Should i lower PH? .... newbie question but why did it rise?

[ship of fools]

Quick backrground ... first year on BBB and have had clear water since day 1 and have added nothing but chlorine after a batch of stabilizer in the beginning. My numbers have been perfect all along.

I even went on a week of vacation and managed to educate my 18 year old daughter enough to have her maintain it while i was gone for 8 days .... my only concession was to leave the solar cover off so i didn't have to alter my daily dose based on whether it was in use ... and returned to a clear pool!

My ph has always been right around 7.5 .... and it now reads over 7.8 but below 8.2 so i am guessing 8.0 or so

current results from this morning

FC 5.0
CC 0
TC 5.0
TA 110
CH 200
CYA 40

so my questions are should i lower ph?? ... if so shoot for 7.2 or 7.5 ... pool calculator shows 31 oz of MA to get to 7.5

is it worth doing anything else

any thoughts as to why it would rise? .... we had a bunch of rain recently and pool went up 2 or 3 inches

 

[Richard320]

Re: Should i lower PH? .... newbie question but why did it r

It went up because the rainwater aerated it, most likely. What was TA before you left?

 

[ship of fools]

Re: Should i lower PH? .... newbie question but why did it r

It went up because the rainwater aerated it, most likely. What was TA before you left?

i'll post shortly ...... my notebook with all my past readings is in my car that the previously mentioned 18 year old has now

i am almost thinking my ph may have been creeping up slowly as i think about it

thanks as always

 

[ship of fools]

Re: Should i lower PH? .... newbie question but why did it r

It went up because the rainwater aerated it, most likely. What was TA before you left?

Ok

just checked my logs ... yikes... that sounds like i know what i am doing

my TA when i opened the pool in mid may was reading 110 - 120 .... by late june it was 90's and stayed that way through 7/6 when i did my last comprehensive testing

my ph was low (high 6's) when i opened and i bumped it up and it was reading 7.8 by 5/23 and held there through 5/30 then dropped down to 7.4 by 6/27 and held there through 7/6

i did spot test more often between the dates noted and remember them to be between 7.5 and 7.6 or 7.7 but i only record the comprehensive test results in my log unless i get an abnormal reading (hasn't happened until today )

i just bought plain muriatic acid at lowes ... they had plain and safe so i assume plain was correct

as i mentioned pool calculator shows 31 oz or so to go from 8 down to 7.5

should i do more and go to 7.2?

should i do anything with my TA?

is adding the MA simple?? and how long do i need to wait after adding it?

if it requires down time for the pool are we ok swimming at 8.0 for the day and then doing my magic tonight??

and lastly do my changes sound normal / about what i should be expecting?

 

[Richard320]

Re: Should i lower PH? .... newbie question but why did it r

The plain acid is great. It probably says 31.45%/ 20 baume. And that's what you want. 7.5 is a good target. TA will settle itself as long as you keep pH in range. Adding acid is easy. Measure it out and dribble it in in front of a return. A couple swipes with a brush to disperse it and let the kids in, they'll finish mixing it.

 

[jblizzle]

Re: Should i lower PH? .... newbie question but why did it r

Generally you want to let chemical additions mix for at least 30 minutes, might be safe before then though.

The less you handle the acid the better. I prefer to lower the bottle into the water so it kind of floats and slowly pour it over a return. This does not allow prefect measurements, but you can estimate pretty closely based on how much of the bottle is dumped in. Just retest a little while after the addition to see if you hit the target.

Posted with Tapatalk ... sorry if I sound short ... hate typing on phone

 

[ship of fools]

Re: Should i lower PH? .... newbie question but why did it r

Quick follow up in case anyone finds this while searching and wanted to know the outcome along with a couple questions.

Put in 1/4 or so of a gallon of MA - calculator called for 31 oz to get it down to 7.5 so i figured i could estimate a little ...... checked it this AM and it was 7.4

If i am understanding things correctly i can expect a slow creep up again over the next month like i saw over the past month?

My TA of 110 is a bit on the high side but i should be ok... or should i lower it a bit??

If i can expect a slow creep am i better off adding a little bit of acid on a weekly basis if i see it creeping up?

 

[Stuamurr]

Re: Should i lower PH? .... newbie question but why did it r

Everything is fine where it is, TA can be between 80-120, so your in target with it, Chlorine in all forms (except gas) is Alkali so will slowly raise your pH, the TA just stops the violent swings in pH in your pool chemistry. Just keep doing what your doing and add a little Acid when needed.

Stuart