Pool super acidic, low chlorine, what can I do?

[NtxMelanie]

So they came and worked on our waterfalls because they were broken when they were installed and they got them working which is awesome. Unfortunately they turned off the chlorine feeder and poured a bunch of muriatic acid in the pipes to get a clog out, so now my pool has no chlorine and is super acidic (I’m hurting over it because it was near perfect this AM)

Thoughts on what to do first? I turned up the chlorine feeder on high already.

Numbers on pool math app:

 

[mknauss]

What is your pH? If you have 60 TA, the pool is not all that acidic.

The chlorine feeder you are using adds trichlor, which is very acidic.

 

[NtxMelanie]

What is your pH? If you have 60 TA, the pool is not all that acidic.

The chlorine feeder you are using adds trichlor, which is very acidic.

My ph is around 6.4

 

[mknauss]

If you plan to use tablets, you need to maintain a higher TA. Add 30 ppm TA worth of baking soda.

 

[Orion7319]

Buy some liquid chlorine and use borax or soda ash to raise the PH quickly. Borax won’t affect TA that much so it’s recommended, however I don’t use that in my pool as I have heard that it’s toxic for dogs(?) Soda ash will raise PH and will raise TA significantly. Aeration is the recommend way most of the time, but if they dumped a ton of acid in then it could be very acidic and will damage things like pool heaters if you have one. If you have a pool heater with a bypass valve you should bypass it now.

Recommended Pool Chemicals

Which should I buy? TFP's recommended pool chemicals are cheap, easy, and won't unbalance your pool water.

www.troublefreepool.com

PH - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[NtxMelanie]

If you plan to use tablets, you need to maintain a higher TA. Add 30 ppm TA worth of baking soda.

I added baking soda just now, but didn’t have enough for 30ppm :/ my TA was higher this AM, so hoping it will return back to normal and it will be OK to use the tablets. This was from this AM before they worked all day on it:

 

[mknauss]

If using tablets you must add baking soda on a regular basis to keep your pH from crashing. You will find it unsustainable to use tablets on a continuous basis.

 

[NtxMelanie]

If using tablets you must add baking soda on a regular basis to keep your pH from crashing. You will find it unsustainable to use tablets on a continuous basis.

I’ll pick up some liquid chlorine and soda ash and baking soda later today… lots of missteps but learning a lot!

 

[mknauss]

Soda ash is a big stick. Be careful.

 

[Mdragger88]

Be sure to use PoolMath Effects of Adding BEFORE dosing so you know the effect of whichever chem u choose on ph & ta.

 

[NtxMelanie]

Soda ash is a big stick. Be careful.

I don’t think I need to pick it up today, I haven’t updated the numbers in my Pool Math app because I need to retest everything later as chlorine is still very high but my pH is back to being good (7.2) after adding the baking soda. I’ll test TA later today with everything else. Thank you so much for your help!

 

[NtxMelanie]

View attachment 408939
Be sure to use PoolMath Effects of Adding BEFORE dosing so you know the effect of whichever chem u choose on ph & ta.

Saved this for future reference!