Do my #'s look okay?

[Butterfly]

In this thread[/url] JasonLion]Regular acid additions to keep the PH under control will drive the TA down over time. If the rate of PH increase bothers you, you could do the lowering TA procedure (acid to lower PH to 7.0-7.2, aerate, repeat) to bring the TA down to 70-80.

Thanks Matj, but I gotta have more information! I knew I had seen detailed instructions somewhere and I found them at PoolForum. Some of us need Take-You-By-The-Hand-Step-by-Step procedures and I am one of them! Maybe "How to Lower Your Alkalinity" should be a stickey here? btw, I re-read your entire post and remember reading it before and felt so sorry for you. Those pool guys, gotta keep an eye on them. I assume all things are good with your new pool now...except for the climbing pH? Thanks again and Happy Swimming. Joyce

 

[JasonLion]

There is a very through description of lowering TA over at the Pool Forum. My long version is at the bottom of page one of this thread, but is no where near as through as Ben's writeup.

 

[Butterfly]

Thanks Jason, I got both!

Joyce

 

[matj6876]

Joyce

Thanks for the comments. The pool is now good and my pb even sent me a new pole to replace the one I'd bent when I was needlessly scrubbing the scale that would never have come off!

My only problem is still the rising pH - how are you getting on with yours?
Today's numbers:
FC 9
CC 0
TC 9
pH 7.6
TA 90
CH 320
CYA 50
Salt 3500

In the two weeks since acid washing the pool I have added over 2.5 gal of Muriatic acid. (Between 2 & 4 cups almost every day). My TA has fallen from 150 to 90 but my PH keeps rising.

My concern is that my TA keeps falling and I wind up adding acid and baking soda daily to keep both these values under control. I know that I have a few contributing factors to runaway pH....
* Plaster < 1 year old
* Salt Water Pool
* Fountian, Spa Spillover & waterfall features all running 10 hrs a day!! (should I stop them?)
* 0ppm borates

Any advice from the experts?

 

[JasonLion]

As your TA falls the rate of PH rise will slow. Until the plaster finishes curing it will continue to rise no mater how low your TA, but you should be able to get the rate way down by aiming for TA of 70 and PH of 7.6-7.7.

Now, if you want to add borates to 50 ppm that would be a huge help. Then you could bring TA down to 50 and run at a more normal PH of 7.5 and see a dramatic reduction in the rate of PH increase.

 

[Butterfly]

Joyce

Thanks for the comments. The pool is now good and my pb even sent me a new pole to replace the one I'd bent when I was needlessly scrubbing the scale that would never have come off!

My only problem is still the rising pH - how are you getting on with yours?
Today's numbers:
FC 9
CC 0
TC 9
pH 7.6
TA 90
CH 320
CYA 50
Salt 3500

In the two weeks since acid washing the pool I have added over 2.5 gal of Muriatic acid. (Between 2 & 4 cups almost every day). My TA has fallen from 150 to 90 but my PH keeps rising.

My concern is that my TA keeps falling and I wind up adding acid and baking soda daily to keep both these values under control. I know that I have a few contributing factors to runaway pH....
* Plaster < 1 year old
* Salt Water Pool
* Fountian, Spa Spillover & waterfall features all running 10 hrs a day!! (should I stop them?)
* 0ppm borates

Any advice from the experts?

Hi Matj,
Glad to hear all is going well with the pool! A new pole? You were really trying to scrub that stuff off!

Doing nothing but adding muratic acid, our Alk is hovering around 100. pH risies from about 7.4 to about 7.7 every 3 to 4 days. Sometime within the next couple weeks, we will probably do the aeration technique to get the Alk to around 90, if it does not get there on its own....?

Where are the pics of your pool? Wanna see!

Did you get a response about stopping your aeration features? The fountain, spa spillover & waterfall features :?:

Take care & happy swimming! Joyce

 

[matj6876]

Hi Joyce

Checking in to see how you are getting on. My numbers are still pretty stable except for my pH. TA is falling slowly too I guess.

