normal pH level due to region/climate

[UaVaj]

14 y/o ~30k gal 20x40 outdoor in ground concrete pool.

FC = 5
CYA = 20
TA = 100
CH = 250
B = 0


pH is constantly creeping upward - even when there is zero pool activities. thinking this has to do with the climate in southeast florida here causing pH to naturally rise. what gives?

reasoning. given the air/climate in this region. average pH of saltwater is 8.1. would only make sense that all water around here want to equalize to 8.1.

 

[duraleigh]

Re: normal pH due to region/climate

1. It is hard to read your thread. There is no reported pH, is that correct?

2. Generally, all pools will tend to rise slowly due to outgassing......nothing whatsoever to do with pH of saltwater.

What is "B = 0"

I know you didn't ask but your CYA is too low for an outdoor pool.

 

[UaVaj]

Re: normal pH due to region/climate

did not post up current pH value cause it is irrelevant to the question. however pH value is well kept between the accepted value.

as for the "B" - it is for borate level.

as for the CYA level. like to keep HOCI in the blue.



back to pH. like all things. it will eventually reach an equilibrium with its surroundings. the reference to salt water is that salt water has reached that equilibrium.

what would happen if pH maintenance ceased? would pH eventually equalize at 8.1?

 

[JasonLion]

If you lower TA the PH will go up more slowly, or stop going up completely.

There is no such thing as a natural PH that all water drifts towards. The PH will often drift, but almost always because of chemicals you are adding, and that might be up or down, typically the same for any given pool, but different pools behave differently, again mostly because of what chemicals you are adding.

 

[UaVaj]

beside muriatic acid which is used to drop the pH.

only thing that gets added is 10.5% liquid chlorine from the pool store.

 

[gwegan]

Rain is added and its ph may be more or less than the existing water's ph. Outgasing of the muratic acid may contribute to ph rise. Things as simple as rain or other disturbances of the water -- kids splashing or a water feature may contribute to ph rise. CYA acid (yes its an acid) and chlorine tabs are common sources of lower ph.

Every pool is different. Plaster pools tend to have a rise in ph. But that is a very very general statement. In theory with enough analysis you could determine what is causing the ph rise in every pool.

However, most of us are slogs (me included) - we don't give much of a hoot why the ph is rising -- we just add a little MA every few days to keep our pool in range -- somewhere between 7.2 and 7.5 for me.

Once in a while when I run my water feature for a long time I add MA proactively.