How to lower PH?

[crdemoss]

I have been reading this all day...think I'm ready to start, but to start...the first step is to get ph level to the 7.2 area...Mine is at 8.2. Have not seen anywhere how to lower this to get started. Help please...waited all day to start...just to run into this brick wall.
Thank you

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!

You need muriatic acid.
Check out the recommended chemicals article in Pool School.

 

[three4rd]

Why do you want to go all the way down to 7.2? That is approaching the acid side of the scale. It's still in acceptable range, but a bit low. There is also the dry acid option if you don't want to work with muriatic acid. I know that (MA) is what is recommended here, but I still like dry acid (sodium bisulphate). Definitely read on the pool school side of the forum as it will provide you with alot of information. Also learn about plugging your results into an SI calculator to get an overall understanding of how water balancing works.

 

[one_knight4u]

At a pH of 8.2 the effective chlorine level is ~15% of total volume
At a pH of 7.2 the effective chlorine level is ~61% of total volume
To do the same amount of work, you would need 4 gallons of bleach at a pH of 8.2 vs one gallon at a pH of 7.2
Information was taken from here

 

[svenpup]

At a pH of 8.2 the effective chlorine level is ~15% of total volume
At a pH of 7.2 the effective chlorine level is ~61% of total volume
To do the same amount of work, you would need 4 gallons of bleach at a pH of 8.2 vs one gallon at a pH of 7.2
Information was taken from here

That relationship does not hold true when there is CYA in the water.

See http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/558-Pool-Water-Chemistry?p=4120&viewfull=1#post4120