Just did a refill, balance is way off. Need help!

[Antneye]

Need a bit of help here. Had the pool drained for an acid wash and refilled it but balance is now way off. A number of issues:

PH is extremely low to the point that my test kit said I needed 13 drops to get to my target.

FC is basically 0

TA does not even get to the point where the water turns green so I’m assuming that means my TA is 0?

CYA never blocks out the black dot so I’m not sure what number to record. The scale goes to 30.

Calcium Hardness is 40.

With so much to tackle what would be the recommended order to start addressing this? It has been 1 day since the refill. Pool company added liquid chlorine and muriatic acid on startup. I have no idea why they added acid after an acid wash, but we are where we are.

TIA!

 

[ajw22]

I assume your pump has been running the entire time since the pool was filled.

Do you have a heater? What model?

What test kit do you have?

How many gallons in your pool?

Assuming the tests came from your own test kit and are accurate you need to raise your TA to 60 in small steps, which will raise your pH.

Answer the questions above and let's get @mknauss involved.

 

[Antneye]

I assume your pump has been running the entire time since the pool was filled.

Do you have a heater? What model?

What test kit do you have?

How many gallons in your pool?

Assuming the tests came from your own test kit and are accurate you need to raise your TA to 60 in small steps, which will raise your pH.

Answer the questions above and let's get @mknauss involved.

Thanks. Yes, I have a heater but it is cut off from the flow for now during this process. It is approximately 15000 gallons and I use the standard Taylor test kit

 

[ajw22]

I use the standard Taylor test kit

Confirm that is the K-2006C? There are many Taylor test kits in the wild.

 

[mknauss]

Thanks. Yes, I have a heater but it is cut off from the flow for now during this process. It is approximately 15000 gallons and I use the standard Taylor test kit

Great.
Add 3 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine. Start dissolving 30 ppm worth of CYA using the sock method.
As Allen mentioned, start adding baking soda to the pool in 30 ppm TA worth increments. Let the pump running for an hour and brush the pool. Test TA. Once you get a reading, test pH. Raise TA to 60 ppm and then see what the pH settles at.

Find some calcium chloride. You will need to add enough to get to 300 ppm.

Why did you have to do an acid wash?

 

[Antneye]

Yes. The 2006C

Thanks @mknauss !

I had it done under warranty for a streaky finish on my pebble tec.

 

[mknauss]

OK -- hope it worked.

 

[Antneye]

OK -- hope it worked.

It definitely helped. They did a horrible job the first time.

 

[Antneye]

I’m getting there slowly. Finished adding CYA today around noon and I’ll have a test tomorrow to see where I stand. My PH is at 7.2. Last check of TA was at 70. I needed to add some Soda Ash to raise my PH so I’m not sure if that will effect my TA so I’m going to do a full test of all numbers tomorrow. FC is only at 1, but I’m going to hold off until I get my CYA # to better calculate how much bleach I need. Unfortunately my pool company is waiting on a salt delivery so I can’t get my SWG going for about a week or so.

I do have one question. I’ve had my pump running since yesterday morning at 7am. Ran out of CYA so I couldn’t finish yesterday. The last of it dissolved around noon and I’m worried about leaving filter running overnight again. Can I give it a rest tonight or do I need to keep it running?

Thanks for the help.

 

[mknauss]

I needed to add some Soda Ash to raise my PH

No need. Your pH and TA are fine.
Remember
Baking Soda = big TA change, small pH change
Borax = Big pH change, small TA change
Washing Soda/ Soda Ash = big pH change, big TA change. Probably more TA change than you want.

Add chlorine. No need to wait.
You can turn the pump off if you like.

 

[Antneye]

Thanks. If my TA is too high what should I do to reduce it? I know acid would help but that wouldn’t work for my PH.

 

[mknauss]

Your TA is not high. It is fine. But if you add soda ash, it will go much higher. So do not add any soda ash.

 

[Antneye]

Your TA is not high. It is fine. But if you add soda ash, it will go much higher. So do not add any soda ash.

That’s that I meant. I had already added the soda ash to get my PH to 7.2. I was highly acidic even after raising my TA. I am going to test it again to see what I’m at.

 

[Antneye]

I’m between 80 and 90 so I’m on the high side of range according to Pool Math app. I guess I will just have to keep an eye on my PH rise and go from there.

 

[ajw22]

I’m between 80 and 90 so I’m on the high side of range according to Pool Math app. I guess I will just have to keep an eye on my PH rise and go from there.

Just manage your pH and your TA will drop over time.

TA of 80-90 is perfectly fine. Don't chase after a specific TA number. You will just yo-yo back and forth.