Aerate means adding air to the water; this is explained a bit more here: pool-school/lowering%20total%20alkalinitylaurandavid09 said:
Just getting started and need help.
- Thread starter laurandavid09
- Start date
polyvue said:
I think I am doing that, by pointing my return jets up towards the surface. It seems to be making bubbles on the surface.
Yes, you can also run any water features you have in the pool (fountains, deck jets, spa jets etc) to help but it does take a while to raise pH. Just make sure you're doing this in conjunction with a specific goal. If your goal is to reduce TA, then you'll want to be adding Muriatic Acid to lower both TA and pH (still at 8.2, right?) and then rely upon aeration to raise the pH back to a normal range.laurandavid09 said:
While I suggested one approach to solving your water issues... FPM has suggested another. You'll have to decide which you think will work best for you, but whichever it is, please focus on just that... one thing at a time. You'll have a better outcome.frustratedpoolmom said:
[quote="polyvue]While I suggested one approach to solving your water issues... FPM has suggested another. You'll have to decide which you think will work best for you, but whichever it is, please focus on just that... one thing at a time. You'll have a better outcome.[/quote]
I think we are suggesting the same thing - slow down and tackle one issue at a time.
I don't want you, the OP, to become confused by too much information all at once - yes, your TA is high but it isn't your priority.
Bringing your PH into range is your first step. Aerating now isn't important because you have already raised the PH too high with Borax. By adding acid to bring the PH back down to 7.4 you should by ok, and then the TA isse can wait.
Poly suggested that a partial drain/refill might be easier, and it might be, but I'm not convinced there is anything going on that really requires it. Yes, the copper is a bit high, if that result is correct, and yes the CYA is questionable - not sure if testing error is involved but I wouldn't rely on one test result from a pool store before deciding to drain/refill. Copper at 1ppm is concerning but I'm not sure it warrants draining.
I guess my main concern is that the OP absorb the information given thus far, understand the testing techniques involved and gain confidence in their own testing and using the Pool Calculator, so they don't have to rely on the pool store where they might get conflicting advice which will only confuse them further.
I think we are suggesting the same thing - slow down and tackle one issue at a time.
I don't want you, the OP, to become confused by too much information all at once - yes, your TA is high but it isn't your priority.
Bringing your PH into range is your first step. Aerating now isn't important because you have already raised the PH too high with Borax. By adding acid to bring the PH back down to 7.4 you should by ok, and then the TA isse can wait.
Poly suggested that a partial drain/refill might be easier, and it might be, but I'm not convinced there is anything going on that really requires it. Yes, the copper is a bit high, if that result is correct, and yes the CYA is questionable - not sure if testing error is involved but I wouldn't rely on one test result from a pool store before deciding to drain/refill. Copper at 1ppm is concerning but I'm not sure it warrants draining.
I guess my main concern is that the OP absorb the information given thus far, understand the testing techniques involved and gain confidence in their own testing and using the Pool Calculator, so they don't have to rely on the pool store where they might get conflicting advice which will only confuse them further.
polyvue said:
I will check the pH when I get home tonight. I added some muriatic acid yesterday in hopes of bringing down the pH level to a reasonable level. Why does adding air to the water affect certain things? The CYA test is the one where you use the tube with the black dot and use he correct solution to fill it up until you can not see the black dot at the bottom correct? If so I feel as if I did this one correct. I will not be able to check my pH level until I get home tonight around 9 pm. If the pH has not come down any, what should I do?
Also does water temperature have any affect on test results?
Hopefully you used the Pool Calculator to figure out how much, and added just that much, in the hope of getting a predictable result.laurandavid09 said:
That's a hefty topic and let's leave that aside for another time. But, pH is the only thing affected by aeration; pH will go up.laurandavid09 said:
That's the CYA test, yes.laurandavid09 said:
Use the Pool Calculator to figure out how much acid to add, and pour that much slowly in front of a return with the pump on. Wait 30-60 minutes, retest pH, repeat as needed.laurandavid09 said:
In fact the pH will vary a bit depending on temperature, over the range of temps you find in a typical pool. Enough that you want to test pH on a water sample that hasn't had much chance to warm up or cool off, but not so much that it's a big deal.laurandavid09 said:
Cold water slows down pretty much all reactions, including your chem tests. I think the CH test gets kind of sluggish with the temps much under 60F (personal opinion, not scientific at all), and it affects the CYA test enough that you should let it warm up to room temp first. The others are fine at any temp you're likely to try.
