Water balance.

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Kenny

Water balance.

Postby Kenny » Thu 26 May, 2005 20:42

I have a vinyl lined pool and I'm adding muriatic acid to lower my total alkalinity from about 150 ppm. I added 3 qrts yesterday and dropped it about 5 ppm but my ph fell to <6.8. What should I do? Keep trying to lower TA or try and raise the ph. Seems like they are working against each other.


John B.

Postby John B. » Wed 06 Jul, 2005 17:09

Hi Kenny,

The products used to lower TA will also lower pH and visa-versa. Three gallons of muriatic acid seems a lot for a TA that is 150. I have a 22,000 in-ground plaster pool and 3/4 of a gallon lowered mine 40 points. My advice is to work on the pH first. A high or low pH will diminish the effectiveness of your sanitizer greatly. pH should be at about 7.2-7.4 for optimum effectiveness of your sanitizer. This is important because you do not want a bloom of algea. This will only add to your problems.

After the pH is adjusted, raise the TA SLOWLY. The slower, the less effect it will have on the pH. Also, mix the muriatic acid in a bucket of pool water and pour into a quiet area of the pool. This will have a lesser effect on the pH rather than pouring while walking around the pool. By slowly, I mean use about 1/3 gallon to 2 gallons of water. Wait 6-8 hours and check the TA again. Use another 1/3 if the TA did not drop as expected. Lowering the TA over a week is not an unreasonable endeavor. It is also VERY easy to "overshoot".

Each time you add the acid, wait the 6-8 hours and re-check the pH. If it lowered it, readjust the pH first. Remember, you always want a sanitized pool.

Once you get the TA to 80-110 and the pH to 7.2-7.6 your pool is balanced. The TA in the proper range will stabilize the pH.

Once balanced, check the chlorine level and the pH daily (chlorine should be 1.0 to 4.0 with 3.0 being optimum). The TA should stay at 80-110 unless something dreadful happens.

I hope this helps!

John

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