test results, how fast can you add muriatic acid

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fordsbyjay

fordsbyjay

LifeTime Supporter
Sep 1, 2009
78
Lafayette, LA
I started to post this in another thread then decided to start a new thread because of multiple questions.

How fast can you add Muriatic acid? I have been told 3 different things from the same Leslies so i don't know what to believe. I have been trying to get everything balanced out so I can switch to SWG but my results keep jumping around. I did a search here and checked the pool school but could not find an answer to my question.

I will post the last few test results from Leslies.

Aug 31 pool had algae starting.
FC 3
TC
PH 7.4
TA 250
CH 120
CYA 100
Phospates 100
added 3 gal of acid over two days. added 15 lbs of hardness plus

sept 02 pool had algae over entire floor.
FC 1
TC 3
PH 7.0
TA 80
CH 150
CYA 100
Phospates 100
shocked pool with 1 gal bleach then 7 lbs of shock (it is what I had left) the next day to kill algae.

sept 07
FC 4
PH 7.6
TA 190
CH 150
CYA 90
Phospates 0
I added 1/2 gal of acid last night

sept 8
FC 5
PH 7.2
TA 150
CH 240
CYA 100
Phospates 100

The pool is clear but I have a stain (comes off with vitamin C). I am trying to get the TA 100 so I can add some stain remover.

My two questions are:

How fast can I add acid?

And one more question about the CYA. They tell me to drain a foot and add water to get the CYA down. Why is this the last thing to always do because when I add the water it seems to throw my balance off again? It seems like this should be the first thing to do then balance the new water.

Thanks,
 
I wouldn;t worry about acid for now...with a TA of 150, it's not urgent. What I'm more concerned about is your relatively low levels of FC as compared to your CYA level as well as the presence of CC's...what is your current CC level? I see a FC of 5, but no TC?

For a CYA level of 100, your minimum FC should be 7 with a target of 12ppm FC.

Your first goal should be to add more bleach to raise up that FC level and then do a partial drain and fill to lower your CYA concentration. After that is all said and done, you can lower your TA to start using a SWG.

Good luck :goodjob:
 
Although I have a dog in the fight, I would encourage you to get your own test kit and stop bouncing back and forth to Leslie's. No one will test more accurately than you and a lot of your inconsistencies will disappear.

Do not overlook the advice to get your chlorine up....you are way too low. Check out the CYA/FC chart in Pool School.

Do not add any acid to your pool unless you plan on aerating to lower TA (I'd leave it alone)
 
Looking at the chlorine/cya chart I can see your point. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little confused though. Wouldn't it make more sense to lower the CYA to 70 or 80 so that my FC only needs to be 5 instead of raising the FC then lowering the CYA which would effectively make my FC to high then?????
 
duraleigh said:
Although I have a dog in the fight, I would encourage you to get your own test kit and stop bouncing back and forth to Leslie's. No one will test more accurately than you and a lot of your inconsistencies will disappear.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing so I signed up as a contributor here and I am going to order my TF100 kit next.

Do not add any acid to your pool unless you plan on aerating to lower TA (I'd leave it alone)
Click to expand...

I was trying to lower the TA to the recommended level for the stain remover.
 
fordsbyjay said:
Wouldn't it make more sense to lower the CYA to 70 or 80 so that my FC only needs to be 5 instead of raising the FC then lowering the CYA which would effectively make my FC to high then?????
Click to expand...

Yes if you can quickly get it accomplished..like in the next 24 hrs. Otherwise the reason I suggest getting more chlorine in there first is that you want to hold off any intruding algae outbreak until you lower your CYA.

Even at a CYA level of 70, your FC target is 8ppm :goodjob:
 
I second dman's post about getting some more chlorine in there now until you can get adjusted. Putting in a small jug of clorox in the evening is an easy, adequate way of accomplishing this.

Then......

1. I would leave the CYA alone. If you're at 90, your close to SWG values of 60-80 so just let it come on down thru rainwater and spashout. Besides, partial draining is a hassle...as you know.

