Why is it so darn hard to get an accurate pH reading?

[santacruzpool]

Glad you are tracking it down, it certainly sounds like switched SWG's may be your solution.

One of the byproducts of the SWG chlorine generation is hydrogen gas bubbles which creates small bubbles that you may be able to see coming out of your returns when the SWG in on. I get them in varying sizes depending on the pump speed. At higher speeds it is almost like carbonation from a soda or champagne bubbles, but at lower speeds it is slightly bigger bubbles that are easy to see as they bubble up to the surface of the water - when I see them I know my Aquapure is running.

 

[Sharkygirl]

Oh, thanks, good to know! I always thought bubbles meant you had an air leak in the system. I have had trouble with the SWG since it was installed. I told my pool company that if they add salt, they need to turn off the chlorine generation for 24 hours after adding. No one has done that. I think the SWG is great when it works, not so great when if fails. Am I overly zealous about my pool? How does the pool owner, who knows nothing about their chemistry or how their equipment works, fair relying on a pool company doing their stuff? I mean, I am gone for only 3 months out of the year and things always seem to be out of wack when I get back. It makes me think there is something wrong with me, that I am having all these pool issues and my neighbors know nothing about their equipment and chemistry and don't have any worries! Could it simply be, ignorance is bliss? My neighbor has an entirely different system. Maybe it is my system. Well to bring things full circle, sorry for the rant.

SWG TURNED OFF FOR BOTH

Last night 1am----------TODAY 1130
SPA----------------------SPA
CL 15------------------- CL 13
pH 7.8-------------------pH 7.8
TA 90--------------------TA 90
CYA 70

POOL-------------------- POOL
CL 7.5-------------------CL 7.0
pH 7.5-------------------pH 7.5
TA 90--------------------TA 90
CYA 80

SO to try and solve the high chlorine mystery, I turned on just the pool SWG to 35% where it was before. I am going to leave the SWG off for the spa. If my chlorine continues to rise this time in the SPA, it has to be that the connections on the board are mixed up. There is no other way for the SPA to be getting chlorine. If it only rises in the SPA a little bit, then maybe there is some residual puck contents in the Filter??? I have a huge DE Filter, same size as the one for the pool. It's a beast. One other note: I do not heat the spa on a continual basis. Only when we use it.

 

[Sharkygirl]

Well, I don't think the SWG is mixed up. I am thinking from the 3-4 months the pool company kept throwing pucks in the strainer, I must have had some built up residue in the DE filter. That is the only explanation I can think of. CL today is still 9.5, has been falling a little bit each day with the SWG turned off. Having the SWG on for the pool did not make it rise at all this time. So maybe that was it. I'm going to wait for the CL to get down to about 6 and then turn on the SWG to 5% and see if we just maintain the 6. The pH is 7.6 and the TA is at 90. CH is at 360 and the salt is 3550. Hopefully things are getting a little more balanced. Filter doesn't show higher pressure. Next time it is cleaned and taken apart, I will be right there to make sure the correct cleaning of the baffles is done and the correct amount of DE is added.

 

[santacruzpool]

It sounds like things are stabilizing for you! Hopefully it will get easier to handle soon. Good luck!