Hello from Florida

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Yes, definitely add muriatic acid with the pump running and retest in 15 minutes. Add acid again as needed until it gets to 7.5. PH tests usually can't read much above 8.0 and it is often much higher than that. Which is why it still reads 8.0 after adding acid. In reality PH might have gone from 8.8 to 8.7. Also, the PH scale is logarithmic the farther out you get from the middle, 7. So, it takes more acid to go from 8.4 to 8.2 than it does to go from 7.8 to 7.6. Keep adding the amount of acid needed to go from 8.0 to 7.5 until PH starts to move into your tester range.
 
pooldv said:
Yes, definitely add muriatic acid with the pump running and retest in 15 minutes. Add acid again as needed until it gets to 7.5. PH tests usually can't read much above 8.0 and it is often much higher than that. Which is why it still reads 8.0 after adding acid. In reality PH might have gone from 8.8 to 8.7. Also, the PH scale is logarithmic the farther out you get from the middle, 7. So, it takes more acid to go from 8.4 to 8.2 than it does to go from 7.8 to 7.6. Keep adding the amount of acid needed to go from 8.0 to 7.5 until PH starts to move into your tester range.
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Got it! Thanks so much!
 
Also its not a bad idea to stock up on Muratic Acid. As the plaster cures over the next year, your PH is going to go up consistently. Our new plaster needed 1/3-1/2gal per day to keep the PH down. The cheapest I could find was Home Depot, at $12 for 2 gallons.
 
pinguy said:
Also its not a bad idea to stock up on Muratic Acid. As the plaster cures over the next year, your PH is going to go up consistently. Our new plaster needed 1/3-1/2gal per day to keep the PH down. The cheapest I could find was Home Depot, at $12 for 2 gallons.
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Right now Pinch A Penny has muriatic acid for $4.99 a gallon so we bought several gallons. Hopefully that price will hold as it was cheaper even than Wally World.
 
So it looks like you are stuck with us.........you poor thing........you will have to learn the CORRECT way to care for a pool and never have to go back to that pretty pool store where they help make your wallet weigh less LOL.

You are already doing a great job! Keep it up!

Kim
 
Well this morning I was still getting a pH reading of over 8. Added about 1/2 gallon of muriatic acid and waited a half hour and retested and got a level of about 8. Added 2 more cups acid and again tested after a half hour and now it's reading too low at about 6.8. I'm thinking I'll just leave it alone the rest of the day as I suspect the pH will climb back up on its own since it's a new pool. Does that sound right?
 
According to Poolmath adding 1/2 gallon of muriatic acid to 9000 gallons will lower PH by about 1.71. Something was very wrong with the information that you entered into Poolmath if it told you to add 64 oz of muriatic acid to lower PH to 7.5. Was the pump running during the time between adding and retesting?

If you looked at Pinguy's post about adding 1/2 gallon per day, their pool is 28k gallons so 1/2 gallon only reduces their PH by 0.55.

Yes, the PH will rise again, but right now the water is VERY acidic which can damage plaster and pool equipment. I don't know how long it will take to rise or how long very low PH takes to damage things.
 
pooldv said:
According to Poolmath adding 1/2 gallon of muriatic acid to 9000 gallons will lower PH by about 1.71. Something was very wrong with the information that you entered into Poolmath if it told you to add 64 oz of muriatic acid to lower PH to 7.5. Was the pump running during the time between adding and retesting?

If you looked at Pinguy's post about adding 1/2 gallon per day, their pool is 28k gallons so 1/2 gallon only reduces their PH by 0.55.

Yes, the PH will rise again, but right now the water is VERY acidic which can damage plaster and pool equipment. I don't know how long it will take to rise or how long very low PH takes to damage things.
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I must have entered something wrong then [emoji35]. I'm just going to leave it alone until later in the day and see what the pH looks like then. Pump is running and has been all morning.
 
Flbeachluvr said:
Well this morning I was still getting a pH reading of over 8. Added about 1/2 gallon of muriatic acid and waited a half hour and retested and got a level of about 8. Added 2 more cups acid and again tested after a half hour and now it's reading too low at about 6.8. I'm thinking I'll just leave it alone the rest of the day as I suspect the pH will climb back up on its own since it's a new pool. Does that sound right?
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My 1/2 gallon daily was for a 28k gallon pool, I should have clarified that! You need to calculate amounts in pool math before you add chemicals. Eventually you get an a good idea of what your pool needs might not need to do calculations/test every time, but starting out definitely test and use pool math.

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Flbeachluvr said:
I must have entered something wrong then [emoji35]. I'm just going to leave it alone until later in the day and see what the pH looks like then. Pump is running and has been all morning.
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Did you enter TA? That will affect the acid calculation.
 

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pinguy said:
My 1/2 gallon daily was for a 28k gallon pool, I should have clarified that! You need to calculate amounts in pool math before you add chemicals. Eventually you get an a good idea of what your pool needs might not need to do calculations/test every time, but starting out definitely test and use pool math.

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Did you enter TA? That will affect the acid calculation.
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Right now I just have a kit that measures pH and chlorine. My Taylor kit arrives next week.
 
Don't worry Flbeachluvr. Even though you went low, the pH will rise fairly quickly. No harm done. But still check the FC and make sure that doesn't drop low today. Your simple test kit won't get real specific on FC, but try to keep it a little above 3 as best as you can tell from the color comparison. We don't want you to get any algae in this new pool.
 
Texas Splash said:
Don't worry Flbeachluvr. Even though you went low, the pH will rise fairly quickly. No harm done. But still check the FC and make sure that doesn't drop low today. Your simple test kit won't get real specific on FC, but try to keep it a little above 3 as best as you can tell from the color comparison. We don't want you to get any algae in this new pool.
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Thanks Texas! The chlorine is right around 3 so at least that's good. Weather is bad here today so we didn't have any plans to swim anyway.
 
Good news that it is back to 7.2!

Enter the following in Poolmath, for now until you get your kit, when trying to figure out your PH adjustment.

TA 100
CH 350
 
Just got my Taylor kit-results are in

I merged your threads together. Please keep your related questions/topics together so that your story stays together. Thanks, jblizzle

Ok, rushed home excited to try my new junior chemistry kit, um I mean Taylor test kit.

Here are my results:

FC=2.5
CC=0
TA=40
CH=160
CYA= 70
pH=8+++ (darker than the darkest color on the tube)

Thoughts? I'm thinking the first thing I need to work on (again) is getting the pH down and this time I will plug in the numbers to the PoolMath calculator very carefully. Also, based on Pool School it looks like my goal numbers should look something like this:

FC 4-6 ppm
PH 7.5-7.8
TA 60-80
CH 350-450 for plaster


CYA 70-80

I admit adding a lot of stuff makes me a bit nervous that I'll screw something up. Any help with how I should proceed would be appreciated.
 
Re: Just got my Taylor kit-results are in

You are correct! First, get some acid in there right away. Go in stages if you're worried and test about every 15 minutes or so as needed (pump running), but get it down to just under 7.8. How is the water? Clear? If so, increase FC production on your SWG (percentage or run time) to increase FC to about 5. If needed, you can add a little regular bleach to get it higher ASAP. Once you get those in-line, it's time to look at that CH to keep it healthy since FL residents lose a lot of CH and CYA due to water exchange.
 

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