2. Refer to the manually chlorinated chart of FC/CYA relationship until you actually have the SWG up and running. Then you can let FC drift down to the suggested levels for SWG's

3. Do you have reason to suspect there is iron or copper in your pool? The AA test is pretty good but, IMO, not completely definitive. Did you do a test for iron or copper at Leslies (The TF-100 doesn't have those tests)

Post back that answer and perhaps you can hold off that stain treatment for a while and try something a little easier.
 
Well that makes sense. :goodjob:

I do not have a reason to think there is copper/iron in the pool and leslies never tested for it. I have several large stains on the bottom of the pool that I tested with a vitamin C tablet and it comes right off with the VC.
 
I have several large stains on the bottom of the pool that I tested with a vitamin C tablet and it comes right off with the VC.
Click to expand...
Did your fill water come from a well? That would indicate iron and the AA treatment is in order.

If you filled from city water, my suspicion is the stains may be organic. Test them by holding a tri-chlor puck up against them or some granular chlorine if you have that. If the chlorine really lightens the stain or removes it, then we can treat for arganic stains by simply elevating the chlorine levels for a period of time.

Anyway, I would suggest a slighty more positive identification of the stain and then proceed from there.
 

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The water comes from the city. I am going to have my water tested at a different pool place in the morning. I thought the vitamin c was a test to determine if it was organic or not because the vitamin C is Absorbic acid....... or so I though.
 
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is to test for the presence of iron in your water. I suspect your test may have been faulty in some way or, in fact, AA may reduce or lighten some organic stains as well.

Let's see what an iron test yields.
 
But if the stain is iron, and it has deposited on the pool surface, often the iron test will come up negative because it has already deposited. Once the stain is removed via AA, then the iron goes back in solution and the pool might test postive then - but I don't think an Iron test now would yield answers.... If it is iron - I would wait until your swim season is done and the temps have cooled so you don't risk algae (I didn't check where you live) before you begin the process. If it is organic, then a chlorine tablet would have the same results as you saw with the VIt C, the stain would fade - if it's iron the trichlor tablet won't do anything to it.
 
Can anyone tell me what range of measurement the TF100 has for Chlorine? My wife had the water tested today and leslies could not measure the PH or the FAC/TAC because it was outside of their scale. They did not find anything in the iron test.

BTW, results from another pool place were

FAC 7.2
TAC 7.4
ph 6.8
TA 120
CH 200
Cyanuric Acid 90
Phosphates 200

I am currently clear, circulating and aerating to get my PH back up.
 
The FAS-DPD test for Free Chlorine/CCs (powder turns the sample pink, you count drops till it clears) tests FC/CC up to 50ppm.

The OTO test for Total Chlorine (drops that turn the sample yellow) tests up to 5.
Both tests are included in the TF100

Leslie's is probably using a regular DPD test which only goes up to 5. :roll:

In the future you shouldn't use so much acid to drop the PH that low in the future, try not to go below 7.0.

Try the trichlor tablet on the stains to see if they are organic. If it does nothing, when the time is right you can proceed with the AA treatment, but as I said I would wait till the temps cool or you risk an algae bloom (the AA treatment calls for the chlorine levels to be near zero).
 
frustratedpoolmom said:
Leslie's is probably using a regular DPD test which only goes up to 5. :roll:
Click to expand...

No kidding.


In the future you shouldn't use so much acid to drop the PH that low in the future, try not to go below 7.0.
Click to expand...

I was aiming for 7 and I guess I over shot it a little. I am going to aerate for a day and see what happens with the PH. BTW,

I added two pounds of stain eliminator by Haviland from a different Pool store. We have always had good luck with it and sure enough the stain was gone 5 minutes after I added the stain remover.

Below is a couple pics of my aerator[sp]. I tee'd into my booster pump and added a garden hose fitting. Then I just added a garden hose/fire hose nozzle and aimed it at the pool. Cost was about 10 bucks.

poolaerator1.jpg


poolaerator.jpg
 
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