Acid dispenser

[SunnyOptimism]

AprilH,

Just to be clear, ORP voltage is used as a proxy for free chlorine concentration. In theory, the measured ORP voltage should decrease with decreasing FC. However, in practice, there are so many other variables to your pool water (pH, CYA, TA, etc) that also affect the ORP voltage signal that it can make it difficult to figure out what is really happening. A salt water pool only confounds the problem further by adding another variable to the system, namely salt concentration as measured by a proxy value called TDS (total dissolved solids). Can these things be measured and controlled? Sure. But when your pool water goes out of whack, you'll be the one to debug all these things so keeping it simple up front will make your life a lot easier.

pH probes are similar to ORP probes but are a little less sensitive to all the "noise" generated by the other pool water parameters.

That was the basis of my recommendation to you that you consider only using a a time-based acid dispensing system. Pentair sells the IntelliPH system that many in this forum have successfully installed as DIY projects and I'm sure Hayward has something similar. Using a time-based system is ultimately much easier to understand and debug as all you have to do is adjust the dispensing time up or down to lower or increase your pools pH. Believe me, your pH isn't going to change second by second. pH swings in most well balanced pools happen over days and weeks, a time frame well within your ability to get a handle on, test and control.

And I do believe your dad is/was a very wise man....and one more tip - if you plan to do this later on, make sure you request that your PB leave sufficient empty space on your equipment pad for installing an acid dosing system as well as enough space on your PVC pipes to make any necessary connections.


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[Readyforapool]

AprilH,

Just to be clear, ORP voltage is used as a proxy for free chlorine concentration. In theory, the measured ORP voltage should decrease with decreasing FC. However, in practice, there are so many other variables to your pool water (pH, CYA, TA, etc) that also affect the ORP voltage signal that it can make it difficult to figure out what is really happening. A salt water pool only confounds the problem further by adding another variable to the system, namely salt concentration as measured by a proxy value called TDS (total dissolved solids). Can these things be measured and controlled? Sure. But when your pool water goes out of whack, you'll be the one to debug all these things so keeping it simple up front will make your life a lot easier.

pH probes are similar to ORP probes but are a little less sensitive to all the "noise" generated by the other pool water parameters.

That was the basis of my recommendation to you that you consider only using a a time-based acid dispensing system. Pentair sells the IntelliPH system that many in this forum have successfully installed as DIY projects and I'm sure Hayward has something similar. Using a time-based system is ultimately much easier to understand and debug as all you have to do is adjust the dispensing time up or down to lower or increase your pools pH. Believe me, your pH isn't going to change second by second. pH swings in most well balanced pools happen over days and weeks, a time frame well within your ability to get a handle on, test and control.

And I do believe your dad is/was a very wise man....and one more tip - if you plan to do this later on, make sure you request that your PB leave sufficient empty space on your equipment pad for installing an acid dosing system as well as enough space on your PVC pipes to make any necessary connections.


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Sunny - I will disagree with you on the timeframe on ph rise and I don't think mine is an anomaly. We have a dark quartz finish, new pool this spring. My ph can and has gone from 7.2 - 8.5 over night. I've had to add a quart and a half of acid every two to three days to keep it in check. Finally got the PB to add the intelliPH to help with the scaling and constant rise.

 

[SunnyOptimism]

Sunny - I will disagree with you on the timeframe on ph rise and I don't think mine is an anomaly. We have a dark quartz finish, new pool this spring. My ph can and has gone from 7.2 - 8.5 over night. I've had to add a quart and a half of acid every two to three days to keep it in check. Finally got the PB to add the intelliPH to help with the scaling and constant rise.

I will not argue with your pools acid demand except to say that new pools and fresh plaster do require more acid initially to keep the pH in a reasonable range. Low alkalinity caused by high acid demand and the constant use of water features (aeration from spa wet edge) is quite possibly the cause of your rapid pH swings.

In my own pool, I have a shear decent waterfall from the spa and a separate rock waterfall that causes a lot of aeration. That aeration plus my fresh plaster caused my pH to go from 7.2 to 7.8 in less than 4 days. I was initially adding a quart of acid every other day for a few months. Not quite as dramatic as your pH fluctuations but it is something that I could control by adjusting aeration and alkalinity. My pool water was started in Sept '13 so we only had about 1 1/2 months of swim weather before the water got too cold. So I was doing the bulk of my acid additions and plaster curing over the dormant winter months when only the spa was being regularly used. My plaster has since cured and my acid demand has slowed considerably.

Even so, you have an IntelliPH system that seems to be working well for you and frees you up from making daily acid addition. I'd love to do that myself and I will as soon as I save up the money for an IntelliPH myself (time-based dosing will be more than enough for me).


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[bigdav160]

Holding off for the first year is certainly acceptable. There is a learning curve with a new pool and many people tire of pool maintenance quickly, therefore, hire a service. Personally, I enjoy taking care of the pool.

As mention, the first year your pool is going to require a lot of acid. I installed an acid pump (intelliph) after 6 months. 4 months later the pump mechanism failed. Unable to determine the root cause of the roller breaking I decided to replace the pump and cut the concentration of acid 50-50 with water and increase the % when dispensing. It has been rock solid ever since. Highly recommended.

On a scale of 1-5, I give the intelliph a 2 for difficulty in DIY install. Actually it is very easy and also helps keep your SWG clean.