I'm a manual doser of LC, aka bleach, but I'm interested in how the experts recommend helping SWG operators keep pH as steady as possible, because I keep reading in the forums about a pH drift problem for those who use SWGs; and how, at least the sense I'm getting, this is something they have to deal with as part of pool water management with a saltwater pool. I've already read the following link:
www.troublefreepool.com
I know that for me, manually adding bleach daily, I have zero pH drift issues, but there was an adjustment that I had to make going from the traditional method that prescribes trichlor as the daily chlorine form to sodium hypochlorite, since my pool was no longer being continually dosed with acid. Once I made that adjustment, however, I now average only one pH adjustment per year, which is one of the reasons I plan on staying with the manual chlorine dosing system of pool care. The adjustment I made back then when I first started dosing with bleach was to use the required, continual MA dosing that was needed to keep pH in range. After a few weeks of this dosing, this process lowered TA over time. The drift then stopped. Back then I came on the forum and asked if there was anything I could do, because I was in an endless cycle of pH adjustments, followed by resetting the TA back in range. I had been raising TA back up to mid range about once every two-to-three weeks, because, back then, it wasn't a regular prescription to lower TA and there were no articles about using TA to help with pH drift, and the recommended TA level back then was more like 70-100; instead of the current "50-90 sometimes higher recommendation". The average pool owner who is not chemistry minded would have not known it was allowed back then to lower TA below the recommended 70 and didn't understand the relationship between the two levels. Chem Geek came on my post inquiry and asked me for some numbers. He calculated my CSI and then came back again and gave me a minimum TA level for my pool to avoid a pH crash that would risk equipment damage. He also told me to avoid acidic products in my pool except for stabilizer. So back then I just kept dosing with MA to stay in pH range, and when the pH quit drifting, my TA ended up being 60, which was far above that lowest limit that Chem Geek had given me. Seems like this took just two or three weeks. Seems like my low limit was in the thirties. Everything has been trouble free ever since. I mostly just add stabilizer about twice per year and bleach every day. Bleach costs me $2.99 for a full gallon at 10% strength, so I'm spending under $100 per year on sanitizer plus about 3 lbs of stabilzier per year, reagents, and replacing worn out equipment like covers and brushes, and that's it.
So I guess part of what I want to understand is just "how low" can SWG operators go to manipulate the TA level to help with pH drift for each pool surface type? Do they have to stay 50 or above for every pool surface, or is there a lower TA level they can go to if necessary, and if they are able to go to a lower number, what is that number and what are the concerns of a TA level that is deemed too low for surfaces where we are not concerned so much about the saturation index? And also, related to this question, it would seem to me that if that most SWG operators continually add MA to keep pH in range, then they'd also deal with continual BS dosing to keep TA up to whatever that minimum level might be. The two other things I know of to help steady pH in a drift situation is to minimize aeration and to add borates. Please experts please expound on any of this and make any corrections to incorrect assumptions that I may have made. I'm here to learn. This site is becoming more and more SWG dominated, and I want to understand the chemistry and management recommendations better.
Lower Total Alkalinity
A lower Total Alkalinity level can help a pool owner stabalize their pH increase. We'll explain how to lower TA with a little help from muriatic acid.
www.troublefreepool.com
I know that for me, manually adding bleach daily, I have zero pH drift issues, but there was an adjustment that I had to make going from the traditional method that prescribes trichlor as the daily chlorine form to sodium hypochlorite, since my pool was no longer being continually dosed with acid. Once I made that adjustment, however, I now average only one pH adjustment per year, which is one of the reasons I plan on staying with the manual chlorine dosing system of pool care. The adjustment I made back then when I first started dosing with bleach was to use the required, continual MA dosing that was needed to keep pH in range. After a few weeks of this dosing, this process lowered TA over time. The drift then stopped. Back then I came on the forum and asked if there was anything I could do, because I was in an endless cycle of pH adjustments, followed by resetting the TA back in range. I had been raising TA back up to mid range about once every two-to-three weeks, because, back then, it wasn't a regular prescription to lower TA and there were no articles about using TA to help with pH drift, and the recommended TA level back then was more like 70-100; instead of the current "50-90 sometimes higher recommendation". The average pool owner who is not chemistry minded would have not known it was allowed back then to lower TA below the recommended 70 and didn't understand the relationship between the two levels. Chem Geek came on my post inquiry and asked me for some numbers. He calculated my CSI and then came back again and gave me a minimum TA level for my pool to avoid a pH crash that would risk equipment damage. He also told me to avoid acidic products in my pool except for stabilizer. So back then I just kept dosing with MA to stay in pH range, and when the pH quit drifting, my TA ended up being 60, which was far above that lowest limit that Chem Geek had given me. Seems like this took just two or three weeks. Seems like my low limit was in the thirties. Everything has been trouble free ever since. I mostly just add stabilizer about twice per year and bleach every day. Bleach costs me $2.99 for a full gallon at 10% strength, so I'm spending under $100 per year on sanitizer plus about 3 lbs of stabilzier per year, reagents, and replacing worn out equipment like covers and brushes, and that's it.
So I guess part of what I want to understand is just "how low" can SWG operators go to manipulate the TA level to help with pH drift for each pool surface type? Do they have to stay 50 or above for every pool surface, or is there a lower TA level they can go to if necessary, and if they are able to go to a lower number, what is that number and what are the concerns of a TA level that is deemed too low for surfaces where we are not concerned so much about the saturation index? And also, related to this question, it would seem to me that if that most SWG operators continually add MA to keep pH in range, then they'd also deal with continual BS dosing to keep TA up to whatever that minimum level might be. The two other things I know of to help steady pH in a drift situation is to minimize aeration and to add borates. Please experts please expound on any of this and make any corrections to incorrect assumptions that I may have made. I'm here to learn. This site is becoming more and more SWG dominated, and I want to understand the chemistry and management recommendations better.
