During the summer when I raised Alkalinity anywhere near 100, then the PH would rise faster, and I would wind up adding lots of Acid to keep it in Range. Now I see the CSI is -4.2 so should I add baking soda? Todays measurements: PH7.4, Alk60, FC5.5, CH425, CYA60, water temp 62.
Should I raise Alkalinity
- Thread starter Fishy1234
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,789
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
The lower water temp can really effect your CSI. Instead of raising the TA though, I would bring the pH up a couple points to about 7.7 or so. Enter it in the PoolMath tool to see how it effects your CSI. PH will have the quickest, most dramatic impact. Then you can keep those numbers that way all winter to compensate for the colder water.
1234,
Why are you trying to keep your pH so low?? If your pH were 7.8 your CSI would be -.04 or perfect?
Thanks,
Jim R.
Why are you trying to keep your pH so low?? If your pH were 7.8 your CSI would be -.04 or perfect?
Thanks,
Jim R.
So I check the pool again today, and the PH is not measurable since the color is probably over 8.0 using the taylor k2006. So at this point I am going to be adding acid again, which will lower the Alkalinity even lower that 60. Unfortunately I have a spill over from the spa into the pool that wife insist on keeping running during the afternoon hours. I literally am adding acid everyday to keep the ph in check. Should I be adding something else to the pool to help stabalize ph?
You have identified the source of your pH going up. There is no magic potion. Eliminate teh source of pH rise (spillover) or add acid.
Yep. Its a cycle. Add acid to lower ph, add baking soda to increase Alkalinity, add acid to lower ph.
Totally agree and great point......after a couple years of this, I've noticed the difference from before is my PH wants to go up and my TA wants to fall, unlike before. But my TA always likes to settle in the 60-70 range pretty quickly, which is fine as long as my PH is sub 8, which keeps me in the acceptable range. When PH gets to over 7.8, I add acid......and do quite frequently versus before starting TFP methods. And when the TA gets to 50, I'll throw in 4-8 pounds of baking soda over a couple of days to get it back up, but that's far less frequent. I get about 5 points increase per pound in my pool.
I've stayed anywhere from +0.4 to -0.4 and usually closer to 0.0 since I started.
I'm having a hard time determining where the PH is at once it goes above 7.6. The color is just too reddish.
I'm the same way.......but once it gets to that reddish level you mention, just add acid. Personally, I don't even measure anymore, just pour maybe a pint or so for mine, sometimes more, and gets it back in line. Sometimes mine will get down to 7.2, but usually 7.4 then settles at 7.6 for a few days before I have to do it again.
Odd thing for me was in the three years I had my pool before I started TFP, I never added an ounce of acid. Now I add it a couple times a week, but well worth it and still far easier than the way I was dealing (fighting) with my pool before.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,429
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Not odd at all if you were using Trichlor. Trichlor tablets contain acid. Once you stopped using Trichlor you needed to Replace that acid.
If you run your ph in the upper range lowering it to 7.6 when it gets to 8 you will find it impacts your TA much less and is probably more stable. Lowering pH to 7.2 impacts TA much more then lowering to 7.6.
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Exactly right...I get it and I was. Guess I didn't mean odd as confusing, but just odd that it was something totally different than what I was used to. I literally had 8 gallons of acid that my PB left after the build that never got touched for 3 years.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,429
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Makes total sense because my pool's happy place seems to be 60-70 TA and 7.6-7.8 pH. Rarely get over 80 TA (90 max) and below 7.4 pH. I quit worrying about keeping my TA in the 80-120 range since I'm usually +/- .03 of zero.
So I see all over the place, not here, that total Alkalinity below 80 can cause corrosion, etching, and various other problems. So how are you able to recommend lowering to 50 - 60?
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,429
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Because our recommendations are supported by science unlike all over the place.
These can be caused by a myriad of issues, namely corrosive water.
Corrosive water has many parts, TA is only one of them. Others include water temperature, pH, and CH (amount of calcium in the water).
Ok. So our Pools have all those things you mentioned. Does that mean we are corrosive?