Okay, so we all know MA decreases pH and TA. My pool (33k gallons or so) is filled with water from my well, where the TA is 300ppm+. That means, my first two weeks of pool opening operation involve adding about 10-12 gallons or so of MA --- approximately 1 gallon at a time, then aerate back up to pH of 8.0, add another 1 gallon, rinse and repeat, to bring TA down from 300-330 to around 80-100.
That's 10-12 gallons or so of MA in roughly a 10-12 day period --- AND once that's done and TA is down to around 80-100, I still have to dose (via my Stennder Pump) about 1.5 gallons of MA every week all season long (due 8 water features I have that also aerate constantly and drive up pH, and my auto-fill with TA of 300-330 doesn't help buffer against the rise of pH too). In the span of an entire pool season, I probably add about 45-50 gallons of MA just to keep TA and pH properly balanced (my target CSI is always around -.3).
Which led me to really ask myself something and question something I didnt have an answer for: Is the MA "diluted" enough once it gets into the pool water that it has MINIMAL effect on my plaster? Or does MA being added to the water, regardless of it being diluted with the water itself, still cause a strong enough acidic reaction with the pool plaster that its eating away at my plaster? <-- that's what I want to know!
My guess is that, the MA -is- diluted enough with the pool water that it's not really eating at my new plaster (20 months old) so long as the MA is distributed slowly and evenly in the pool (which it is!), and not, for example, added to the pool by dumping an entire gallon of MA in the shallowest parts (which would definitely eat away at the plaster as the MA weighs more than water and sinks, so it would definitely damage plaster in those areas *IF* I directly dumped acid in those areas, which again I don't do!).
Anyways, the question in italics above is what I'm trying to understand I guess. Thanks for the input.
@JamesW @JoyfulNoise
That's 10-12 gallons or so of MA in roughly a 10-12 day period --- AND once that's done and TA is down to around 80-100, I still have to dose (via my Stennder Pump) about 1.5 gallons of MA every week all season long (due 8 water features I have that also aerate constantly and drive up pH, and my auto-fill with TA of 300-330 doesn't help buffer against the rise of pH too). In the span of an entire pool season, I probably add about 45-50 gallons of MA just to keep TA and pH properly balanced (my target CSI is always around -.3).
Which led me to really ask myself something and question something I didnt have an answer for: Is the MA "diluted" enough once it gets into the pool water that it has MINIMAL effect on my plaster? Or does MA being added to the water, regardless of it being diluted with the water itself, still cause a strong enough acidic reaction with the pool plaster that its eating away at my plaster? <-- that's what I want to know!
My guess is that, the MA -is- diluted enough with the pool water that it's not really eating at my new plaster (20 months old) so long as the MA is distributed slowly and evenly in the pool (which it is!), and not, for example, added to the pool by dumping an entire gallon of MA in the shallowest parts (which would definitely eat away at the plaster as the MA weighs more than water and sinks, so it would definitely damage plaster in those areas *IF* I directly dumped acid in those areas, which again I don't do!).
Anyways, the question in italics above is what I'm trying to understand I guess. Thanks for the input.
@JamesW @JoyfulNoise
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