Raising ph with aeration, how long ?

[zmanastronomy]

If I get my ph up to were I want it with aeration, does the ph hold after the aeration or do I have to keep aerating the pool ?
Thanks for any replys. Zmanastronomy

 

[chem geek]

The pH won't drop unless you are adding something that is acidic into the water. If you are using a hypochlorite source of chlorine (bleach, chlorinating liquid, Cal-Hypo, lithium hypochlorite, saltwater chlorine generator), then the pH may rise, but shouldn't drop. If you are using Trichlor, Dichlor or non-chlorine shock (MPS), then these are net acidic (when accounting for chlorine usage/consumption) so will usually cause the pH to drop.

 

[zmanastronomy]

Thanks Richard, glad you responded.
I just filled my pool with new well water and done an acid bath to get rid of some mild staining and the ta is a little high but the ph is 6.8 or lower. Do I need to add borax or ph up or can I get the ph up with aeration alone. If I can aerate alone than why would I use anything else to raise my ph. Do I need to use borax to get the ph to a certain level and then start aerating or can I just use aeration for ph control ?

I plan on getting the ph and ta correct before I add clorine since I'm using polyquat 60 to controle algie while on the acsorbic acid treatment. I'm also using Jack's Magik to sequester the metals after the stains are gone.

Any suggestions on these matters would help me alot. I'm also raising my cya at the same time so I have alot going on. zmanastronomy

 

[zmanastronomy]

By the way, I only use liquid clorine and the bbb method in my pool. Thanks

 

[chem geek]

If your TA is already high, or higher than you want it, then I would just start aerating (turn returns up, put pump on high, use a water fountain, etc.). The low pH is probably from the acid bath (did you mean as in an "acid wash" or did you mean from the ascorbic acid treatment?). I assume that your test kit only goes down to 6.8 so the pH could be lower, though with the higher TA reading it's probably not horribly low. What is your TA level, anyway?

If for some reason the pH doesn't seem to budge at all, you can always add some Borax to raise it, but that will also raise the TA somewhat as well (though half as much as using a pH Up product). If you were going to be using 50 ppm Borates in your pool anyway, then you could use Borax to raise the pH and then just account for that in the total Borates amount.

With the metal sequestrant, keep in mind that you'll need to replenish it over time as chlorine will slowly break it down. That's the downside with starting with well water that has metals in it.

 

[zmanastronomy]

Thanks Richard

It was an acid treatment. The ta is 150. I was surprised that the well water had such a high ta. I guess if I use borax and acid to balance the ph and ta it would automaticly do the high borat treatment in my pool. I was wanting to do that anyway.
Once I get my cya to 40-50 I'll start adding clorine and in a week or so will post my test result. I just put in 4lbs of cya in the skimmer today and it will take 5 days or so before I can test for that. The polyquat should hold off any algie for that long. We're having cool temps here in Florida anyway so that helps out in the algie department.
Thanks for your help.
zmanstronomy

 

[JasonLion]

Using borax to adjust the PH will probably never get enough borates in the water to get into the recommend range for borates. The quantities required to raise the borate level are far larger than what is typically used adjusting the PH.

 

[duraleigh]

I would also suggest putting a small jug of clorox into the pool and testing rather than depending on an algaecide. Lack of chlorine is the single biggest factor in pool water problems....by far.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I plan on getting the ph and ta correct before I add clorine since I'm using polyquat 60 to controle algie while on the acsorbic acid treatment. I'm also using Jack's Magik to sequester the metals after the stains are gone.

I would also suggest putting a small jug of clorox into the pool and testing rather than depending on an algaecide. Lack of chlorine is the single biggest factor in pool water problems....by far.

I just want to point out the OP was doing the AA stain removal process.

zmanastronomy, If it's been more than 24 hours you can go ahead and start adding chlorine, no need to wait a week, even tho the temps are cool. Follow the instructions in the article in Pool School, here, which I assume you have already read?

If you have 4 lbs of CYA in the skimmer that should put your CYA level at about 30, which would mean your min FC level is 2ppm. 1 small jug of bleach would put you at 3ppm... but don't be surprised if it doesn't hold right away (the PQ will consume some of it). Just monitor the situation closely but I wouldn't add more that at one time for the first couple of weeks. Just maintain your min level.