Trouble with bringing our PH up

[Bauer2121]

Hello everyone...first time poster here but have been reading and studying TFP for about a year now. We are having a very difficult issue with trying to bring our PH up. Upon closing the pool last fall, the water was balanced and I performed a SLAM to it. No algaecide was added. We run our pool by the TFPC (BBB) method and have found great success with it.

We just opened our pool about 4 days ago. We live in North Central IL. and this week has been very hot for us (80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit). Our pool water is fairly clear with a green tint to it and cold. The pool is in full operation now and running smoothly. Shown below is our current test results from our test kit (1 year old K-2006C Test Kit).
FC - 0
CC - 0 (assuming)
TC - 0 (assuming)
PH - not reading a value (test sample is yellow per our test kit)
TA - 130
CYA - 30

Upon opening, our water level was low by about 7 - 8 inches so we filled the pool with water from a outdoor spigot that has the homes soft water hooked up to it. When I ran the first water test, the TA was high (about 150 - 160) so I added muriatic acid to the pool gradually to bring it down. It came down to about 95. Then I checked the PH and there was no reading on my test kit (the test sample showed yellow instead of the dark pink color per the test kit). I then proceeded to add PH UP (the Clorox brand...over 10 LBS. of it now) and nothing is changing per the test kit. The test kit is still showing a strong yellow color. Our TA is now reading 130. I ordered a "bubbler / aerator" kit online and it should be here Friday to hopefully help out with bringing the PH up. Is there any other advice out there on how to proceed?

We have a sand filter, vinyl lined pool (18,800 gallon), chlorine water.

Thank you all for your time...this is such a great community!!

 

[PointeTaken]

Anything you add to increase pH is going to increase TA. If you want to avoid that, you have to aerate, so you’re on the right track there.

10 pounds of sodium carbonate should definitely show movement on your pH test. After all, it raised the alkalinity, as expected. Even for a 18K gallon pool, it quite possibly increased it by too much (Pool Math says +1.9 pH). Unless I’m missing something else more obvious (entirely possible), my first move would be to toss the pH indicator reagent and get a new one. How does the solution look in the bottle? Is it staining the plastic at all?

 

[Bauer2121]

Anything you add to increase pH is going to increase TA. If you want to avoid that, you have to aerate, so you’re on the right track there.

10 pounds of sodium carbonate should definitely show movement on your pH test. After all, it raised the alkalinity, as expected. Even for a 18K gallon pool, it quite possibly increased it by too much (Pool Math says +1.9 pH). Unless I’m missing something else more obvious (entirely possible), my first move would be to toss the pH indicator reagent and get a new one. How does the solution look in the bottle? Is it staining the plastic at all?

It looks pretty good in the bottle. There are no stains to the bottle. I keep the test kit in a cool dry area year round. I bought the kit approximately 1 year ago. I bought it off the ole Amazon so I am not sure the manufactured date of it.

 

[proavia]

The Taylor reagent bottles should have a date code on them.
Buying a test kit off Amazon is at times a crud shoot - stuff sits in storage for a long while and could be out of date before sale.

While we don't recommend going to the pool store for ACCURATE results, it may be beneficial for you to take a sample to the PS for a "free" test to see if the pH test is wildly different from yours. Just don't buy anything there. Report back here with whatever results they give you. OR - grab a new bottle of pH reagent (check the date code first).

BUT FIRST - get some chlorine in the pool pronto.

If your reagents are old, you need to order new reagents (not off Amazon either). Or look at the cost of the reagents versus ordering a TF-100 from TFTestkits.

 

[Bauer2121]

It looks pretty good in the bottle. There are no stains to the bottle. I keep the test kit in a cool dry area year round. I bought the kit approximately 1 year ago. I bought it off the ole Amazon so I am not sure the manufactured date of it.

The Taylor reagent bottles should have a date code on them.
Buying a test kit off Amazon is at times a crud shoot - stuff sits in storage for a long while and could be out of date before sale.

While we don't recommend going to the pool store for ACCURATE results, it may be beneficial for you to take a sample to the PS for a "free" test to see if the pH test is wildly different from yours. Just don't buy anything there. Report back here with whatever results they give you. OR - grab a new bottle of pH reagent (check the date code first).

BUT FIRST - get some chlorine in the pool pronto.

If your reagents are old, you need to order new reagents (not off Amazon either). Or look at the cost of the reagents versus ordering a TF-100 from TFTestkits.

I looked on our R-0004 (PH Indicator Solution) Bottle and the expiration date says 03/23. I still plan on taking a sample of our water to the PS just to see their results compared to ours. Thank you for this advice!

I just put the chlorine in the pool and it is already looking much better but am still puzzled about the PH. Hopefully I just have a bad bottle of PH Indicator Solution. In a few hours, I will retest the water and repost my pool test readings.