Stubborn Alkalinity

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R

rdmustang

0
Mar 20, 2012
29
I decided to add borates to my pool water and step #1 is to get alkalinity down. My alkalinity has always been a little (~120) high and normally I don't worry too much about it.

I tested on Thursday and my pH was 8 and alkalinity was 110. I added a gallon of muratic acid and retested Friday and pH dropped to 7.5 and alkalinity dropped to 100. I added another gallon of acid and retested last night. pH went down to 7.2 and alkalinity was still at 100. I just tested this morning and pH is back up to 7.5 and alkalinity is back up to 120. I've been leaving the pool running 24x7 to increase agitation.

Am I doing something wrong?
 
Either you're introducing more TA via refill water or you're testing wrong. You don't happen to have an autofill, do you? As far as testing error, static electricity on the tip of the R-009 reagent is a known issue. It makes the drops smaller than they should be and gives you falsely high readings. Wiping the tip with a damp paper towel between drops will eliminate it.
 
Hi,
you arent doing anything wrong.
Lowering the TA using MA and then aerating for pH can take several days or more.

Regarding your TA test result, I suspect there might be a drop or 2 testing error. When adding the regeant, hold the bottle straight up and down.
If the regent is fairly new, use a damp cloth to wipe the dropper on the bottle between each drop. With new regent, static electricity can effect the drop size and using a damp rag on the dropper eliminates that.
 
Richard320 said:
Either you're introducing more TA via refill water or you're testing wrong. You don't happen to have an autofill, do you? As far as testing error, static electricity on the tip of the R-009 reagent is a known issue. It makes the drops smaller than they should be and gives you falsely high readings. Wiping the tip with a damp paper towel between drops will eliminate it.
Click to expand...

No refills in the past 2 days. No autofill. I wipe the tip with a wet paper towel after each drop as the instructions say. I'll add more acid and keep on testing.

Follow up: Running the pump 24x7 does speed up the process, right? I don't mind doing it but don't want to waste the electricity if it's not worth it. Thanks for the feedback!
 
You started with a ta of 110 and added 2 gallons of acid which should have dropped the ta to about 60. It doesn't make sense that it's at 120 now. What else have you added?
 
JamesW said:
You started with a ta of 110 and added 2 gallons of acid which should have dropped the ta to about 60. It doesn't make sense that it's at 120 now. What else have you added?
Click to expand...

I added a little CYA and Calcium on Thursday since my niece and nephew accidentally drained a few thousand gallons last weekend. How do you calculate Alkalinity drop? I should also add that my water is crazy high in carbonate hardness (27 degrees).
 

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Well, after adding acid again this morning my water is finally ready. I tested tonight and my pH is 7.5 and my TA is 80. I added 16.3 boxes of Mule 20 and 4.5 gallons of muratic acid. Now the waiting game to see if proportions are correct. Fingers crossed!
 
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