Guys, I'm losing my mind with this pool. I've scoured all the threads on this topic here and in other forums. I've tried every "remedy" I could find, and yet, here I am, dumping gallons of acid in at a time only to come back a few days later to pH > 8.0. I've always felt I was very diligent with my pool, chems, testing, and cleaning. But I'm seriously contemplating filling this sucker in.
OK. So this spring I converted to SWCG from trichlor tabs. I know SWCG create pH rise, but this is ridiculous. I already suffer with respiratory issues and handling Muriatic Acid in such volumes so often is actually not good for me. I ask that any of you take a look at my PoolMath Logs (PoolMath Logs). Last year, before SWCG, I was able to maintain pH incredibly, only occasionally adding chems to raise/lower to my desired pH (which was 7.6). However, you can see this year it's been an incredible struggle that I cannot seem to win. So far this season I've added almost 1,200 oz of MAcid, not including the 404 oz added as part of my borate attempt (below). Pool store loves me!
If you look at the logs starting 9/6 - You see I had pH of 8.4, added 1 gal of MA to bring down to pH of 7.5. 24 hours later I'm up to 7.8, and 24 hours after that 8.3.
What I've tried:
Thank you in advance for any and all comments, questions, and support.
Pool details
OK. So this spring I converted to SWCG from trichlor tabs. I know SWCG create pH rise, but this is ridiculous. I already suffer with respiratory issues and handling Muriatic Acid in such volumes so often is actually not good for me. I ask that any of you take a look at my PoolMath Logs (PoolMath Logs). Last year, before SWCG, I was able to maintain pH incredibly, only occasionally adding chems to raise/lower to my desired pH (which was 7.6). However, you can see this year it's been an incredible struggle that I cannot seem to win. So far this season I've added almost 1,200 oz of MAcid, not including the 404 oz added as part of my borate attempt (below). Pool store loves me!
If you look at the logs starting 9/6 - You see I had pH of 8.4, added 1 gal of MA to bring down to pH of 7.5. 24 hours later I'm up to 7.8, and 24 hours after that 8.3.
What I've tried:
- Reduced SWCG/pump run time - I used to run my intelliflo pump 24/7. I quickly realized this was too much chlorine generation. I now only run 12 hours a day with my IC40 at the 4% output. My chlorine seems to be stable with that setting. Any less and I can't maintain a target of 4-6 FC.
- Lower TA to 60 - Per numerous suggestions to lower TA to 60 I performed a series of acid additions and aeration to bring the TA to 60. However, it would never hold. And the pH was no more stable after the TA drop, then before. As you can see, my pool seems to want to be at 70 TA. Except for this past week I was away on vacation and the TA pushed up to 120. I just added dose 1 of MA to bring my pH down to 7-7.2 so I can aerate.
- Result - pH rises rapidly despite the lower TA.
- Borates - Lastly, I tried boric acid. I'm now sitting at borates of 38ppm, but nothing has changed with the pH. It rises just as fast now as before. Only now I have to add so much more MAcid to lower the pH. Costing me more in chemicals now than before.
Thank you in advance for any and all comments, questions, and support.
Pool details
- 20,000 plaster roman style
- Intelliflo (running 2000rpm 12 hours a day 8A-8P)
- IC40 SWCG (running at 4%)
- QuadDE filter (100sqft)