Questions for some of you pool chemistry gurus:
I have always had to add lots of acid to keep my pH down to 7.6 - 7.8, so I thought I would try adding borates. I lowered the pH to 7.6, added about 33 lbs of boric acid a couple of weeks ago, so I should be around 50ppm borates now. My chemistry is as follows:
TA: 80
pH: 8.4
CYA: 70
CH: 550? (I think my chemistry for this is too old, need to re-supply)
Salt: 3500
FC: 5
However, I have still had to keep adding acid to get the pH down to around 7.8. So, I thought I would just let the ph drift up to see if it would stabilize somewhere, and it seems to slow its rise around 8.4, which seems too high. However, the TFP poolcalc indicates a Calcium Saturation Index of 0.27, and says the pool is balanced. My water is clear, and if it is "balanced", do I really need to keep adding acid to get my pH down to below 8? I have read here that I could lower my TA by aeration, which might help the pH stabilize at a lower number, but is that really necessary since the TA does not seem to be excessively high? Makeup water comes from a municipal supply, which is sourced from the Trinity aquifer in Central Texas and has a hardness of around 25 grains per gallon (about 420 ppm) and pH around 8.2.
I have always had to add lots of acid to keep my pH down to 7.6 - 7.8, so I thought I would try adding borates. I lowered the pH to 7.6, added about 33 lbs of boric acid a couple of weeks ago, so I should be around 50ppm borates now. My chemistry is as follows:
TA: 80
pH: 8.4
CYA: 70
CH: 550? (I think my chemistry for this is too old, need to re-supply)
Salt: 3500
FC: 5
However, I have still had to keep adding acid to get the pH down to around 7.8. So, I thought I would just let the ph drift up to see if it would stabilize somewhere, and it seems to slow its rise around 8.4, which seems too high. However, the TFP poolcalc indicates a Calcium Saturation Index of 0.27, and says the pool is balanced. My water is clear, and if it is "balanced", do I really need to keep adding acid to get my pH down to below 8? I have read here that I could lower my TA by aeration, which might help the pH stabilize at a lower number, but is that really necessary since the TA does not seem to be excessively high? Makeup water comes from a municipal supply, which is sourced from the Trinity aquifer in Central Texas and has a hardness of around 25 grains per gallon (about 420 ppm) and pH around 8.2.
