So not the first time I've owned a pool, but this is my first time with a SWG. Since putting up our 24x48 Intex Ultra Frame I cannot get the ph and TA down to where they are even on the scale. Took water to the pool store to test and they gave me MA. After eventually adding the entire gallon nothing happened to my ph level. Added (not all at once) the entire container of ph minus from HTH and still no ph change. TA is also not changing and is so high it's not on the scale either. I've had the SWG on, and a little chlorine floater plus I also added shock it to the pool because of algae bloom and I have never got enough chlorine in the pool to show up on the test. All other levels are perfect just my ph and TA are way too high and I have no chlorine reading. Is there something else besides MA and ph Minus that I could be using?? With the pool we had previously, we never had balancing problems, but we didn't use a SWG then either.
Ph waaaaaaaay too high and can't get it down
- Thread starter paigekorn
- Start date
Welcome to the forum. :lol: The pH will come down....there's no doubt about that. Test your tap water and see what that reads.
Assuming it checks OK, you simply have not added enough acid yet....keep adding - it will come down
I would use only muriatic from here on out.
Assuming it checks OK, you simply have not added enough acid yet....keep adding - it will come down
I would use only muriatic from here on out.
Also just tested the tap water. We have a well. and It actually tests on the low end for ph and TA.
No (or not likely). If you smell "chlorine" you likely have CC and that is a sign you need to do the shocking process.paigekorn said:
The best way I have found to tell if the swg is making chlorine is to measure the FC level of some water coming right out of the return and compare it to water in the bulk of the pool. There should be a couple of ppm FC difference.
You may simply need more MA. I've used about 4 gallons so far this year (over the past month) bringing my TA down from about 340 to 120ppm, and my pool is only about 4000 gallons. It can take a LOT to see a difference. Obviously you don't add all of it at once, it's a process, and you really need a good test kit to help the process along - if you are relying on test strips it makes the process much harder because they're just not that accurate.
If you have *any* source of aeration in your pool other than your SWG and swimmers (like a return that disturbs the surface water too much) that will continuously cause your pH to rise while your TA is high. The SWG itself causes a rise in pH over time - but that usually only requires a weekly adjustment with MA. My pool tends to creep up from 7.4 to 7.8 over the course of a week. If I let it go longer it would go up more.
I'm confused though - if your well water doesn't have high TA where did it come from in your pool? Assuming you haven't added anything to the pool to raise your TA it should be similar to your fill water. My tap water has very high TA so it's always a struggle to bring it back down when we fill or add a significant amount of water to the pool.
If you have *any* source of aeration in your pool other than your SWG and swimmers (like a return that disturbs the surface water too much) that will continuously cause your pH to rise while your TA is high. The SWG itself causes a rise in pH over time - but that usually only requires a weekly adjustment with MA. My pool tends to creep up from 7.4 to 7.8 over the course of a week. If I let it go longer it would go up more.
I'm confused though - if your well water doesn't have high TA where did it come from in your pool? Assuming you haven't added anything to the pool to raise your TA it should be similar to your fill water. My tap water has very high TA so it's always a struggle to bring it back down when we fill or add a significant amount of water to the pool.
Yeah. Have no idea. When we first filled our pool our water was basically brown from what we know know was rust from our well's pressure tank. We replace the tank and all is good with our water now. Vacuumed the rust out and the pool was crystal clear with the high ph and TA until the algae. Got rid of the green now it's just sort of milky. The SWG is putting out chlorine I tested the water straight out of the outflow but I guess the high ph is making the chlorine disappear before it circulates throughout the pool. Would a high iron/rust content mess with the ph/TA?
You are getting sidetracked. Your pH and TA will both come down to readable test results if you add enough muriatic acid. Iron and chlorine are not relevant to your issue......you need muriatic acid to lower your TA and pH and then focus on your chlorine issue.
Well I know I can't fix the chlorine issue without fixing the ph but would iron from the rust mess with ph/TA??
