Chlorox brand PH down

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guytimes

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May 17, 2015
56
Louisville, KY
Hello. I have a NEW pool and I'm still in "Pool School". I know nothing about pools, but I am reading the pool school stuff on this messageboard and I am learning. :p

My pool has had water in it for 2 weeks. After I filled it up with water, my pool builder put in one gallon of chlorine, and about a pound of granular "stabilizer". I am working on learning how to test PH and free chlorine. That's all I've tested so far.

20150601_102715.jpg


I have the auto pilot nano plus chlorine generator and my salinity is about 3200 PPM. I've been running the pump on low 24/7 and the free chlorine level is pretty high, around 5. I unplugged it for a few days and it came down to about 3.

My PH was over 8, so I bought a 5lb container of "Chlorox" brand PH down. I have used almost all of it and then PH is still around 8. I was reading on this forum, that I should avoid granular PH down because it can raise the TDS in the pool.

chloroxPHdown.jpg


1. Should I use a different product to lower the PH? One that is more effective and won't raise the TDS? What product should I buy?

2. Is this a decent test kit? Should I buy something different?

3. This is 2015. I don't understand why we still have to use reagents to test PH and chlorine. I've scoured around for a digital PH meter made for pools but there are not many out there. Would be nice to just walk in my pool shed and visually see the PH and Chlorine levels.

Thanks!
 
guytimes said:
1. Should I use a different product to lower the PH? One that is more effective and won't raise the TDS? What product should I buy?

2. Is this a decent test kit? Should I buy something different?

3. This is 2015. I don't understand why we still have to use reagents to test PH and chlorine. I've scoured around for a digital PH meter made for pools but there are not many out there. Would be nice to just walk in my pool shed and visually see the PH and Chlorine levels.

Thanks!
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1. You should use a different product, but certainly not because of TDS. TDS is a worthless number. Many things make up the TDS number and TDS levels by themselves tell us nothing about the health of pool water. The individual components of TDS such as CYA are useful to us. Muriatic acid is the preferred chemical for lowering pH. It adds no additional species to your pool, only Hydrogen and Chloride. Solid forms of acids typically add sulfates which aren't normally a problem but limiting the types of elements in your pool to keep it simple never hurts. You can find muriatic acid in various concentrations at hardware and farm stores, in the paint products aisle.

2. Take a look at the Pool Test Kits Comparison. One of those kits is much better and contains all the tests you need. The TF-100 is hands down the best value and most appropriate in terms of reagents, with the K-2006 in second place.

3. Yes, it's 2015 and you have a computer with the entire history of information in all civilization in your pocket. However, when testing water or anything else with something that's digital or even analog based, the results you get are only as good as the calibration and the operator of the instrument. Drop based testing is inherently calibrated as long as your reagents are fresh. It's also much cheaper than maintaining a calibrated instrument.
 
Thanks guys. Understood 100%. Time for us to invent a pool monitor. ha ha.

In the meantime, I just ordered the TF-100. Thanks for your help. Can't wait to check it out and compare it to the $10 cheapie kit I have. I'll pick up some muriatic acid tonight.

After learning to control PH (getting it to 7.4-ish) and Free Chlorine (around 3ppm), what is the next thing I need to focus on?
 
JVTrain said:
1. You should use a different product, but certainly not because of TDS. TDS is a worthless number. Many things make up the TDS number and TDS levels by themselves tell us nothing about the health of pool water. The individual components of TDS such as CYA are useful to us. Muriatic acid is the preferred chemical for lowering pH. It adds no additional species to your pool, only Hydrogen and Chloride. Solid forms of acids typically add sulfates which aren't normally a problem but limiting the types of elements in your pool to keep it simple never hurts. You can find muriatic acid in various concentrations at hardware and farm stores, in the paint products aisle.

2. Take a look at the Pool Test Kits Comparison. One of those kits is much better and contains all the tests you need. The TF-100 is hands down the best value and most appropriate in terms of reagents, with the K-2006 in second place.

3. Yes, it's 2015 and you have a computer with the entire history of information in all civilization in your pocket. However, when testing water or anything else with something that's digital or even analog based, the results you get are only as good as the calibration and the operator of the instrument. Drop based testing is inherently calibrated as long as your reagents are fresh. It's also much cheaper than maintaining a calibrated instrument.
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jblizzle said:
1. Use muriatic acid to lower your pH: See Recommended Pool Chemicals

2. No. Order one of these: Recommended Test Kits

3. Very expensive, require a lot of calibration, still have to trust it is not spitting out random numbers ... counting drops is reliable.
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I am sorry. I hate bumping heads. Especially with mods who obviously know what they are talking about.

First of all, pH testing is not a drop based test. Any color match test is inherently inaccurate.

Digital pH testing is not as scary as people on this forum make it out to be.

I come from the marine aquarium community. Accurate pH is more vital there than in a pool. A pH swing will cause entire aquariums to die suddenly. Those of us with coral reefs in aquariums in the multiple hundreds of gallons often have over 10k in livestock invested. Yet we trust in automated systems such as calcium reactors that are controlled via relatively inexpensive pH controllers. These reactor are using very volatile levels of pH that can quickly go bad if the controller goes bad. I am talking about releasing water as low as 6.0 in an 8.3 pH environment.

