How do I raise my low PH and alkalinity levels

cheri · Postby **cheri** » Tue 14 Jun, 2005 21:04

We have a 27 ft. in diameter above ground pool that has been opened this year for about 3 weeks. The chlorine level is fine, but I assume the recent rain has caused the PH and alkalinity levels to drop lower than desirable. Does anyone have advise as to what I need to do? I wasn't sure if just doing the weekly shock treatment will fix this.

Guest · Postby **Guest** » Thu 16 Jun, 2005 05:39

I use grocery store chemicals, to raise the P.H. in my pool I use borax team mule in the green box, start off with small I have a large inground pool. You didnt say what your P.H. was, so buy a box and try 1lb at a time until P.H. is correct. Hope this helps.

doubled1 · Postby **doubled1** » Fri 24 Jun, 2005 05:25

raise the alkalinity with sodium bicarb then recheck ph and adjust with ph increaser.Once the alkalinity is in the correct range the ph will remain constant.

Just Me · Postby **Just Me** » Mon 09 Jul, 2007 13:45

How much mule team to use to how much water? I have an inground pool with 30,000 gallons.

Just Me · Postby **Just Me** » Mon 09 Jul, 2007 14:08

Just Me wrote:How much mule team to use to how much water? I have an inground pool with 30,000 gallons.

Postby **chem geek** » Mon 09 Jul, 2007 14:50

The amount of 20 Mule Team Borax it takes to raise the pH in a 30,000 gallon pool depends on the starting pH and TA levels. For example, with a TA of 100 ppm (and a CYA of 30 ppm, so adjusted TA is 90 ppm) then one box (76 ounces weight) of 20 Mule Team Borax will raise the pH:

from 7.0 to 7.14 or a change of 0.14
from 7.2 to 7.42 or a change of 0.22
from 7.4 to 7.71 or a change of 0.31
from 7.6 to 7.98 or a change of 0.38
from 7.8 to 8.19 or a change of 0.39
from 8.0 to 8.33 or a change of 0.33

Richard

Backglass · Postby **Backglass** » Mon 09 Jul, 2007 15:04

Just Me wrote:How much mule team to use to how much water? I have an inground pool with 30,000 gallons.

You need BLEACHCALC which will do all the calculations for the BBB method (Bleach, Baking soda & Borax).

Postby **chem geek** » Mon 09 Jul, 2007 15:44

BleachCalc doesn't calculate the proper amounts of acid or base to add at any pH and TA level. It uses a rough midpoint for TA and pH (100 and 7.5, I think). That was my point. You can use BleachCalc as a rough guide, but it takes more acid/base to change the pH when the pH is lower than when it is higher and it takes more to change the pH when the TA is higher.

My spreadsheet does the correct calculation, but it's a complicated spreadsheet. I'm seeing if there's a simplification of it that can be used for other simpler calculators.

Richard

s1nastassia · Postby **s1nastassia** » Mon 04 Jul, 2011 13:11

What is Ta or something that you talked about.
I have a 15feet round pool and had to take out 2 feet of water because my stabalizer was to high.
i did this and refilled it and it is still to high it is 65.
from what i have been told it needs to be between 35-50.
do i really need to remove water again?
Or could I just wait till next spring and then put the water level is low to begin with and just add water or take out some and then add in water.
Anyway my alkilinity is 50 and i added 2 cups of 20 mule team borax and the test is not 60 parts per million. I just added another cup and do not know how long to wait till i test again. somewhat new to understanding this. I didn't test the ph. I guess i should. I thought i needed to adjust the alkilinity first then the PH. then add shock due to all chem being out of wack enmpting the pool.
I have been using the 3" tabs that have stabilizer in it. I am not sure what the level was when opening up the pool due to now not seeing good and i can't drive to the pool store.
I was able to adjust the alkilinity and ph and pool looked real good when opening it. and shocked it and then added 1 3"tab with stabilizer.It has only been open a month which is 4 -3" tabs only with stabilizer but maybe it was to high when closing it not sure. My big problem is i also have algae and am not sure what kind i have.first i saw what looks like sand, I can brush it and vacume it and it comes back.
I even thought my adult son was playing a gave with me and added sand in the pool.I didn't know anything about algae.Now i hardly see sand I see black spots on the bottom of the vinyl liner. so not sure if it is black or mustard. I have a pool heater also. Maybe that heat is what caused the algae in the first place? I do not know if i can treat the algae unless i get the stabilizer down to 50. not sure i should wait till next springtry straightening it out.Have tried last year didn't get rid of it. bborzoi@verizon.net

Postby **chem geek** » Mon 04 Jul, 2011 15:33

You can operate with 65 ppm CYA (Cyanuric Acid aka stabilizer or conditioner), but you need to have a higher Free Chlorine (FC) target. It's easier to manage the pool with a lower CYA, usually around 40-50 ppm. Note that chlorine tabs are Trichlor and for every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) they also increase Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm. So with 2 ppm FC per day chlorine usage, the CYA will increase by 35 ppm PER MONTH. To prevent this, you can use chlorinating liquid or 6% unscented bleach as this will not increase CYA the way that Trichlor and Dichlor do nor will it increase Calcium Hardness (CH) the way that Cal-Hypo does.

As for Total Alkalinity (TA), you use baking soda to raise that, not 20 Mule Team Borax which is used to raise the pH. Your pH is now probably way too high.

As for algae, you need to shock the pool. First of all, get yourself a proper test kit -- either the Taylor K-2006 or the TFTestkits TF-100 with the latter kit having more volume of reagents you use the most. Also, please read the Pool School including how to shock your pool, defeating algae, the chlorine/CYA chart, and other articles to become more familiar with the chemicals so that you don't use them improperly.

LisaLovesHerPool · Postby **LisaLovesHerPool** » Tue 05 Jul, 2011 23:53

I have a 14' above ground rise & fill. Had a lot of rain lately, but it's stopped thank god. My ph is always low now. I have a starter kit of 3 different chemicals. From hth- Chlorine, Shock 'n Swim, Stabilizer & conditioner,& a bottle of algeside. I have put in chlorine in by spreading it out with a hand sifter over the water. It seems to keep a good chlorine level that way but I bought a float to put tablets in instead. Figured this was a better idea?

No matter how many times I keep my chlorine levels good & put algaeside in, the ph stays in the color range it says to raise it. I do not have numbers on my test kit, just colors of bad to good. I read to put borax in? Why doesn't a starter kit with those three chemicals in it not work??
Did I mention my pool is under a tree branch? Getting leaves, debris, bird droppings & squirrel doo doo, tuns of black ants, fly's & whatever else drops in. AND the water temp as of July 5th is still too cold to swim in! I bought a skimmer net 7 vacuum but still need the hose. I also need a cover obviously!
I have never done any of this before am I doing things right here?? :thumbup:

Postby **chem geek** » Wed 06 Jul, 2011 03:05

The use of Trichlor tablets/pucks is very acidic and even the use of Dichlor powder is acidic when accounting for chlorine usage/consumption. So it will tend to keep the pH lower and also will lower the Total Alkalinity (TA) level over time. You can compensate for this by raising the TA level which should be around 120 ppm or so when using these products.

However, continued use of such stabilized chlorine products will raise the Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level over time making your chlorine less effective. So unless you proportionately raise your Free Chlorine (FC) level or use a supplemental algaecide or phosphate remover (at extra cost), then you may get algae in your pool. An alternative would be to use chlorinating liquid or 6% unscented bleach to chlorinate your pool. You can learn more by reading the Pool School.