PH problem. Help.

I need help in keeping my PH up high. I'm trying to reach 8.0 ph in order to flock. The pool in a 25,000 gal in-ground pool. The pool has been closed for 2 years and we descided to open this year. The pool was a swamp and was loaded with leaves. We have pretty much cleared 95% of the leaves. I shocked the pool many times keeping the chlorine at least 10-15ppm over 2 days. My sand filter has some air in the system and we have not been running that as much. The water looks grey-blue with fine particles all through. We tried filtering but found we loose prime after the filter's pressure get's a little high. We then backwash,rinse, & back to filter. We have been doing this for 2 days with little results. So I'm here needing some advice on why my PH will not stay high. My last P.h. reading was 7.2 so I added 1 1/2 boxes of 20 mule borax to get it to 8.0 in order to flock. After checking it the P.H. did not rise as much. I'm using a 2 year old test kit. 5 drops of red solution. Getting a new test kit soon.

Alkalinity: 110
P.H. 7.2 <----no change after 1 1/2 boxes of Borax.
F.C. : 6.0
C.C. : ?
CYA: 20-25

Poor filtration at this point which I know is half the battle. The sand is only 2 years old with 1 of those years being used. I also used a sand filter cleaner before starting up. Still need to find the air leak. The filter is working somewhat if only at 60% efficiency because it is capturing some particles causing pressure build up.

Well, more Borax will raise your pH....no doubt.

My #1 priority would be to get that filter fixed. That'll do more to clear your pool than anything you can do right now.

In a working system, the filter will fill with water from the pump and any air in the filter will be pushed thru the return lines into the pool.

Do you have air in the filter or air in your pump basket?

Raising the pH to 8.0 get's close to a troublesome level. I have never heard of a floc needing high pH to perform it's function.

Sorry not to simply answer your question but it doesn't sound like you are fixing the correct issues.

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Originally Posted by duraleigh

Well, more Borax will raise your pH....no doubt.

My #1 priority would be to get that filter fixed. That'll do more to clear your pool than anything you can do right now.

In a working system, the filter will fill with water from the pump and any air in the filter will be pushed thru the return lines into the pool.

Do you have air in the filter or air in your pump basket?

Raising the pH to 8.0 get's close to a troublesome level. I have never heard of a floc needing high pH to perform it's function.

Sorry not to simply answer your question but it doesn't sound like you are fixing the correct issues.

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After reading this post I added 2 drops of R0007 from my test kit to neutralize any chlorine in order to get a more accurate PH measurement and this brought my PH well above 8.0.
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=2870

Someone at the pool store told my brother that the PH has to be high at around 8.0 before using this flock he bought. I'm just going on what they said.
I'm getting air at the basket part near the bump. When I put it on recirculate
and bypass the filter all together it still happens leading me to believe it's an air leak above the the basket.

Book,

I would personally buy some muriatic acid and bring that pH down into a 7.2 - 7.6 range. I would return the floc and wait for good advice on that pH requirement....I don't think your brother got it (the good advice)

You have a suction side air leak. The most common place for that is the o-ring on your pump basket lid. Make sure it's in good shape and sealing properly. The second most common seems to be the water level is too low....air is sucked into the system at the skimmer and you lose prime. Other than that, check all connections and joints that are above ground and between the skimmer and the pump...you can usually here the air sucking in if it's at a connection.

Last thought, since your description indicates you get partial prime and then loose it, take a close look at the water level.

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately We have allready flocked. We will wait a few days to see if alot of particles coagulate and fall to the bottom. Sence I will have to vaccume to waste and then refill with regular city water this might in itself reduce the PH without the need for more chemicles. We are expecting a couple days rain also.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bookworm

After reading this post I added 2 drops of R0007 from my test kit to neutralize any chlorine in order to get a more accurate PH measurement and this brought my PH well above 8.0.
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=2870

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If your chlorine levels are high and you are trying to test ph the pH will register much higher than it is , not lower. I suspect that you just did not give the borox time to work. You should wait abut 24 hours before retesting pH since a lot of chemistry happens in the water when you adjust it and it takes a while for it to stabilize. Also, adding the chlorine neutralizer can have an impact on the reading since it also will slighly change the pH of the sample you are testing. Sometines it can take what seems to be a lot of a pH adusting chemical to move the pH since it is also interacting with the TA which acts as a buffer to keep the pH from moving.