Alkalinity high, normal PH, SWG system

[HoweHome]

I'm about 4 days into a new 3,600 ga vinyl above ground pool.
I am waiting on the Taylor water testing kit to come as I didn't find out about this forum until later. In the meantime I am using a few water testing kits I could get my hands on.. the HDX kit and one from HTH.
I also have strips from aquachek because I was curious just how wacky out they would be according to everyone's comments about them.

My CYA is at 60
My Alkalinity is at 250
My PH is 7.6
My Chlorine is at 5
The test strips have the PH higher than the test kits do. But they too say Alkalinity is high.
I have the Intex ECO20110-2 sand filter SWG system
I also have muriatic acid and a jet I can swivel up due to a modification of adding a hayward skimmer and return.
I believe that it's suggested that I add muriatic acid to lower Alkalinity then aerate to raise PH correct? Add then retest after 30 min to see if more is required?

 

[cowboycasey]

You are correct, use muriatic acid to lower PH and TA then wait for PH to raise back to 7.8 or 8 and lower again... You can make it faster by pointing the return and making waves... It will also lower TA the same exact way by doing nothing and add MA when the PH reaches 8 it will just take longer...

Unless there is a reason to lower TA faster just let it naturally raise PH and lower then..

Retest to see if you lowered to the PH you were aiming at PH 8 > 7.2 test 30 minutes later, is it at 7.2 This is a great way to figure out how much water you have, if it drops to PH 7 subtract 200 gallons in poolmath if it drops to 7.4 add 200 gallons.. do this until you get exactly 7.2

 

[mknauss]

If the TA you are testing is from the drop test kit, fine to move ahead on it. But if from the strip, do not take any action. Wait on your proper test kit.

There really is no need to focus on TA. Simply manage your pH. When it gets to 8, lower it to 7.4. The TA will come down over time.

 

[HoweHome]

If the TA you are testing is from the drop test kit, fine to move ahead on it. But if from the strip, do not take any action. Wait on your proper test kit.

There really is no need to focus on TA. Simply manage your pH. When it gets to 8, lower it to 7.4. The TA will come down over time.

My results were from a few test kits I could get here in town, not the strips.
On the article posted here about SWG system start up, it says it's important to get the alkalinity to 60-80. Others here, in answer to alkalinity questions, have stated that alkalinity isn't important unless you have a SWG, so that's why I was trying to fix my 250ppm alkalinity results.

 

[mknauss]

The TA discussion on the SWCG is to keep scale from forming in the SWCG. CH is very important factor to know for that. You need a proper test kit to manage your pool water chemistry.