0 CYA and 0 FC. Need advise

[mgtfp]

I assume with test kit you are referring to a drop test?

Your alkalinity should still be high enough to have pH not drop too low.

Alkalinity means the water can buffer the effect of added acids on pH. In your past, you needed a good level of alkalinity to compensate the acidity from the chlorine tabs. Now it helps with the acidity created by chlorine neutralising ammonia. In your future, when chlorinating solely with liquid chlorine or an SWG, there are no more acid sources in your chlorination routine, and you won't need as much alkalinity.

There is another effect of alkalinity, which helps you in this case, and helped you in your chlorine tab past, to not just buffer the effect of acids, but actually actively raise pH:

Alkalinity consists mainly of carbonates, resulting in an oversaturation of dissolved carbon dioxide which gasses gradually out (think opening a soda bottle), raising pH in the process. In your current situation, this is good for you. In your future this will actually be annoying, and without the regular acid addition via chlorine tabs, we recommend to maintain lower alkalinity levels (around 60-70 is usually pretty good, just not below 50).

For now, you want some alkalinity, 80 is not bad. I'd bring it maybe up to 100 for now and then you should be OK. That would be about 100 oz of baking soda in your 20k gal pool (by the way: Alkalinity Increaser from the pool store is just that: plain old baking soda, identical to the one you can buy in grocery stores).

Keep an eye on TA and pH during the ammonia killing process.

Do you have a heater bypass so you can decouple your heater during the ammonia neutralisation?

 

[LovinPoolLife]

Yes the he has a drop test kit. Should I increase the PH to about 7.0 or 7.2. I am worried with it being low as I don’t want it to affect my pump or heater.

 

[PoolGate]

Yes the he has a drop test kit. Should I increase the PH to about 7.0 or 7.2. I am worried with it being low as I don’t want it to affect my pump or heater.

When I did that pool I mentioned earlier I had very low pH when all was said and done. I added Borax. You could also add baking soda. Can you show a picture of your pH reading?

 

[mgtfp]

Yes the he has a drop test kit. Should I increase the PH to about 7.0 or 7.2. I am worried with it being low as I don’t want it to affect my pump or heater.

That's why I suggested to bring Alkalinity up to 100 with baking soda, pH should follow pretty quickly.

 

[PoolGate]

That's why I suggested to bring Alkalinity up to 100 with baking soda, pH should follow pretty quickly.

100? I don't think he wants it that high.

 

[LovinPoolLife]

100? I don't think he wants it that high.

I’m actually a she but that’s ok

 

[LovinPoolLife]

When I did that pool I mentioned earlier I had very low pH when all was said and done. I added Borax. You could also add baking soda. Can you show a picture of your pH reading?

I already dumped the water out but it matched the 6.8 exactly.

 

[LovinPoolLife]

I already dumped the water out but it matched the 6.8 exactly.

I have a 2 lb bag of bioguard balance pak200 (PH increaser).

 

[PoolGate]

I have a 2 lb bag of bioguard balance pak200 (PH increaser).

Yeah throw it in but 2lbs isn't going to do much. How big is your pool?

Fill your sigline out please...... https://www.troublefreepool.com/account/signature

It'll get you to around 7.

 

[LovinPoolLife]

Yeah throw it in but 2lbs isn't going to do much. How big is your pool?

Fill your sigline out please...... https://www.troublefreepool.com/account/signature

It’s 20,000 gallon vinyl liner. I did fill out all of that info when I signed up.

 

[mgtfp]

100? I don't think he wants it that high.

I think it'll go down through the ammonia conversion anyway, and to start a bit higher may not be a bad thing.

 

[mgtfp]

100? I don't think he wants it that high.

Here's a nice summary from JamesW what happens during the ammonia removal:

Oxidizing ammonia (NH3/NH4+) creates acid by releasing hydrogen.

More than 95% of ammonia is in the form of the ammonium ion (NH4+)

The chlorine oxidizes the nitrogen and the 4 hydrogen ions are released.

So, even though liquid chlorine has a high pH, the 4 hydrogen ions are a lot of acid.

Hydrochloric acid is hydrogen ions and chloride ions in water. So, it's basically the equivalent to adding acid.

2NH4+ + 3OCl- --> N2 + 3H2O + 2H+ +3Cl-

When adding 12.5% sodium hypochlorite (liquid chlorine) to a pool to oxidize ammonia, every gallon of liquid chlorine will create the equivalent of 15 ounces of 31.45% hydrochloric acid.

10 gallons of 12.5% liquid chlorine added to 25,000 gallons of pool water with ammonia will lower the TA by about 23 ppm or the equivalent of adding 150 ounces of full strength 31.45% muriatic acid.

Every 8.53 gallons of 12.5% liquid chlorine is equivalent to about 1 gallon of 31.45% acid.

 

[LovinPoolLife]

Here's a nice summary from JamesW what happens during the ammonia removal:

So should I add some alkalinity increased right after the ammonia removal then add PH increaser then stabilizer before doing the SLAM

 

[mgtfp]

Yeah throw it in but 2lbs isn't going to do much. How big is your pool?

Fill your sigline out please...... https://www.troublefreepool.com/account/signature

It'll get you to around 7.

Yeah, I'd go for 90 oz. That should give an instant pH rise if about 0.1 and the rest will follow quickly through CO2-outgassing.

I have a 2 lb bag of bioguard balance pak200 (PH increaser).

2 lbs is a start. If you have a grocery store nearby, you can buy some more baking soda for a total of about 90 oz.

 

[mgtfp]

So should I add some alkalinity increased right after the ammonia removal then add PH increaser then stabilizer before doing the SLAM

Add some now. And then we reassess with your own test kit before the SLAM.

Once the Ammonia is gone, you don't want TA as high anymore.

 

[LovinPoolLife]

Here's a nice summary from JamesW what happens during the ammonia removal:

Also, I basically suck at chemistry, even way back in high school LOL. That and math were not my strong suits.

Yeah, I'd go for 90 oz. That should give an instant pH rise if about 0.1 and the rest will follow quickly through CO2-outgassing.



2 lbs is a start. If you have a grocery store nearby, you can buy some more baking soda for a total of about 90 oz.

i have a box of borax. Not sure if this stuff expires but I bought it about 3 yrs ago and have only used a tiny bit of it

 

[LovinPoolLife]

Here's a nice summary from JamesW what happens during the ammonia removal:

Also, I basically suck at chemistry, even way back in high school LOL. That and math were not my strong suits.

Yeah, I'd go for 90 oz. That should give an instant pH rise if about 0.1 and the rest will follow quickly through CO2-outgassing.



2 lbs is a start. If you have a grocery store nearby, you can buy some more baking soda for a total of about 90 oz.

i have a box of borax. Not sure if this stuff expires but I bought it about 3 yrs ago and have only used a tiny bit of it

Yeah, I'd go for 90 oz. That should give an instant pH rise if about 0.1 and the rest will follow quickly through CO2-outgassing.



2 lbs is a start. If you have a grocery store nearby, you can buy some more baking soda for a total of about 90 oz.

I’m going to add this 2lb bag. How long after adding do I need to wait to add my daily dose of liquid shock.

 

[mgtfp]

2 lbs of baking soda and 4 lbs of Borax and you should be golden. That stuff doesn't expire.

 

[mgtfp]

You don't have to wait long before adding chlorine. Have the pump running, add the baking soda and brush it around a bit, then the Borax and brush it around. To be on the safe side you can wait 30min with the pump running before adding chlorine.

 

[mgtfp]

I meant to write 4 lbs of Borax, just correct that above.