Seems my PH level is always on the rise. I add the acid to lower it to about 7.6, but then in about a week's time, it creeps back up to above 8.0. This happens even if the TA is within the 60 - 100 range. Some suggestions have mentioned that once PH is lowered to about 7.0 or so, aerate the pool water, but I'm at complete loss as how that is done. Anyone have any suggestions? Many thanks.
How to Keep PH Level Stable
- Thread starter Henry M
- Start date
Henry,
Get some PVC and build this...
You take an eyeball out of one of your return lines and screw in an 1 1/2" threaded PCV adapter. I use a rubber plumbing coupler to connect it to what you see in the pic. Works great if you have no water features..
Thanks for posting,
Jim R.
Get some PVC and build this...
You take an eyeball out of one of your return lines and screw in an 1 1/2" threaded PCV adapter. I use a rubber plumbing coupler to connect it to what you see in the pic. Works great if you have no water features..
Thanks for posting,
Jim R.
Lower your TA to 50, that should help. And you can add 50 ppm of borates to help slow PH rise even further.
More here on borates, Borates - Why and How
More here on borates, Borates - Why and How
Article was very helpful; thank you. I'm assuming the process you describe precludes aeration, is that correct? Again, thanks for your help.
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Wow! That's remarkable! How long do you leave this in operation? When we had our pool resurfaced last summer, the workmen did not removed the flange in which the eyeball sits, so it is all be embedded in place. Don't want to try to chip away at the Diamond Brite.
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Wow! That's remarkable! How long do you leave this in operation? When we had our pool resurfaced last summer, the workmen did not removed the flange in which the eyeball sits, so it is all be embedded in place. Don't want to try to chip away at the Diamond Brite.
Henry,
If you have to chip anything away, something is wrong. The threads are inside the pipe.. I find it hard to believe that when they redid your pool that they did not remove the eyeballs...
I have to run the aerator for a couple of days normally. I test pH and TA every 3 or 4 hours and keep adding acid until I get my TA down to a little less than 60. Then I keep running the aerator until I get the pH back up to 7.6 or so..
Jim R.
If you have to chip anything away, something is wrong. The threads are inside the pipe.. I find it hard to believe that when they redid your pool that they did not remove the eyeballs...
I have to run the aerator for a couple of days normally. I test pH and TA every 3 or 4 hours and keep adding acid until I get my TA down to a little less than 60. Then I keep running the aerator until I get the pH back up to 7.6 or so..
Jim R.
In my experience, you're always going to have a rising pH because of the salt water chlorination. It's just a matter of the rate at which it rises.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,447
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
In a pool chlorinated by an SWG or manually with bleach additions, the pH rise is really a function of how much aeration your pool experiences and how much TA is in your fill water. Both of those chlorine sources are fairly neutral in terms of adding to the alkalinity of the pool water with an SWG being alkaline-neutral (the caustic created in the process of forming chlorine gas is offset by later acidic chlorine oxidation and sanitation reactions). Bleach is slightly more alkaline because the bleach carries some sodium hydroxide with it which adds, on net balance, to the TA of the pool. But in both of those scenarios, fill water TA and aeration are the dominant factors in pH rise.
Stabilized chlorine products (dichlor powder and trichlor pucks) are acidic in nature and they will lower both pH and TA. People that spend years using trichlor and dichlor are shocked (no pun intended) when they switch to bleach or an SWG and then are suddenly forced to add acid much more frequently than what they used to prior to switching.
Also, a big factor in your pool is the fact that is was replastered less than 12 months ago. New plaster surfaces often add to the alkalinity of the water over time and typically force the use of more acid to control pH during the first few years of the plasters life.
Stabilized chlorine products (dichlor powder and trichlor pucks) are acidic in nature and they will lower both pH and TA. People that spend years using trichlor and dichlor are shocked (no pun intended) when they switch to bleach or an SWG and then are suddenly forced to add acid much more frequently than what they used to prior to switching.
Also, a big factor in your pool is the fact that is was replastered less than 12 months ago. New plaster surfaces often add to the alkalinity of the water over time and typically force the use of more acid to control pH during the first few years of the plasters life.
i would not make any effort to lower TA
it will creep down on its own
(maybe i am getting lazy in my old age)
when it gets to around 60 you will find the PH rise suddenly decreases
my pool has hit TA 60, PH 7.8 and borates 50
and PH has not moved for two or three months now
it will creep down on its own
(maybe i am getting lazy in my old age)
when it gets to around 60 you will find the PH rise suddenly decreases
my pool has hit TA 60, PH 7.8 and borates 50
and PH has not moved for two or three months now
TA between 50 and 60 is good.I learned the best thing is to go hands off for a while and give the pool time to find its own 'natural' level of pH and TA. I had wasted a lot of time, chemicals and energy trying for perfect levels of both. When I left it alone, it settled down at 7.8 and 50, and I hardly ever have to touch it.
Obviously, if you are running past 8.0 or 7.4, it's time to correct, but do the minimum, don't try to push it to the far end of normal.
Thanks to all of you!! I added more acid just before I posted. Think I will let PH/TA thing ride as is for a while. Again, many thanks!