Acid and bleach issue

[goofiness]

I've been using ABC since last summer with success; clear water, no algae or scum. I notice that my pH runs high (>8.0), and I need to add acid routinely. When I used pucks in the past, the pH was always ~7.5, but not now.

Two weeks ago, I got the following:
pH: >8
TA: 140
CYA: ~40-50
FC: 5 AM; 3.5 PM

I added a lot of acid over several days, and got the following:

pH: 7.2
TA: 120

I've been adding about 36 oz of fresh 10% bleach daily, and about 60 oz muriatic acid twice/week, using the pool calculator. Cl levels are great, but pH keeps creeping up >8.0 after 4 days . Is it to be expected to be adding a lot of acid along with liquid chlorine?

 

[aa62579]

The pucks probably kept your pH down in the past. As you continue to use the MA and your TA lowers, your pH should get more stable.

To accomplish this quicker, it is important to incorporate aeration as a method to raise your pH back up after an acid addition so that the process can be repeated.

 

[duraleigh]

aa62579 is suggesting to lower your TA down around 70 or so and you may not have to add acid so frequently.

The method by which you can lower TA permanently is found in Pool School. It is a process you must follow carefully or it won't work.

 

[goofiness]

aa62579 is suggesting to lower your TA down around 70 or so and you may not have to add acid so frequently.

The method by which you can lower TA permanently is found in Pool School. It is a process you must follow carefully or it won't work.

It appears that I need to keep adding acid to get the pH down to 7.2, then aerating to get pH back to 7.5-7.8, until the TA is 70-90. The pH should then be more stable, right? Thanks, again.

 

[duraleigh]

The pH should then be more stable, right?

somewhat....you'll still need to add some acid....it's the nature of the beast.

 

[goofiness]

The pH should then be more stable, right?

somewhat....you'll still need to add some acid....it's the nature of the beast.

Thanks. I added more acid this AM, and will check pH and TA after dinner. Since we do not have water features, I'm trying to rig up an aerating device with some plumbing parts from Lowes. I've seen some of the home-made devices via the links at pool school. We'll see. More to follow.

 

[goofiness]

aa62579 is suggesting to lower your TA down around 70 or so and you may not have to add acid so frequently.

The method by which you can lower TA permanently is found in Pool School. It is a process you must follow carefully or it won't work.

It appears that I need to keep adding acid to get the pH down to 7.2, then aerating to get pH back to 7.5-7.8, until the TA is 70-90. The pH should then be more stable, right? Thanks, again.

Here's the latest. For two days I have been running my Intelliflo pump at a higher RPM, and have little hoses in 3 return eyeballs squirting water into the air to provide a "roostertail" effect to get aeration. Adding appropriate volume of acid gets the pH down to about 7.2, but the TA is stuck at 110-120. Here are today's numbers:

10 AM: pH 7.5, TA 110 added 80 oz acid aeration on
Noon: pH 7.2, aeration on
6 PM: pH <7.5, TA 120 added 80 oz acid aeration on

3 weeks ago I managed to get the TA down from 150 to 120, by adding acid, not aerating. Over two days of acid/aeration, the TA has not budged. Any suggestions, other than keep doing what I'm doing.

Thanks.

 

[duraleigh]

Any suggestions, other than keep doing what I'm doing.

There is no other way. You can lower the pH down to 7.0 and that will help some but sometimes the process just takes some doing.

It doesn't sound to me like you are getting much splash effect. You are trying to move as much air into the water as possible.

 

[goofiness]

Any suggestions, other than keep doing what I'm doing.

There is no other way. You can lower the pH down to 7.0 and that will help some but sometimes the process just takes some doing.

It doesn't sound to me like you are getting much splash effect. You are trying to move as much air into the water as possible.

You are probably right. After looking again at the aeration links, it appears the idea is to aim the water column DOWN into the water to get splashing. I'm not sure how that is different from having the water go UP first, then let gravity bring it back DOWN to the surface.

My pH test kit goes from 7.2 to 6.8, so I can't measure very closely at 7.0; mostly a guess.

My inlet pipes are a bit weird after two re-plastering jobs. The pipe into which the eyeball fittings slip into the wall are not threaded, and seem to be a strange ID, so I'm having trouble finding pipes to fit into them to rig up a device like those in the 1st two aerator links. I tried a piece of 1 1/4" PVC, and it was too big. I'll have another look tomorrow. In the meantime, more acid, more aeration.

 

[goofiness]

Any suggestions, other than keep doing what I'm doing.

There is no other way. You can lower the pH down to 7.0 and that will help some but sometimes the process just takes some doing.

It doesn't sound to me like you are getting much splash effect. You are trying to move as much air into the water as possible.

I continued with the system I devised to create splash effect and aeration, with acid addition for 4 days. At the end I got pH 7.5, TA 90. Those readings have held for two days now, with no additional acid. I know I will need to add acid periodically, but I hope not so much or often as before.

At this point I consider the project a success. I will continue to look at ways to get better aeration, so I will be prepared in the future, if necessary.

Thanks for the advice and support.