OH (Ohio) Water Hardness/ph -- Adding chems while filling?

[rydeacowboi]

Hello,

I am 99% positive that at some point last summer someone suggested to me that adding muriatic acid (?????) as the pool was filling up would help stabilize the water hardess so it wouldn't be so difficult to bring under control after it was done filling.

Can anyone corroborate this?? We just upgraded to an Intex metal-frame that's 18'x48" so now I have to re-adjust all my measurements for more gallons and I'd rather not have to fight the water hardness and ph levels once the pool is full if I can help it.

I have a copy of the bleach calculator but that's about it. We were planning on assembling and filling shortly so any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Kim

[chem geek]

Lowering the pH by adding acid to the fill water AND aerating will lower the TA and that is easier to do with the fill water before it gets into the pool than trying to do this after the pool is filled. But that's for lowering TA, not CH. I don't see how adding acid will have any affect on the Calcium Hardness (CH) of fill water. Nevertheless, if you have high CH in fill water, you can compensate for that by having lower TA. You don't need much TA (as low as 50, depending on CH level) if you are using bleach or chlorinating liquid as your source of chlorine.

Richard