus to try and get back in range, and all it did was shoot the alkalinity back up. I am going to try again today and see what happens. Thanks for the link, I'm definitely going to check it out!

 

[JulieS]

Aeration, here I come... Cross your fingers!

 

[zea3]

Aeration may take a day or two, but it does work.

 

[JulieS]

With the aeration, my pH has risen to 7.8, which is wonderful! Will the pH continue to rise if I continue to aerate? I would like to get it a little higher before adding the pH minus to lower the alkalinity (which at this point is THAT bad, or as bad as it's been (140)).

Thanks for all your help!!

 

[duraleigh]

Will the pH continue to rise if I continue to aerate?

Not much more. You get a point of diminishing return up around 7.8 usually. Your best bet is to take it back down to 7.0 - 7.2 after it reaches 7.8 and start the aeration again.

 

[JulieS]

Thanks for the advise!