I didn't get any comments on the features so after a second week of adding a gallon of MA in 7 days... I have decided to turn both the fountain in the spa and the waterfall by the pool off today. Will see what kind of difference it makes.

pH 7.5
FC 5
CC 0
TC 5
TA 90
CH 340
CYA 40-50
Salt 4400

I had a look for some pics to post but realize that I don't have a decent photo of the finished pool!
All of them seem to be of people in the pool and not of the pool itself and I don't think this forum is ready for pics of my pasty white body - no matter how desparate you are to see the pool!

I'll see if I can take one today and post later.

Hope all is going well with your battle against the evil pH
I will post next week and let you know if having the water features off made a difference.

 

[duraleigh]

matj,

Those are really good numbers. Because of all your contributing factors, I think you could just plan on baking soda and muriatic being a way of life for a while. It's pretty inexpensive and you appear to have such a good grip on controlling your water, it should be fairly simple for you to keep everything in acceptable ranges. nice work!

 

[Butterfly]

Hi Matj,
You have posted some pretty impressive numbers! duraleigh says you are doing great. We are doing pretty good w/the pH, using about 7 cups of MA per week. It's funny that you should respond today about our pH issues , 'cause I was just wondering if we have to deal with this after the water temp drops below 60 degrees. :?: If the answer is yes, I ain't gonna be a happy camper.

I will post a question to that effect if I can't find a thread on it.

We were supposed to have a week of rain which I was hoping would lower the TA, but, nah. Probably still have to do the drop-pH-&-aerate technique.

Perhaps ChemGeek, Richard, will chime in and help you with your TA/pH swings and your salt.

Okay, now where are those pool pics? :lol:

Take care, Joyce

 

[matj6876]

Dave - Thanks for the compliment, I couldn't have got this far without the help of those on this forum and my TF100!

As for MA being a way of life I guess I was harboring naive dreams of owning a pool sprinkling a little aqua-sparkle dust every week and adding a few drops of pool-be-clean every so often! Guess I spent too long in my local pool store early on!

Joyce - Well it ain't sunny in my part of Texas today but for what it's worth... 8)

It's not easy to take a pic of the pool because of the kiddie fence. So I stood on the grill, took 3 shots and photo-shopped 'em together. That's why it looks a little strange.

From this angle you can see why not to get dark plaster in your pool. Despite it being acid washed the calcium scale stains are still visible on the bottom of the pool.

Thanks again for all your help folks

Cheers

MattJ

 

[Butterfly]

Matt,
Your pool is beautiful! Your yard, what I could see, looks really nice, too. You stood on top of a grill? You know, you could have just climbed on top of your house to get the pix! Does your wife keep your insurance policies paid up? j/k

Stains on the bottom? It looked like shadows from trees to me. I have plain white plaster and trees, well, neighbors have lots of trees!

I see you have added your avatar. Some people have all the talent. I had to get Grace the Mermaid to help me with mine!

Do you need to post the pic in the Show-Off-Your-Pool section? Congrats again on your numbers and the knowledge you have gained about pools.

Take care and enjoy that pool!

Joyce

 

[matj6876]

So, just to close this off...
I ran the pool without the features on this week and it about halved the amount of acid I would have usually used to keep the pH in the 7.5-7.7 range.

Think I'll keep 'em off for now.

Joyce, thanks for the kind words! :-D

 

[JasonLion]

If you let the TA drift down to 70, which it will do on it's own, the amount of acid you need to add will go down. You could also try adding borates, which would dramatically reduce the frequency with which you need to add acid, though it takes a little work to do.

 

[matj6876]

Thanks Jason.
My TA is falling much slower now but I will let it get as low as 70 before I do anything else.

Borates are for next season.... I've just got comfortable with the rest of the chemicals & tests!