ph UP -- Aeration vs. Chemicals

[raterus]

I recently found out surfing through the forums that aeration can increase pH. Great, that sounds like a win-win combination!

Can I use aeration as opposed to adding chemicals (Like all the boxes of washing soda I bought already)? Does this mess with any other levels in the pool, or are there any other downsides?

Thanks!
--Michael

 

[linen]

It is not common to need to raise ph up unless you are using an acidic source for chlorine like trichlor or dichlor, or your pool is needing a lot of makeup water (due to evaporation or leak) and that water is low in ph.

If your TA is low, using areation to raise ph may make matters worse since that does not raise TA.

What is your TA?

 

[raterus]

Right now it's about 70, which I know is very low. I'm going to the store tonight to get some baking soda and am shooting for about 110. I'm also using trichlor for now, since my pool installer has to drain the pool at the end of the season to fix some liner wrinkles, so I will have to deal with a drop in pH this year anyway. If I can deal with this by setting up an aerator overnight, I'm all for it.

Thanks,
Michael

 

[257WbyMag]

A TA of 70 is not very low.

 

[raterus]

A TA of 70 is not very low.

Perhaps you're right, my pH has been holding steady at around 7.2-7.3. I'd like to get that number a bit higher to like 7.5.

I'm trying to stick to recommendations I found here, and would rather not "learn the hard way" what the long term effects of low TA/pH will be!

 

[JasonLion]

It depends on what you are using to add chlorine. Trichlor tablets lower both PH and TA very quickly. When using trichlor or dichlor you should keep TA up around 120 to 150. If you are using just about any other form of chlorine, then TA should be around 60 to 90.

 

[raterus]

My DIY aerator! Discovered this accidentally and had to share it. I was playing around with my cleaning port, and a section of hose from my cleaner and stumbled upon this aerator idea quite by accident. It's working great! Yes that's a kids "floatie" holding it up! Initially it was swinging back and forth covering a good 10ft area, but the pressure on the hose eventually pushed the hose back into the water and it just moves a little.

 

[linen]

The areator looks great, but why do you want it? As JL said above, if you are using pucks, then you want your TA higher.

Are you using pucks?

If yes, then I would raise your ph and TA with Borax or washing soda and if that doesn't get you TA high enough, then add some Baking soda to raise that...Oh and check your cya level.

If no, then 70 may be a nice place for it to be.

 

[raterus]

Yes, I'm using pucks, and aerating to counteract the pH drop from the pucks (and because it looks cool and my kids love it!)

I dumped about 14 lbs. of baking soda in last night, and the TA reading jumped from 70 to 90 when I tested this morning (using the TA test in the TF-100). As far as I understand, aerating isn't going to mess with TA, right?

 

[linen]

It isn't, but that is sort of the problem doing it in conjunction with puck use. The problem is the pucks lower ph and TA and aeration only raises ph. Eventually TA gets too low and you are at risk of having the ph "crash" or drop low very fast. I would continue to use the washing soda (or borax) to raise ph and TA...but you can do it with the combination of aeration and baking soda too.

What is your cya level?

 

[JasonLion]

No, aeration won't change the TA. However, since you are using trichlor you want to raise the TA. The simplest way to do that is with soda ash, which will raise both PH and TA in just about the same proportion that trichlor lowers them.

 

[raterus]

My CYA is low, below 30. I filled the view tube all the way up and could still barely make out the dot.

FC is holding, so I wasn't too worried about CYA. My pool contractor is emptying the pool at the end of the season to fix some wrinkles which is why I'm using pucks and not bleach.

If I can aerate for "free" like this, and only have to touch TA once in awhile, I'm fine with that. 14 lbs of baking soda from my local "club" is much cheaper than soda ash from wal-mart.