How often are these units calibrated? Usually quarterly at best.

I will put my $15 pH meter from amazon against the Taylor pH test any day. I have been using a similar unit to spot check my controller on my aquarium for years. I use to attempt to calibrate it once a month for peace of mind. It almost never needed an adjustment though except for when it came out of the box. I now check it quarterly, and the same goes. BTW premixed calibration fluid costs a couple dollars. Unmixed packets that need RO/DI water are under a buck if you have access to RO/DI water.

Again, I am not trying to stir the pot. This is an awesome community. I am just hoping to open the experts ideologies to something that honestly works much better. If there was a pH drop test I wouldn't be arguing this. Color matching is horrible though!
 

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You may make valid points, but in a pool there is no need for that much precision. So the added expense (even if you say is only $15 ... I defer to Patrick who believes you can not get a good pH test under $100 and works with them daily for work) and need for calibration is still over the top.
 
Scuba_Steve said:
I am sorry. I hate bumping heads. Especially with mods who obviously know what they are talking about.

First of all, pH testing is not a drop based test. Any color match test is inherently inaccurate.

Digital pH testing is not as scary as people on this forum make it out to be.

I come from the marine aquarium community. Accurate pH is more vital there than in a pool.
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+1, and I guess this is why I don't understand why I can't find a digital PH monitor for a pool. I had saltwater aquariums for years as well, and used a digital monitor with probe. It is a real eye opener to be able to see your PH at a glance. If it's on the wall, you are much more likely to look at it, rather than test with a reagent.

That said, the digital PH monitor I used, had a probe with a wire, and the actual probe was a very thin glass ball on the end (that breaks easily) and isn't something you would want in the pool. Maybe that is the reason. Anyway, I won't beat that dead horse. Looking forward to my new test kit coming in the mail.

>>>Good move on getting a good test kit. You will also want a Taylor Speedstir.

I ordered the speed stir too, based on another thread I saw on this forum.
 
So check this out, you guys....

The pool lady came by last night and took a water sample. She tested it this morning and called me and said, "you have ZERO chlorine, no stabilizer, and your PH is 7.1. I'm coming over with PH up and stabilizer and we need to get your chlorine level up asap".

HUH? With my $10 test kit, this is what I get. This is consistent with what I get every day. (I've been testing every day)

20150602_091049.jpg


So took my aquarium PH monitor, made sure it was calibrated, and checked the pool. 7.7.

20150602_093248-1-1.jpg


So then I dial up my pool cam for last night, and I see her on the camera, dumping out her coffee and using that as a water sample container. She did rinse it ONCE, after dumping out the coffee. So I called her back and told her that her water sample may have been contaminated. :) Then she admitted that the sample sat overnight until she tested it this morning. LOL

Honestly I don't even want her to come out there and fiddle with my water chemistry. I don't want to put any chemicals in the pool that are not needed.

PHCup2.jpg
 
Hahahahahahahhaahaaaaaaaaa.....................

That there is funny I don't care who you are. Then she admits she is a fool on the phone, which I guess is somewhat being honest with you.

I would email that picture to her and tell her not to come back.
 
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That picture and story is one for the books. pH of most coffee is generally acidic, 5.0 to 6.0 depending on many factors of course. Then you add in that there was likely organic materials in the coffee and likely bacteria. Any wonder why the sample showed low pH and no chlorine?

It goes to show that having someone who actually cares about your pool take care of it is best and who cares more than you?
 
I would guess that the average pool owner (not a DIY guy, like me) would have no idea, and he would allow the pool lady to dump a bunch of PH UP into their pool. sheesh. Scary.

And if you guys are following my other thread about my new pool build: New Pool. First time post. Hello everyone.

This is the WIFE of the pool man who is taking his sweet old time building my pool. So frustrating. In the end, it will all turn out and I'll have a great pool. All I want is for them to finish up the final touches to the pool and be gone.

Thanks to you guys here for keeping me on the right track. I need to donate to this forum now. I've already learned a lot from you all.
 
Not trying to be a nervous Nelley here (and I think the coffee cup story is hilarious), but you should really only post pictures of persons with faces blurred out.

Surveillance laws (both audio and video) can be tricky to understand as they are regulated by the state. Some states require two-party consent for recorded audio or video and some jurisdictions only require something as simple as a posted sign. You can easily get tangled up in a civil tort if this lady sees her image on the internet and makes a claim of privacy infringement against you. It's your property and you are allowed to surveil it, but you are not necessarily allowed to post your surveillance footage on the internet.

Again, not trying to be alarmist or anything, but you might considering editing that image first before posting it. No need to create a headache for yourself especially when the person in question is doing something really dumb.

So now we know who's pool to NOT go skinny-dipping in ;)
 
JoyfulNoise said:
you might considering editing that image first before posting it.
Click to expand...

Good point. Couldn't really see the face anyway, but better to be safe about it. Picture deleted and re-uploaded and post edited. Thanks.

And for anyone reading... I'm not trying to be mean in any way. My point is just like JV said above. No one really cares about the pool like the owner does. And, there may be some people (who have been running a pool store for 10 years), who STILL don't understand how a water sample can become contaminated. Seems like common sense to me, and even my 11 year old, learned this in 5th grade science class! ha!
 

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