Ph unstable

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Stephym3266

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Sep 4, 2013
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Let me first say, I am new to pool ownership. We have owned our house since June that had a pool built in 2008. Since living here, the pool has been crystal clear and all I have done is added salt (based on salt cell reading which I have now figured out is incorrect and I added too much salt). About a month ago, I started noticing white flakes which I now know is calcium. Our tap water is high in calcium, so when I top it off, it won't lower the calcium . I took my water in to have it tested and here were the results :

FC 4
TC 4
Salt 4,500
CYA 20
TA 80
pH 8.0
Phosphates 500
CH 650

I used Alkalinity up to increase the TA before adding acid. I then added 32 ounces of MA. I then added water conditioner to increase the CYA.

My numbers as of today are:

TA 120
pH 8.2
CYA 60

Since having the water tested a week ago, I have added a GALLON of MA and I still can't get the pH to stay in the range. Yesterday, it was 7.4 and today 8.2?? I am so frustrated!! Ant idea why I can't get the pH to stay in range?
 
Welcome to TFP! :wave:

The pH is rising because the TA is too high and you are using a saltwater chlorine generator. You should have been adding acid to keep the pH in check. Not testing and maintaining the pool for years was risky.

The flakes are calcium carbonate being formed in the saltwater chlorine generator cell because your water is out of balance and over-saturated with calcium carbonate. Assuming 85ºF water temperature, the Calcite Saturation Index you can calculate in The Pool Calculator was (before you added Alkalinity Up) +0.56 and now after adding the Alkalinity Up it is +0.89. This assumes the pool store tests are accurate, which is doubtful. Adding Alkalinity Up was the wrong thing to do -- your TA was fine where it was and could even have been lowered more given the tendency of the pH to rise and the already high CH.

Start reading the Pool School. In particular, you want to look at Water Balance for SWGs and how to Lower Total Alkalinity.
 
I have only owned the pool for 3 months, it was built by the previous owner. So it wasn't neglected for that long. And I actually had a pool guy initially that had been adding acid, but I fired him and am now on my own. I assumed the pool store knew what they were talking about, but clearly they were just trying to sell products!!

So at this point, I just need to continue to add acid to bring both the TA and pH down?
 
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