Having trouble with constant pH increase and cloudy water

[three4rd]

Hi,

My plaster was redone last year, so I would not think the new plaster is still causing the pH to keep going up. It seems like when I knock it back down the water clears up for a time, but then gets cloudy again as the pH raises, although this is just a generalization on my part and certainly there could be other factors at work. Anyway, my numbers are:

TA - 100
pH - 8+
CH - 230
Water temp - @85

I do not use chlorine; rather, I use Baquacil.

Any recommendations (other than switch to chlorine....I've heard that one WAY too often From some quick research here, it looks like perhaps lowering the TA would help? Last year ever since the fresh fill following replastering I always kept it around 80-90 although it did reach 100 back in June (I won't even go into the problems I was having with the pool in June...the water was green for weeks). So if I were to drop the pH considerably lower - to 7.2 or 7.4 temporarily, would that help? I don't really have a means of aeration - I know this is recommended also.


Thanks,
Keith

 

[JVTrain]

As you lower the pH to get that in the proper range, your TA will come down over time. The higher your TA is, the faster your pH rise will be in general. Allowing it to drop to 80 ppm might help your pH rise issues. Do you have a spill over or waterfall or any other feature that would increase aeration of the pool?

 

[three4rd]

As you lower the pH to get that in the proper range, your TA will come down over time. The higher your TA is, the faster your pH rise will be in general. Allowing it to drop to 80 ppm might help your pH rise issues. Do you have a spill over or waterfall or any other feature that would increase aeration of the pool?

Hi and thanks for the reply!

No...I have no waterfall, fountain, etc. Since I submitted this thread I noticed the water problem is much more severe than just high pH. When I brushed the pool this afternoon, all these particles of mold came up from the bottom and now the water is REALLY cloudy, and the pool walls feel all slimey. (NOW all the people here can tell me it's time to get rid of Baquacil!) I have considered that perhaps I should convert to a sand filter if I am going to stay with baquacil - since that is supposed to work better. I'll have to research that on the Baq side of the forum.

 

[JVTrain]

Get rid of the Baq!

No really... get rid of the baq. Pool School - Convert Your Baqua Pool to Chlorine

 

[mickey4paws]

I have considered that perhaps I should convert to a sand filter if I am going to stay with baquacil - since that is supposed to work better. I'll have to research that on the Baq side of the forum.

I can tell you my experience with Baq was terrible. We used it for about 3 years. The first year, the pool looked great. The second year we started having problems with cloudiness and PH too high. It was a constant battle and by the third year, I had had it. I was tired of swimming in water where I could only see a few feet ahead of me. So I found this forum and never looked back.

Once we did the Baq conversion and switched to chlorine, the difference was unbelievable. The pool was crystal clear now and I never realized it, but the whole time with Baq, the pool never looked like it does now.

Maybe your experience with Baq will be different, but from my own experience, I don't think it will be unfortunately.

Oh and lastly, after we did the Baq conversion, we had our sand changed in our filter. Our PB said in the 30 years of being in the business, he'd never seen sand like what he pulled out of our filter. He said it looked like the sand was plastic coated :cyclopsani:

 

[Divin Dave]

I wish I could help you out, but I dont know anything about Baquil.