Dumped 2 gallons of acid into pool today. PH went from 8.2 to 8.0

[Pemolis]

Maybe I have bad acid... but I've been pouring in about a gallon of acid per day for the past week.

This morning, I literally poured 2 gallons of 34% acid into the pool, and am going to dump in another 3 gallons tonight to try to get this pool below 8.0 ph.

Pool this morning... 8.2. Poured acid in and tested 1 hour later. 8.0.

Right now it is 8.1.

There is no sprinklers or aeration going on. I have a ariel but those 2 tiny paddles can't be ramping up the PH that much. I do have a SWG but that runs maybe 5 or 6 hours at night.

Pumps been running at about 1650 rpm the past week.

We replaced the entirety of the water as I did a acid wash of the pool (had a company do that).

I should not be dumping in that much acid in a month, let alone a day.

The rest of the chemical tests come back fine. CYA at 60, Alkalinity's fine.. borates are fine.

Its a 30,000 gallon pool.. ran all the water through a water filter before it hit the pool. Cleaned out the water filter also.

Any thoughts as to why I can't seem to get the PH to go down? What possible chemical inbalance could cause a pool to constantly spike PH?

Now note: My pool's always had rising PH but I've been able to drop it with maybe 2 or 3 cups of acid... but not 2 to 3 gallons of it. Am I missing something?

 

[mknauss]

Alkalinity's fine

What is it.

I would not be adding acid that way. High pH is not that big of a deal. Low pH destroys things.

 

[Bperry]

Maybe I have bad acid... but I've been pouring in about a gallon of acid per day for the past week.

This morning, I literally poured 2 gallons of 34% acid into the pool, and am going to dump in another 3 gallons tonight to try to get this pool below 8.0 ph.

Pool this morning... 8.2. Poured acid in and tested 1 hour later. 8.0.

Right now it is 8.1.

There is no sprinklers or aeration going on. I have a ariel but those 2 tiny paddles can't be ramping up the PH that much. I do have a SWG but that runs maybe 5 or 6 hours at night.

Pumps been running at about 1650 rpm the past week.

We replaced the entirety of the water as I did a acid wash of the pool (had a company do that).

I should not be dumping in that much acid in a month, let alone a day.

The rest of the chemical tests come back fine. CYA at 60, Alkalinity's fine.. borates are fine.

Its a 30,000 gallon pool.. ran all the water through a water filter before it hit the pool. Cleaned out the water filter also.

Any thoughts as to why I can't seem to get the PH to go down? What possible chemical inbalance could cause a pool to constantly spike PH?

Now note: My pool's always had rising PH but I've been able to drop it with maybe 2 or 3 cups of acid... but not 2 to 3 gallons of it. Am I missing something?

What is your testing method? Might want to verify it’s being checked correctly.

 

[proavia]

Do NOT add any more acid right now.

What test kit are you using?

How old are the reagents?
If they are more than 2 years old or were not consistently storing inside the house, replace them.

Post a full set of current test results.

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Water temp
Salt

 

[JJ_Tex]

+1 on posting test results and stop adding acid.

If your chlorine is high you can get a false high pH reading.

 

[Pemolis]

total hardness 250
free chlorine 2
cc 0
cya 60
alkalinity, 120
ph 8.2

salts 3500 ppm
water temps 72

I'll add in some calcium as it should be around 300 or 350 but doubt that's causing it.

Only thing I can think of is the acid wash but I would expect that to drop ph not raise it.

Ran it through 4 different tests. Taylor kit, my LaMotte, a test strip and the waterguru I put in a few months ago.

 

[mknauss]

Your TA is elevated, likely from them adding baking soda or soda ash to counteract the acid.

I would relax for a few days, get your FC up to target range, and see what goes on. When you add acid, assume 8.2 pH (if you test higher) and lower to 7.6. Let it ride a couple days and repeat.

If you have added 7 gallons of acid to the pool over the last week, you have lowered the TA by 113 ppm.

 

[Pemolis]

Right I forgot about them neutralizing the acid with the soda ash...

I'll up the generator to 40% and drop a cup of acid daily and see what happens.

 

[mknauss]

drop a cup of acid daily

That will lower the pH by 0.1 ppm. Use testing and dose based on Poolmath.

 

[Jimrahbe]

P,

What you say is happening is just about impossible.

Adding 2 gallons of 31.4% MA will reduce your pH by 2.

If you were at 8.2, it would drop your pH to 6.2.

Something is wrong with what you think is happening...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[pjt]

Can you post a photo of the label of the bottles of acid you're adding?