How much acid in a week

[sredish]

How much acid in a week's time are most of you SWG'ers using? Just trying to get an overall average of the site SWG'ers. If you know better by the month what you go through, then just divide it out on a weekly basis.

Usually I'll wait every other weekend, throw 2 or 3 gallons in, due to the SWG, spa spillover and rock waterfall....

edit: guess size of the pool would have a direct effect on this as well... so you might mention that if you post.

 

[Strannik]

That sounds like a lot. Have you considered using Borax to lock your pH?

 

[JasonLion]

That is quite a bit of acid. What TA level are you at? You can often reduce the amount of acid you need to use by lowering your TA.

 

[Guest]

I use about 6 oz or so about every 2 months. Then again I have a fiberglass pool and 50 ppm borates and a TA of 60 ppm.
Even with the deck jets, spillover, and wateralls/bubblers my pH stays right at 7.6-7.7. I wait until it hits 7.8 to add acid. Even then it stays at 7.8 for quite a while. 8)
( I voted 0 gallons a week because my acid usage is very low.)
(I really had to restrain myself about making any jokes about the '60s! )

 

[DaveNJ]

I run a constant 16oz a week.

 

[sredish]

I get 3 different answers on test results on 3 different testers.

ColorQ Tester:
FC: Hi
PH: 7.8
TA: 107
CH: 149
CYA: 9

HTH Tester:
CC: 9
PH: 7.2
TA: 150
CH: 140
CYA: 55

AquaChek Strip:
FC: 9 (give or take)
CC: 10(give or take)
PH: 8
TA: 140
TH: in the 250 - 500 range, closer to the 500 by appearance

It appears that I have to deal with the alkalinity some. I don't have a lot of trust in the ColorQ really, so I end up pulling numbers from it then retesting with another to get an average or second opinion. As we all know, strips aren't the most reliable nor easiest to get real accurate with, so I just use that for my own humor and see where it falls. Also, I'm purposely keeping the chl levels a little high right now to maintain and this weekend i'm going to turn it down some and start leveling it off where I want it. Pool is crystal clear.

 

[iggy]

I use about 8 oz a week since January since the pool was completed.
The sun and temp has been high and hot and I have my SWG panel set at 40% which maintains 2 to 3 ppm.
We have reached the 80's and lots of sunshrine now.
When summer comes I'm sure I would be up to a gallon a month.

FC 3
Ph 7.6
Alk 110 - 120
CA 250
CYA 80

I'm good

 

[chem geek]

It appears that I have to deal with the alkalinity some.

Your CYA might also be low -- the test results were inconsistent. With an SWG, a higher CYA of 60-80 ppm can lower chlorine loss from sunlight (even at a higher FC level for the CYA level) and allow you to lower the SWG output and that will lower the rate of pH rise. The combination of a lower TA and higher CYA usually helps out a lot. Using Borates is a third thing that can be done after the first two. Also, your pool isn't that old so there may still be some curing of the plaster going on, though that should be slowing down by now.

Richard

 

[sredish]

thanks Richard.

I was going to get to work tomorrow on getting the CYA up to 80. Going away for a few days on Sat so I wanted to get the sock in beforehand. Also, I'm going to shoot for an 80/80 result. 80 on the CYA and 80 on the TA. Guess quickest way is to lower the ph more for the TA and then add in the stabilizer. I'll go ahead and lower the ph while I'm gone and turn on the waterfall as well.

I'll do some searching on borates. I may go forward with that later.

 

[sredish]

also on the colorQ, I forgot about the cold water. it's said that the water temp needs to be roughly 80* for an accurate measurement on the cya and it's quite a bit colder.... so my bad on that.

 

[ivyleager]

How much acid in a week? Well, back in the 70's about 1-2/week



I couldn't resist.............................................

 

[iggy]

Your survey results will be flawed because the lowest amount you had was 0 to 1 gal a week.
I use 8 oz a week which is 1 gal for 2 months.

Iggy

 

[divnkd101]

I don't think anyone has asked this question yet... What Strength of Acid are you using?????

 

[dschlic1]

I use about 32 oz of 34% acid each week. Mt TA is around 90 and borates are 50 ppm. I usually add acid when pH gets to 7.7 or 7.8, and the 32 oz lowers the pH to 7.2 or 7.3.

 

[Sabot]

-My pool is new, installed and filled Nov 2007. I am using 1.9 gal of acid to keep my PH around 7.4 - 7.5 per week for the last month.

 

[iggy]

As I continue to read this post I notice a great deal of you are using very large amounts of acid.
I don't even come close in using the amount others are using.
I know my pool is much smaller, temps are equal or above Florida or Texas and we have lots of sun here in Arizona.
My GoldLine specs say that I should maintain
pH between 7.2 and 7.8
TA between 80 and 120
CA 200 - 275
CYA 60 - 80

My present chemistry is
FC 2-3 ppm
pH 7.7
TA 110 -120
CA 250
CYA 80
And all I use is a cup (8 oz) of acid a week to maintain my balance.
Why are many usings gallons of acid a week?

Please don't get me wrong but I can see why many have went to BBB and other ways to balance water.
I will use more for swimming season but not gallons a week.

 

[Strannik]

it's very rare for people to go to anything else once they tried SWC systems

 

[Guest]

it's very rare for people to go to anything else once they tried SWC systems

I second that!