my pH and adding muriatic acid ??

[flyweed]

I tested my pool yesterday and my pH was at 7.3-7.4 (in between color) and my TA is at 190...so I continue to aerate and monitor this.

So...I used the pool calc, as I decided to go ahead and drop the pH down to 7.0..and it told my to add 3 quarts and 1 cup (13 cups total) of MA. So...I opend the bottle of acid and begin to pour into my large measuring cup. It starts to smoke....it is cold and rainy out today..so not sure if that has anything to do with it or not..but I slowly start to pour my MA into the pool surface (pump running) and my pool water starts "smoking" too....is this normal when adding Muriatic Acid to pool water??? The smell was awful, so I had to get out of there for a while. I let it clear a bit and then added the rest.

Why did it do this, and is this normal with MA???

 

[JasonLion]

Yes, smoke/fumes from muriatic acid are very common. How strong the fumes are depends on the strength of the acid and how high the humidity is. Stronger acid and higher humidity both give worse fumes. You really don't want to breathe those fumes. It is best to figure out which way the wind is blowing and place yourself upwind of the acid bottle.

 

[mynewpool]

Mine does that all the time. Sometimes I get a whiff of that stuff as well.

 

[flyweed]

Well..I got a whiff alright!! holy smokes..bout knocked me over...I guess with it raining on and off all day today, humidty is really high, and with NO wind whatsoever the smoke sort of just "lays" there. I had one of my kids take a piece of flat cardboard and fan the fumes away from us as I poured it in. That helped alot.

 

[257WbyMag]

If it really bothers you, you can try looking around for the 15.7% strength HCl. It doesn't fume like the 31.45% strength stuff does, but you have to use twice as much for the same effect.

Yeah those high humidity days with no breeze are the worst.

 

[coloeb]

The TA in my fill water is 260 so I have to mess with a lot of acid. I found that positioning myself upwind and diluting the acid with pool water in a bucket first help alot. It is possible to damage your lungs with this stuff, even in small amounts. You could also pick up a repirator with cartriges designed to filter out the acid. I would also recomend that if at all possible children and pets not be present when dosing your pool.