High pH help

[CoachTom]

I'm in the process of rebalancing my pool for the first time after realizing (with the help of this forum) that the pool stores have no idea what they are doing and were wasting my time and money. Anyway, first issue was my CYA was through the roof. I finally got around to emptying about 50% of the pool and refilling. CYA is now between 50-60 which I think is about right for now.

I want to perform a SLAM to start things right again but at the moment my pH is well above 8.2 still. I've added nearly 40oz of 31.45% muriatic acid in the past 2 days. pH is still above 8.2. I'm assuming I need to add more muriatic acid until I can get this down to 7.2 as recommended in SLAM protocol. Does this make sense?

If I estimate the pH at 9 and a target of 7.2, PoolMath is suggesting another 51oz of acid.

Here are the test results from this morning: CL=0, pH=>8.2, FC=0, CC=.5, TC=.5, CH=250, TA=90-100, CYA=50-60, CSI=1.21

Any thoughts or recommendations are greatly appreciated!

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP!

First, your pH is most likely not much above 8.2. The carbonate alkalinity buffer in the water is pretty solidly going to hold pH at or below 8.3, and in reality it seldom gets above 8.1 or 8.2

Your first priority is maintaining chlorine levels. Low chlorine can become an immediate problem. pH is a longer term issue.

Keep adding acid. Check pH an hour or so after acid additions. Your alkalinity buffer will do its best to keep the pH where it wants it.

 

[Bperry]

I'm in the process of rebalancing my pool for the first time after realizing (with the help of this forum) that the pool stores have no idea what they are doing and were wasting my time and money. Anyway, first issue was my CYA was through the roof. I finally got around to emptying about 50% of the pool and refilling. CYA is now between 50-60 which I think is about right for now.

I want to perform a SLAM to start things right again but at the moment my pH is well above 8.2 still. I've added nearly 40oz of 31.45% muriatic acid in the past 2 days. pH is still above 8.2. I'm assuming I need to add more muriatic acid until I can get this down to 7.2 as recommended in SLAM protocol. Does this make sense?

If I estimate the pH at 9 and a target of 7.2, PoolMath is suggesting another 51oz of acid.

Here are the test results from this morning: CL=0, pH=>8.2, FC=0, CC=.5, TC=.5, CH=250, TA=90-100, CYA=50-60, CSI=1.21

Any thoughts or recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Your chlorine level is way more critical than the pH right now. Get that up ASAP as it may help you avoid needing to SLAM. You don’t need to SLAM unless you are losing excess chlorine overnight or have visible water clarity issues (ie algae).

But after you get some chlorine in there, you can enter your current pH as 8.2 and your target as 7.2 and add the amount of acid suggested. Wait 30-60 minutes and do it again until your pH reading starts with a 7.

 

[CoachTom]

I added 50oz of acid and pH levels are now around 7.4 and TA is just at 90, maybe a little less.
I'm adding chlorine now, but not sure if I have the right stuff entered into the calculator. The chlorine I'm using is from Pinch A Penny and says it's 10.5% sodium hypochlorite. How do I add that into poolmath to get the right amount to add in? I'm sure I need at least one full jug (2.5 gallons) but want to make sure I'm accurate on my additions into the app. Thanks!

 

[proavia]

In PoolMath, use 10%
Enter your present FC and your target FC to get the amount to add.

 

[CoachTom]

Bleach?

 

[Mdragger88]

It’s listed as bleach in poolmath

 

[Mdragger88]

Bleach?

Yes - bleach & sodium hypochlorite are the same thing

 

[CoachTom]

ok thanks! according to the FC/CYA chart I need to target an FC of 7 (6-8 range). And therefore need only 121oz of 10.5% chlorine.
I would've expected a lot more. Does this sound about right? I'm putting in the 121oz now so I can check later on the levels.

 

[Mdragger88]

ok thanks! according to the FC/CYA chart I need to target an FC of 7 (6-8 range). And therefore need only 121oz of 10.5% chlorine.
I would've expected a lot more. Does this sound about right? I'm putting in the 121oz now so I can check later on the levels.

Close enough- the whole gallon (7 more ounces) would be fine too.

 

[Mdragger88]

Do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

 

[duraleigh]

That is not enough FC to begin the SLAM. Is that what you still want to do"

 

[CoachTom]

Might change my mind about the SLAM. Waiting until tomorrow or the next day to see how the added chlorine does. I added the recommended 21oz this afternoon. Numbers are obviously high at the moment. How long does it normally take before the CL reading would be relatively accurate after adding chlorine to the pool?

