I attempted my AA treatment

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kammel78

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Aug 29, 2012
48
Shreveport, LA
So, I attempted my AA treatment. First, I don't think my pH was low enough to start with. I read later where someone recommended 7.0-7.2 before starting or after the initial dose waiting 24 hours to let the pH drop before attempting a second dose.

I waited after my first dose, didn't see much results so I dosed again. I repeated this until I had used approx 1.5lb per 10K gal and left it overnight. I noticed in the morning some significant stain lifting. Now, if this was caused by the AA or from a sustained low pH, I'm not 100% sure. The lifting was not as dramatic as some say. It has been very gradual. It could be that I have stains over scaling and it's taking those longer to release.

Anyway, water has been cloudy for a day and a half now. I know that cloudiness is normal after an AA treatment, but my question is does the cloudiness mean that some of the stains are still releasing and, if so, do I want to keep my FC at 0 until it clears? Is there a normal length of time until the cloudiness clears up?

Thanks!
 
For the stains to lift the PH must be reasonably low and there must AA present in the water. As the PH goes up the rate of stain removal goes down and then stops. Cold water can also greatly slow down the process.

You should have the filter running 24/7 and it should clear up the cloudiness in two or three days, assuming you don't get algae. There is always some chance of getting algae, in which case the water will not clear up until you shock, which you don't want to do in the first week or so.
 
JasonLion said:
For the stains to lift the PH must be reasonably low and there must AA present in the water. As the PH goes up the rate of stain removal goes down and then stops.
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I think I messed up assuming the AA would bring the pH down itself so I didn't lower it prior to dosing AA. Cloudiness does seem to be clearing slowly so I'll keep running the filter.

Thanks!
 
kammel78 said:
I think I messed up assuming the AA would bring the pH down itself so I didn't lower it prior to dosing AA. Cloudiness does seem to be clearing slowly so I'll keep running the filter.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I didn't bring down the pH before AA either, which was not mentioned in the instruction. But I did make sure pH is <7.2 after adding AA.
However, the AA treatment didn't lift much stain...
 
My copper stains are lifring slowly after I dumped 2.5 gallons of white vinegar in my pool...I unplugged my copper plug...that helped too. It's an ongoing process. I was afraid of algae so proceeded slowly. I want to avoid putting harsh chemicals in the pool. I just took this picture and wanted to add it to a couple of my posts. :wave:



IMAG1466 by puying_7, on Flickr
 
Well, a week later and the water is still cloudy. Noticed some hints of my black algae coming back, so I'm trying to fight that now.

Water never did clear up to let me see how effective the AA is, so hopefully I'll see when I get the levels back under control.
 
I started slowly adding bleach to try to raise my FC and gradually increased the amount, but no matter how much I add it seems like I can't get my FC up to normal levels much less shock level.

Should I just keep adding more? I'm not sure what's eating up all the chlorine...
 
AA and bleach cancel each other. Which is why you let the FC disappear beforehand - why add AA if it's just going to get neutralized immediately? Then the AA attacks the staining and dissolves the metals. Then you sequester the metals. You still have no FC and the pool is full of AA. Which is where you're at.

Now you use bleach to neutralize the AA, and when it's all gone, what you add will show up as FC.

Just keep adding bleach until it takes.
 

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The safest way to deal with this situation is to add about 2 ppm of chlorine every hour until you can maintain a FC at 2 or higher for the whole hour. This approach is a little extra work, but it is the best way to insure that you get rid of any remaining AA, kill off any algae that might be getting started, and avoid causing the stains to return.

The simpler, but riskier approach, is to add some extra sequestrant and then shock the pool. This will restore your FC level very quickly, but it also runs a fair risk of causing the stains to reappear.

If at any point you get a full algae bloom, there really isn't any choice, and you will have to shock the pool.
 
Okay, I've been adding chlorine per JasonLion every hour so far today. I seem to be dropping about half every hour and the sun hasn't really come out yet.

Question: should I be concerned with my CYA levels at this point? It's sitting around 25 while all my other levels are right in line (keeping the pH a little on the low side).
 
Try adding a little DE in the sand filter - instructions are in Pool School. Or if getting a small amount of DE is too problematic, you could just try some clarifier. If you are not in a hurry to swim, just let the filter do its work. Can take a while with sand.
 
frustratedpoolmom said:
Try adding a little DE in the sand filter - instructions are in Pool School. Or if getting a small amount of DE is too problematic, you could just try some clarifier. If you are not in a hurry to swim, just let the filter do its work. Can take a while with sand.
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Great advice, thanks!

Added some DE per the Pool School instructions and the water is definitely clearing up...I can see the main drain now!

FC seems to still be holding, so I think I'm on track. I can start to see some of the previous stains still on the bottom. I won't be able to tell until it completely clears, but it looks like the stains are lighter than before the AA treatment.
 
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