TFP Expert Discussion - pH and Alkalinity

[mknauss]

Just curious, does CH level have any effect on the speed of PH rise?

No.

Salt has no effect on your pH rise. Are you adding more fill water now? Houston has high TA fill water.

 

[nikolausp]

No.

Salt has no effect on your pH rise. Are you adding more fill water now? Houston has high TA fill water.

I added some fill water (about 1 inch) yesterday evening (Tuesday).

From reading TFP the last several months, I know Salt isn't supposed to effect the speed of pH rise, which is why it's been so confusing. I'm stumped.

The times I've checked my Fill Water, my TA is 80, CH is 50-60, and PH I can't measure, as it's super deep pink, so above 8.0 on the Taylor test kit.

 

[nikolausp]

If I go on a 2 week vacation, what do I do with pH? Would I just lower it to 7.0 and cross my fingers or something?

 

[mknauss]

If your TA is 70, pH cannot rise that much. It will top out at 8.2 or so. Other than scaling tendency, it is of little issue. Some people can feel it on their skin or eyes, others cannot.

 

[Newdude]

here me out……….

Little voodoo doll
Little voodoo pool
*voodoo doll adds pretend acid*.

You’ll be fine at 8.2 at the worst like Marty said. I often let mine stay there while home and nobody ever knew.

 

[nikolausp]

here me out……….

Little voodoo doll
Little voodoo pool
*voodoo doll adds pretend acid*.

You’ll be fine at 8.2 at the worst like Marty said. I often let mine stay there while home and nobody ever knew.

Interesting. How do you know you're leaving it at 8.2, if you can't measure above 8.0?

 

[Newdude]

Interesting. How do you know you're leaving it at 8.2, if you can't measure above 8.0

Mine (TF-100) has 8.2. Don’t worry, I just learned the other day, 1.7 bazillion posts read later, that the tests are different between the kits.

 

[nikolausp]

Mine (TF-100) has 8.2. Don’t worry, I just learned the other day, 1.7 bazillion posts read later, that the tests are different between the kits.

Ah, gotcha.

 

[nikolausp]

here me out……….

Little voodoo doll
Little voodoo pool
*voodoo doll adds pretend acid*.

You’ll be fine at 8.2 at the worst like Marty said. I often let mine stay there while home and nobody ever knew.

I'm definitely trying to keep my SWG from getting scale though, and my pool , in general needs to lose some of the scale that it has (thanks to the guy that did my startup after First Fill).

 

[Newdude]

Got anybody that can add acid 1 week into your trip ? It will probably last a week on its own and even if not it would minimize the high PH time.

The block (ph) test is about as easy as it gets to teach a friend / neighbors kid / etc.

 

[mknauss]

Unless your CYA is way too high, a couple trichlor tablets in a floater will keep pH lowered for a couple weeks. I do that if we leave in the summer for a couple weeks.

 

[nikolausp]

Got anybody that can add acid 1 week into your trip ? It will probably last a week on its own and even if not it would minimize the high PH time.

The block (ph) test is about as easy as it gets to teach a friend / neighbors kid / etc.

We'll see.... Brand new home / pool, in a brand new neighborhood without any neighbors yet.

I suppose if I befriend somebody I can trust (future neighbor), I could buy some Acid Magic ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KKQ8LA/ ) , and have them add some. I wouldn't want to ask a neighbor to handle regular nasty acid.

 

[nikolausp]

We'll see.... Brand new home / pool, in a brand new neighborhood without any neighbors yet.

I suppose if I befriend somebody I can trust (future neighbor), I could buy some Acid Magic ( Amazon.com: CERTOL INTERNATIONAL USA/128-1 Muriatic Replacement Acid, 1-Gallon: Home Improvement ) , and have them add some. I wouldn't want to ask a neighbor to handle regular nasty acid.

My main issue, is trying to figure out why my pH rises so fast all of a sudden the last 2 months (like I said, this started 24-48 hours AFTER I added all my salt for the SWG, before I even turned the SWG on). It's kind of strange. I've tracked pH meticulously, daily, since our pool was filled on New Years Eve (Dec 31, 2020), so I noticed the difference right away.

 

[nikolausp]

Unless your CYA is way too high, a couple trichlor tablets in a floater will keep pH lowered for a couple weeks. I do that if we leave in the summer for a couple weeks.

Ty for the info. I've never even handled a tablet before, so I don't know what Trichlor is. I'll look into a trichlor, when we take a vacation.

Still have no clue how my pH is surging

 

[Wirides]

I haven't had an hour to watch the video yet but it's relevant to my observations. In my pool the TA is 80 and has been stable. I have not, however, been able to keep ph above 7.2 regularly. I have added borax a few times but it settles right back at 7.2. It seems the ph will stay there with little to no intervention. Is keeping the cover on the majority of the time contributing to it lowering? Should I just accept 7.2 is where it will be or keep fighting it back to 7.6?

 

[mknauss]

Covering the pool restricts the ability of CO2 to out gas and that will inhibit pH rise.

There is nothing wrong with a pH of 7.2.

 

[nikolausp]

I decided to do the borates ( Duda boric acid granules) at 60ppm. Hopefully that helps with my crazy fast rising pH.

I dumped it in 2 nights ago

 

[TexEdmond]

do the borates

 

[pookiesunshine]

Finally got around to viewing this. Good stuff. Thanks.

 

[nikolausp]

pH & CSI question....

I was tinkering around with Pool Math in trying to look at CSI shifts with my pool test numbers. pH is about 7.9 right now, and for kicks in Pool Math (android phone app), I input 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2.

I observed that as pH rises up to 7.8, 7.9, and 8.0, the CSI gets slightly higher and higher, but then when I put in pH 8.1 the CSI went down a teeny bit, and then 8.2, CSI went down a teeny bit more.

Is this... correct?