 

[Bperry]

Might change my mind about the SLAM. Waiting until tomorrow or the next day to see how the added chlorine does. I added the recommended 21oz this afternoon. Numbers are obviously high at the moment. How long does it normally take before the CL reading would be relatively accurate after adding chlorine to the pool?

15 or 20 minutes with the pump running. Measure it now.

 

[CoachTom]

I retested at 8pm at the CL levels are high as in above 5. Test water is quite a bright yellow. FC is now at 10 so it's a bit high too. Does this mean I put in too much chlorine? It was based on the PoolMath recommendations but I'm guessing something about my pool is impacting this. Is there something I should do differently? Right now, I'm guessing that the FC will come down naturally over time. CSI is now at -0.43.
I really appreciate everyone's help and input!

 

[Bperry]

I retested at 8pm at the CL levels are high as in above 5. Test water is quite a bright yellow. FC is now at 10 so it's a bit high too. Does this mean I put in too much chlorine? It was based on the PoolMath recommendations but I'm guessing something about my pool is impacting this. Is there something I should do differently? Right now, I'm guessing that the FC will come down naturally over time. CSI is now at -0.43.
I really appreciate everyone's help and input!

A helpful tip is that the yellow color chlorine test is basically the same thing as the FC test except the yellow test is not all that accurate. It’s a “do I have chlorine or not type of test”. So ignore the yellow test and focus on the powder based FAS-DPD test for chlorine.

If your CYA is 60 then the FC is ok all the way up to 24ppm so your chlorine level isn’t too high. Just wait until FC gets down below 7 and then bring it back up to 7ppm.

 

[Mdragger88]

Please read the instructions for the
Overnight Chlorine Loss Test and follow them to determine if you need to do the
SLAM Process unless of course you have visible algae/cloudy water.
If you fail oclt or have algae/cloudy water it’s slam time,
if you pass oclt you will just keep maintaining fc in target range (replenishing before broaching minimum)

It is possible that your pool volume is actually dab lower than you have listed in poolmath thus the dose resulted in a higher fc level. No worries- a little higher than target is A ok you can tweak the volume if this becomes obvious as you continue to add chems & test the results.
as mentioned above it is safe for swimmers, surfaces, & equipment for fc to be anywhere between minimum & slam level for your cya.

 

[CoachTom]

If anything, I might be a little low on volume. But I do need to get the tape measure and test actual water levels at all ends and remeasure the width more accurately. All said though, I think I'm ok on the CYA and chlorine for now. Tomorrow will tell me if the SLAM is necessary or not. I'm guessing I'm probably going to be ok, but the test will say for sure.

My next concern (correct me if I'm wrong) is the CH levels. I'm at 250 which is at the very bottom of the acceptable range. Pulling it up to the ideal range of 450 requires about 26lbs of calcium chloride. My CSI is negative so it looks like this would also pull that closer to zero. Is this on the right track? Or would be working on pH and TA make more sense? For that, I'd be looking at lowering pH to 7.0-7.2 to get TA in the range and then bringing pH back up to 7.6 (apparently through aeration, but not sure exactly how to best do that on my end or if that's necessary).

On another note, I'm going to turn the heater on tomorrow as well so the water temp gets up to around 88F. I will lose some water through the process so I'll be adding in a few inches over the next week or so. This will change levels as well and might impact thoughts on what to do next.

Thanks again! I can't repeat often enough how much help this is!

 

[Bperry]

If anything, I might be a little low on volume. But I do need to get the tape measure and test actual water levels at all ends and remeasure the width more accurately. All said though, I think I'm ok on the CYA and chlorine for now. Tomorrow will tell me if the SLAM is necessary or not. I'm guessing I'm probably going to be ok, but the test will say for sure.

My next concern (correct me if I'm wrong) is the CH levels. I'm at 250 which is at the very bottom of the acceptable range. Pulling it up to the ideal range of 450 requires about 26lbs of calcium chloride. My CSI is negative so it looks like this would also pull that closer to zero. Is this on the right track? Or would be working on pH and TA make more sense? For that, I'd be looking at lowering pH to 7.0-7.2 to get TA in the range and then bringing pH back up to 7.6 (apparently through aeration, but not sure exactly how to best do that on my end or if that's necessary).

On another note, I'm going to turn the heater on tomorrow as well so the water temp gets up to around 88F. I will lose some water through the process so I'll be adding in a few inches over the next week or so. This will change levels as well and might impact thoughts on what to do next.

Thanks again! I can't repeat often enough how much help this is!

TA adjustment is not necessary unless it’s lower than 50ppm. It will come down on its own as you manage to keep the pH in the 7’s.

 

[Mdragger88]

What is the ch of your fill water?