insanely low pH and alkalinity -- chemicals didn't help

[Pool Boy 1400]

My problem is similar but with 0 alkalinity. What do I do?

[Pool Boy 1400]

Seriously. My TA test also failed to turn green after putting in the indicator and prior to adding, I think it is, the sulfuric acid. Instead, it turned red immediately after putting in the indicator (this is the Taylor Test Kit). What concerns me is my water has a faint green tint to it, indicating, I assume, algae, although my chlorine level is about 7 or 8, according to the Taylor color chart. Should I shock the pool with liquid chlorine? Also, to raise my pH, I have added soda ash, but when I do the soda ash turns to a brown cloud in the water. Is this from the presumed algae? Whaddaya think? I've never had this problem before and I'm on my fourth summer with a pool.

[Guest]

Instead, it turned red immediately after putting in the indicator (this is the Taylor Test Kit).

This means the pH is lower then 4.5

[Pool Boy 1400]

Yes, I understand that. But an earlier poster, Chem Geek, I think, said it was an indication that the TA was near 0. Since my water has a greenish tint to it, my plan, started last night about 11 p.m., was to add four gallons of liquid chlorine (my pool has 70,000 gallons of water) to shock it. Then, about 7 a.m. this morning, I added 3 lbs of A & H Baking Soda, to raise the TA. I'm going to add some Soda Ash, too, to help raise the pH, but I wanted to do this somewhat gradually. My concern has been that when I added soda ash yesterday morning, and when I added the baking soda this morning, they both turned to a brownish cloud as they dissolved in the water. Is this something I should be concerned about? What's the significance of that? I've never seen that before. Thanks for any help.

[chem geek]

You've probably got metals, probably iron, in your water. They may have dissolved from the very low pH. You'll need to get your pH up to stop the problem of dissolving metal, but to get rid of the metal in the water you either have to sequester it with a metal sequestrant or do a partial drain/refill or both. If you read my first posts in this thread, the initial red in the TA test means BOTH your TA is essentially 0 AND your pH is below 4.5 -- both very bad things (especially the low pH). Adding pH Up right away is critically important.

[beefyazn]

Hi, I bought a hot tub. It is 7x7 and holds 360 gallons of water. I need to drain and refill the tub for the very first time. Can anyone help guide me through this step by step on what to do and how to balance the chemicals? Thank you in advance.

[Teapot1]

Read the manufacturers instructions, not much to balance just add chlorine and enjoy keep pH above 7