Can I add bleach & dry acid at the same time? high PH issue

[thegogetter222]

Hi guys,
My kids play in the pool everyday and splash (= aerate) like crazy which I'm assuming is causing very high PH. I test every night after they are done, and I'm pulling 8.0+ PH and 0 FC based off my taylor. I haven't taken an Alkaline test recently and i'm not using CYA. This pattern is consistent over the last 5 days or so with me adding 3-4 cups bleach and 3-4oz of dry acid per night. We have had rain off and on. The kids skin is getting irritated so I'd like to tackle this as quickly as possible.

Is this normal?

 

[jblizzle]

Re: Can I add bleach & dry acid at the same time? high PH i

The skin may be irritated due to the lack of FC ... you should never be letting the FC drop to zero ... so something could be living in the water. OR it could be because you have no CYA and thus the FC is not buffered and much more active when they are swimming in it.

There is no way to know how much dry acid you need to add without knowing the TA.

Is there a reason you are not raising the CYA up to around 30ppm?

To answer your question directly, you should not add them at exactly the same time, make sure one is thoroughly mixed in the water before adding the other.

 

[thegogetter222]

Re: Can I add bleach & dry acid at the same time? high PH i

thank you jbizzle,
I haven't purchased CYA yet... probably should at this point. The kids are very wild while in the pool so I have a strong feeling they are a big contributor to the increased PH levels through aeration. I pulled another sample when I got home at 5pm:

PH 8.0+
FC 0
TA 300

I added 4 cups bleach and 6oz of dry acid (PH Minus) and went to kids baseball game. Came home at 8:30 and pulled another:

PH 7.6
FC 5.2
TA 240

I added 4oz of dry acid to attempt to reduce TA. Pulled another sample this morning:

PH 7.4
FC 3.7
TA 250

thoughts?

 

[duraleigh]

Re: Can I add bleach & dry acid at the same time? high PH i

I would keep on doing what you are doing except cut down on your bleach dosage.

That smaller pool will probably be really dirty before you can get all your chemistry exact and you can simply dump it and start over.

I would cut the dosage down to 1 cup of 6% Clorox per day and dose it about an hour before they swim. That'll kill off any existing organics and still have some residual protection while they are in the pool.

If they don't swim, you still need to add one cup daily...evening is best.

I wouldn't be surprised if your fill water is a little high in pH so you will just have to keep reducing it somewhere into the 7's

 

[thegogetter222]

Re: Can I add bleach & dry acid at the same time? high PH i

ok, gotcha. thanks. Should my TA be a priority and keep using the dry acid to get it around the 70-90 recommended level? And one more, does bleach contribute to higher PH results? Thanks again for all the help. I need to get and start using a CYA agent next.

 

[Smykowski]

Re: Can I add bleach & dry acid at the same time? high PH i

No, TA should not be a priority. It will stabilize on its own as long as you keep pH correctly balanced.

The short answer is, bleach is pH neutral. There's a long answer, but it belongs in the deep end.