The high TA and low PH dilemma......

[Adam78]

Hello all...

I have had to turn to this forum once before and it helped me out quite a bit. I hit a point where I am a little stuck with a possible balance issue and thought that I may as well ask the experts on TFP once again. Maybe it will help some others out as well.

I opened the pool three days ago and it was pretty green. I did everything I thought I was suppose to in order to balance it out. When I first opened it my TA readings were very low at 30... I put in (and this is where I think I goofed) what I thought was the appropriate amount of sodium bicarbonate on Thursday ... I put it all in at once instead of a little one day and then adjusting the next day and now my TA is pretty high. The pool is a nice blue and no longer green however it is very cloudy (cant see the bottom). On friday my TA was about 200! and my PH dropped to just under 7 (I know the acid can drop PH along with the TA-from what I have read).

I got my water tested today for free at a pool shop to see what they suggested regarding the cloudiness (will provide my results below). They recommended that I add 4 cups of muriatic acid in each corner today and take another sample in tomorrow to see where it was at. The test said I would need 2 gal and 3 qrt of acid but the pool shop recommended to start with the above first.

My questions are:
1. Does the advice sound correct to you?
2. Is it OK to do what they suggested, to worry about lowering the TA first and then worry about bring the PH back up after or does anyone have a better suggestion?
3. Is my TA reading high enough to be the cloudy water culprit?
4. Based on my readings below is there any indication that my cloudiness could be caused by something else?

I should also mention that once the pool looked blue yesterday I added floc hoping that it would clear up the cloudiness. I shut the pump down over night but it was still cloudy this morning. I still vacuumed up the bottom and back washed it after. I have read through some threads on here regarding the same problem but there are so many different issues and responses I figured I would post fresh. I have read about the aeration tips when lowering TA with acid but dont have a pump that big and would prefer to not have to rent or buy one for this.

- - - Updated - - -

my pool is about 15,000 gallons,/60,000 liters with an 8ft deep end. I used a chlorinator with pucks (which is not my fav) and liquid chlorine every once in awhile if need be. My goal of course is to get the pool balance corrected and clear up the cloudiness.

Test results from today:
Free Chlorine: 0.69 ppm
Total Chlorine: 6.63ppm
PH: 7
Hardness: 115 ppm
Alkalinity: 168 ppm
Cyanuric Acid: 15 ppm
Copper: 0.2 ppm
Iron: 0.1 ppm
Phosphate: 12.62 ppm

That is all I have. Thanks for reading all and for any future responses! Its much appreciated!!

 

[AimeeH]

Welcome to TFP.

I don't think cloudiness should have anything to do with TA or PH.

The free testing pool stores do is worth what you pay for it. We would rarely reccoment floc. We do reccomend getting a good test kit and not relying on the store. If I'm understanding your post, the reccomended using acid to reduce TA, but your ph was already low at this point? If my understanding of that is correct, you need to raise PH by aerating.

To lower TA you use acid to lower both TA and PH and aerate to bring PH back up.

But with cloudiness, you probably have inadequate chlorine and need to SLAM your pool. Have you looked at our pool school articles?

 

[duraleigh]

I got my water tested today for free at a pool shop to see what they suggested regarding the cloudiness

We sort of look at that as you got what you paid for. At some point, if you are serious about managing your pool, you are going to have to start doing your own testing.

I will comment on your results but I cannot tell you what to do about your results because I don't trust the testing....that said...
Test results from today:
Free Chlorine: 0.69 ppm - wa-a-ay to low and should be your first order of business
Total Chlorine: 6.63ppm - I suspect that number to be completely bogus....if it's real you have a big problem with some combined chloramines
PH: 7 - Low but not dangerous...why in the world did they want you to add acid??
Hardness: 115 ppm low, but acceptable
Alkalinity: 168 ppm - no big deal...leave it alone
Cyanuric Acid: 15 ppm - wa-a-ay to low should be about 40 ppm
Copper: 0.2 ppm - wa-ay too high. can cause staining at that level
Iron: 0.1 ppm - not a problem
Phosphate: 12.62 ppm - irrelevant to pool care

So, if your goal is to get your pool corrected.

1. Stay out of the pool store and get your own test kit. Stop depending on bad information....you can't make a good decision

2. You will need to SLAM that pool. Instructions on how to do so can be found in an article in Pool School.

3. read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School. We'll teach you WHY you test what you test and what to do about the test results. You can learn to manage your pool with knowledge but you must start with the basics.

 

[Adam78]

Thanks for your responses... I have a Taylor test kit but only the Troubleshooter one. I will invest in something better. Thankfully the test at the store was free and I did not need to purchase anything. I will check out the "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" right now.

Thanks again