Help! Need info on Muriatic acid!

[mmancinelli]

I'm a newby with pools and I have a small 15' by 42" round pool. My PH count was very high and the guy at the pool store gave me a gallon of muriatic acid. I asked him if I should use it all and he said to start with it, meaning use it all! I now find out that the instructions say to use 1 quart per 20k gallons! Is this going to be dangerous? What should I do? My kids will want to gon in it tomorrow. Should I keep them out? Please help!!

[hulla]

Follow the instructions on the bottle (not the guy you spoke to). Have the pump running to circulate the water and test the pH after a few or more hours. If the pH is ok after that then you should ok to swim.

It is better to add less acid than you need because you can always add more if you need to.

[les_smith]

I'm not a pro, but I've poured a whole gallon in our pool before and swam the next day. I turned the pump off for 20 minutes, poured the acid in at six different spots around the edge, left the pump off for an hour, then I turned it on and let it run all night. I've heard people refer to it as "slugging". I'd wait and see if any night owls reply to post. But, I've done it, 14600 gallon AG pool, and it didn't do anything bad that I can tell.

[tonyl]

Good advice from Hulla.

I would test your water in the morning, if ph is <7.0 add borax to the skimmer to bring it up.

[mmancinelli]

Thanks guys. All I have are test strips and the alkalinity was originally off the chart blue and now its showing up a a more normal green. I was pondering draining half the water tonight, but I think I will wait until morning like you guys suggest. I'm a little worried because the pool is only about 3500 gallons.

Thanks!

[mmancinelli]

Any other comments or advise would be appreciated. I still feel that I added way too much and would like to know the best way to resolve this. Should I drain half the pool? Is it safe to go in tomorrow? I have an autistic child that will want to go in it tomorrow and I want to be sure its safe.

Thanks.

[GraceByDesign]

check your pH in the morning. If it is normal, you are safe.

[duraleigh]

Since you do not have a test kit, I would suggest you drain the water and start over.

That was way,way way too much Acid....probably twenty times more than you needed. I doubt you can even test that low.

I will swim in almost anything but I wouldn't go in that pool.

Buy yourself a kit to test your water and start over. Proper water management requires you test carefully and dose accurately.

[PatL34]

In addition to what Duraleigh emphasized, you never ever add muriatic acid without the pump running. Some pool stores mention this, and it is very bad advice, especially for a plastic pool.

Add the Muriatic Acid slowly and carefully over a return jet so that it will mix into the center of the pool.

Follow Duraleigh's suggestion and keep us posted.

Pat

[les_smith]

Man, I learned a thing or two from this post. We just switched from Pristine Blue last week to BBB. So in the past I've been doing all my pool business via the pool store we bought our pool from. All they sell are AG pools and Pristine Blue. In the past our Ph has been really high. The pool store sent me home with directions that said to turn the pump off when adding the acid. But, after reading PatL34's last reply and all that I've read on the forum so far (still a newbie) all I can say is what a dunce for listening to the pool store. Here is a great example of why someone like me needs a place like this in order to do things right. Thanks mmancinelli for starting this post it has really helped me and I hope the same is true for you.

[mmancinelli]

Well, the good news is that the acid did the trick and the PH is in the acceptable range now. I called several local pool companies and they all reassured me that even though it was a high dosage, after running the pump all night, there was no danger. We all had a good day in the pool today.

One thing I found out is that there are many different oppinions on how to treat pools. One tech told me that maybe I was lucky. All the acid may have dropped the levels too low but the heavy storms we had last night may have increased it up to the correct levels. Who knows for sure, it just worked out well for me.

Thanks for all your posts.