Endless pool help?

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Since your FC is 3 ppm I'd say we're good there. Check it in a little while and see what it is then. I'd also wait till then and check the pH again. If it hasn't come up to about 7ish then add a little more borax.

What was the recommended startup dose for the sequestrant? It sounds like you need a little more.
Also, what is the brand of sequestrant you have?
 
I'm starting to wonder about your pH testing. Either there's something wrong with your testing process, your test kit, or you have some _seriously_ acidic water. I suppose it's also possible you have some other kind of contamination that's messing with the test, but I'd start thinking about doing a test to validate your pH testing. I'm thinking a glass of tap water and test / add baking soda / test / add baking soda etc until you see the test results change. Unless I missed something, every pH test you've performed so far has been "less than 6.8". Seems a bit odd. Might also be good to "test" some bottled drinking water (not distilled) should be in the mid 7's.

Wouldn't be the first time we had somebody accidentally using the wrong reagent for the test.....
 
JackieK said:
More specific question. Do I add more baking soda to raise PH or will that raise the Alkalinity higher than I want it?
Click to expand...

Baking Soda raise's TA. Borax will raise PH with little affect on your TA. Washing soda or soda ash will raise PH and TA.
You can see the Effects Of Adding Chem's at the bottom of the page in Pool Math. ?
 
Aargh! This is the second time I wrote a long detailed report only to have it vanish. Anyway, quick recap. PH readings have been accurate, confirmed by Taylor kit, back-up bio guard strip test, and pool store. Did get it up before draining by using bio guard PH increaser (sodium carbonate). Didn't seem to help.

Have been using bio guard metal magnet. Just changed to mineral magnet. Used 16oz. Will look up ingredients and post (why don't they put them on the bottle?) because I'm afraid to leave this site and lose my post again.

Main question now - how best to raise PH without elevating Alkalinity too much. Is Borax the best bet?

Thanks!
 
Just keep adding a little 20 mule team borax every hour until the pH comes up to about 7. Keep the circulating pump running.

Sequestrants with phosphonic acid are the ones we usually recommend. If I found the right stuff (Clearview Mineral Magnet) the initial dose would be about 16oz for 5,000 gallons. It calls for 1oz per 1000 gallons maintenance dose. That would be ~5 oz for your pool. It also has a warning about it causing temporary cloudiness.
 

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Okay. PH in range. Here are this morning's numbers:

FC: 3
CC: 0
PH: 7.2
ALK: 110/120
CYA: 0
Copper: .6 - 1 (I find these strips hard to read. The colors are so close in range.)
Iron: 1+? (also hard to read. Next number up is 3 and my test is definitely closer to 1, but maybe just a tinge pinker.)
I have not really seen any change in the metals numbers since adding the initial 16 oz of mineral magnet.

Pool visual: slightly hazy lemon-lime jello. Help please...
 
You may need to add more sequestrant. However, it also causes cloudiness so that may be a two edged sword. I'd probably try adding a maintenance dose and see what that does.

Since the metal isn't actually removed from the water it's just sequestered, you'll still be able to see it on the tests.
 
Guess what we have? Crystal clear, almost blue water! I can't thank this forum enough. After reading, listening, learning, and asking questions, I have finally figured out how to take our new endless pool from an opaque molten grey mess to an ever improving, very inviting crystal clear blue, with just a slight tinge of green, which I am sure will soon be gone altogether. Lessons I have learned... First, don't trust the pool stores at all. I went to three different ones and all they did was pile me up with more and more expensive chemicals that just made things worse. Second - kiss (keep it simple stupid). It's all about chlorine, PH, and patience - and in my case, metal sequestration. Third - if you have a cartridge filter, don't EVER put DE, cellulose, or anything else in it. Just be patient and let it do it's thing. Fourth - if you have metals, and copper in particular, don't used Nature2. It just adds more copper and it's easy enough to keep the pool sanitary with liquid chlorine alone. Fifth - bring your questions here. These folks have no agenda other than to help one another by sharing their experiences. Thank you again to those who helped me!
 
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