PH and TA Will NOT rise

Problems relating to pH and total alkalinity.
Increase ph, increase TA. Reduce pH, reduce TA.
pH chemistry advice and techniques for the pool.
serpico1
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PH and TA Will NOT rise

Postby serpico1 » Tue 01 Aug, 2006 22:03

Hi all,

I have a oval aboveground pool approx 33 x 18 and goes from 42" to a little over 5" in depth. I can never get the PH or the TA to raise no matter how much of the grocery or pool store chemicals I put in.

My PH stays at 6.8 or below and the TA is non existant. I used the pool ph and Ta calculators here and it stated I shold add approx 13 lbs of sodium bicarbonate and 3 lbs of sodium carbonate to bring my levels up to normal. Well I added 15 lbs of Sodium Bicarbonate and 6 lbs of Sodium Carbonate and nothing has moved. I used two different test kits for the PH and it states 6.8or below. I used a test strip that checks TA and it states 0, but the test strip may be old. So the TA may not be accurate. But the PH is still not increasing.

What is the problem? Any ideas on how to correct this. Everyone complains of the water burning their eyes and the chlorine is normal or slightly below, so that brings me to the low PH causing the burning


piratemom
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ph & Total Alkalinity

Postby piratemom » Wed 02 Aug, 2006 21:06

I'm sort of having the exact same problem with the exact same pool! Kids got a rash, burning eyes. Had the water tested at the pool store. TA was non existent, ph barely at 6.8. Approx. 18,000 gal pool. Told me to add 3 lbs of alalinity up 3 times that day, retesting after each time. So I'm up to 9 lbs that day, absolutely nothing increased. After another 16 lbs, TA finally up to 120ppm. So I begin adding the soda ash (told to add 2lbs at a time till ph rises. ph now at just about 6.8 (maybe a little over) after 17 lbs of that, and TA has risen to 150. Water became cloudy, so I shocked it (there was no chlorine present), it's STILL cloudy. I just bought some dry acid to reduce the TA and more ash to raise the ph but I'm really afraid of wasting any more $$. Anybody who knows anything, HELP!!! Oh yes, we're in No. California where we just went from 2 wks. of 100+ temperatures (that's when this all started) and high humidity (for us, anyway) to 80 degree days and 60 degree nights. Thanks in advance for any light you could shed on this!
pk4217
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Postby pk4217 » Sun 06 Aug, 2006 08:15

adding soda ash raising pH and TA together.
adding baking soda raising TA and abit of pH.

changing TA better do it slowly, try +/- 10ppm every few hour, don't pour in the chemical in once.
serpico1
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Postby serpico1 » Mon 07 Aug, 2006 01:08

Well, My TA is finally on the rise, although the PH hasn't increased at all. It only took 35 lbs of Baking Soda to get it to 120 PPM.

So far, I have added 18 lbs of Soda ash, then tried 12 lbs of the Borax 20 mule team (green Box) as someone had suggested in the forum posts. But the PH still is at 6.8 or below.

The water was sparkling clear when the TA was at zero, now it seems a little cloudy, but I will give that a dat or two and see if it clears. Now I need to get the PH up.

I almost feel like drainf the pool and starting over, sincemy water out of the tap is at 7.2 and about 180 ppm. But, thats a lot of water, about 18,000 gals. aside from the fact that the water is a very comfortable 85 deg. F.
serpico1
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Postby serpico1 » Mon 07 Aug, 2006 01:18

I was reading some of the posts in the forum and it was mentioned that using the stabilized cholrine tablets Known as Trichlor.... will actually lower the PH. This could be my problem. Thats all I use is the stabilzed chlorine tablets, usually throw 1-2 in the skimmer and a few in the floating dispenser. It was suggested that using liquid bleach will help with the low PH, But how much liquid bleach would be needed? does anyone know what the ratio would be? Would the liquid bleach from the grocery store be fine?
apostolicpenny

pool water ph

Postby apostolicpenny » Wed 16 Aug, 2006 15:20

I just got back from the pool store, I too have the same problem with my pool, me and my 2 children were getting bad eye infections and rashes, my ph is non existant ...they sold me this cleaner for the filter, it is a HUGE bottle, you take the filter out and spray the filter down, let it sit for about 45 minutes, then rinse, return it to the pool and wait another hour, do the same thing...she said to do this 4 times today and bring her another water sample tomorrow. She said that the chlorine tablets from wal mart contain copper in them, this is what makes the filter that brown yucky color. While you are letting your dirty filter sit int he cleaner, put a new filter in and run the pump..after you clean the old filter, swap them out and keep cleaning the filter until it is clear...then you add the baking soda....hope this helps someone else....
kamkuda
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Postby kamkuda » Mon 04 Sep, 2006 09:47

serpico1 wrote:I was reading some of the posts in the forum and it was mentioned that using the stabilized cholrine tablets Known as Trichlor.... will actually lower the PH. This could be my problem. Thats all I use is the stabilzed chlorine tablets, usually throw 1-2 in the skimmer and a few in the floating dispenser. It was suggested that using liquid bleach will help with the low PH, But how much liquid bleach would be needed? does anyone know what the ratio would be? Would the liquid bleach from the grocery store be fine?


TriChloro does have a low pH but because you use such a low quality, it has little affect on the pH. Keep adding pH increaser, You will get the pH to the correct levels. It is the most affective method.

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