Hope this helped...
--paulr
Ok did some more testing and here are my results
FC-.5
CC-0
TC-.5
CH-230
TA-160
CYA-40-60(hard to tell exactl when I did not see it anymore. Used two different tubes. The smaller tube gave me around 50-60, the bigger tube was 30-40)
pH-8.2 (Did not seem to drop any)
I put the chlorine tablets back into the floater because they are supposed to decrease pH, but seemed to do nothing.
So what are the next steps I should take?
Thanks.
FC-.5
CC-0
TC-.5
CH-230
TA-160
CYA-40-60(hard to tell exactl when I did not see it anymore. Used two different tubes. The smaller tube gave me around 50-60, the bigger tube was 30-40)
pH-8.2 (Did not seem to drop any)
I put the chlorine tablets back into the floater because they are supposed to decrease pH, but seemed to do nothing.
So what are the next steps I should take?
Thanks.
Tabs are acidic but slow-acting. Back when I was a tab user, my experience was a rock-steady pH (the action of the tabs counteracting the natural pH rise of the pool). With your TA, I wouldn't expect the tabs to do much, pH-wise. If you want to lower pH, you should use real acid.laurandavid09 said:
--paulr
PaulR said:
When I do add the acid how soon after should I do a test? I have read from 30-60 minutes at least. If I wait longer than that, will that affect anything?
Thanks.
No, it won't affect anything necessarily - just keep in mind you don't want PH out of range for very long.
I will test pH again when I get home. Should I do any other test again, or just the pH. I added acid again last night.
Could there be a reason why the acid I added did not drop the pH any at all? The only thing I would like, is if the colors varied in shade more.
Could there be a reason why the acid I added did not drop the pH any at all? The only thing I would like, is if the colors varied in shade more.
At this point, we are focusing on just pH. After you get pH under control, we can think about the other stuff. (Although it would not be harmful to put in a small jug of Clorox each evening, as your FC has bottomed out.)laurandavid09 said:
Most pool pH testers max out at 8.2; if it's really higher than that, the test can't tell you. It might take a few rounds to get the pH into range, because you can't assume it's too high; each time you test it at 8.2, you need to act as if it really is 8.2 and not some higher number.laurandavid09 said:
How much acid did you add? How did you decide how much acid to add? I think it would be good to report how much of what you put in, each time, it will help sort out what's going on.
--paulr
PaulR said:
So from what you are saying the pH could actually have been higher than 8.2, and is dropping and just not actually below 8.2 yet. I have a feeling due to all the borax I added that it really brought up the pH level.
On Sunday I added a gallon of Acid. Retested yesterday and no drop. I have the tabs in there of hoping they will help some. I added another gallon last night, but it may be old acid. I will test tonight to see if that helps any. To find out how much acid I need, I should put in all my results, are just the pH results? Also should I take out the tabs when I am doing this or leaving them in in hopes of helping bring down pH?
ON the bleach, are you talking about the 96 oz jug when you say small?
Sorry for all the questions, but I think I am getting close to getting my pool balanced.
Also is there any specific pH level I should try to get to?
Also a related questions, but not to pool chemicals. I have a polaris pressure cleaner. It has a bag on top and seems to fill with water like it should. How do you get the cleaner out of the water without letting everything that has been caught in the bag not to get back in the pool.
I hope that makes sense.
Also a related questions, but not to pool chemicals. I have a polaris pressure cleaner. It has a bag on top and seems to fill with water like it should. How do you get the cleaner out of the water without letting everything that has been caught in the bag not to get back in the pool.
I hope that makes sense.
laurandavid09 said:
Target 7.4 on the PH. I don't know anything about the Polaris, so hopefully someone else will answer that.
frustratedpoolmom said:
What TA Level should be my goal so that I can put it in.
Thanks.
Yeah, it's tricky. You want to grab the cleaner with two hands by the central stem just under the rear float... and lift it out. If you pull on any other part it will likely come off. (Not a big deal but certainly an annoyance since you will have to reassemble!)
laurandavid09 said:
The goal TA isn't as important in the calculation as the current test result is. Go ahead and put 120 or 160 for the goal. Just make sure you put in the current TA results in the "now" column - that is the number that is being factored into the calculation for acid.
I am going to be adding bleach to bring up FC and also acid to drop pH. Is there any specific order I should do these in or can I do them right after each other?
Thanks.
Thanks.