Spring opening cloudy pool excessively high PH > 8.2
17 Apr 2012
Hello! Newbie here. O.k., I'm chatty so ...... I do have a current problem which I need advice on and will get to it after my "intro":
I'm really happy to have found this forum and motivated to save my moolah! (especially after taking huge paycuts two years ago due to economy and no increase in sight....) I'm a bit overwhelmed with all I've read so far, but it all makes logical sense. I don't have a problem understanding the chemistry and science behind it all. But I'm a bit week on mental organization so I'm going to continue following the advice to read, re-read, and then read again! until I can keep it all straight and in proper order.
I've always had diamond sparkling, crystal clear pool water whether it was our kiddie pools, quick-set pvc-frame pool or our in-ground liner pool. To say I'm overly fussy about my water is an understatement. Somewhere in my life I got the idea that my water had to look like it came from a perfect place in heaven.
We have used the company that installed our in-ground pool for opening and closing it since installation in 2007. We spend just under $1000 on opening costs including anywhere from $350-$450 of chemicals to take advantage of their spring "discount" (ahem....a savings of only $17.38 this yr :| ) Closing costs range from $450 - $500. Then we always have to purchase later in summer more silk sticks, granular chlorine or PH increaser or algaecide. Our yearly maintenance is over $2000 not adding in the increase in our water bill, gas or elec during those months.
For the most part, as your site says, the products do what they're suppose to do. However, they are pretty expensive (just the Chlor Silky Sticks 50lb cost $185 with spring discount.) But I have also noticed something about the routine I follow in using their chemicals (Bioguard & Natchem), and I am religious in my upkeep: it always yields water that is beautifu, yes, but very easily upset. Too easily. We have a strict weekend schedule where we vacuum the pool, backwash if necessary, then test and treat ph, chlorine and we include a treatment of algae preventor and a dose of Natchem Pool Perfect +Phos Free. Daily.... I shock if heavy swimming has taken place, I sometimes use the Viper auto vacuum for an hour or two if needed, and I always check the chlorine and PH levels so that I can catch any downturn as it's happening. Sounds overkill and I thought healthy pool water shouldn't require walking on eggshells if you stick to a consistent once-a-week care plan. Why am I so over attentive? Because when I have relaxed and let myself trust my weekend treatment, the water would get out of wack before the next weekend, sometimes as quickly as the 3rd day into the week. Then I struggle with getting my PH up (usually) or keeping my chlorine levels up to 1-3 ppm. Last year I went through hoards of chlorine - sticks, granular, & shock. It never seemed to keep and was always below 1 ppm by the next morning and many times even after being shocked the evening before. Two years before that, I went through buckets of their PH increaser in the spring and struggled to get it to stay over 7.2 the entire year (last year, my PH was easier to maintain.) I know weather can play a role in what is needed each year. I just don't believe that if you're as clean and neat as I am, and as consistent, that the water should so easily get out of wack.
Now - as for my problem this spring. Our pool is 32 x 16 with a 10 ft shallow end of 3-3.5 feet and a deep end of 5.5 - 6 feet. I've calculated the gallons of water is about 18,200? Our pool company advises us to keep our PH between 7.6 and 7.8 - a bit higher is better. We use them to open & close solely because we don't have the equipment to "blow out the pipes", etc. the way they can. We care about protecting our investment, the parts buried under the ground as well as the equipment above ground. We're too scared to brave opening and closing on our own knowing we are without backup savings at the present time and couldn't afford to "fix" anything from it not being done properly. (that's kind of problem #2 for this post)
It has been exactly 6 days since they opened our pool. Last year, it was clear and beautiful by day 3. This year, it is still cloudy/milky white and the PH continues to remain over 8.2. Having tried muratic acid the last time I dealt with cloudiness, I learned it works better, quicker and is much cheaper. Never again would I pay for PH decreaser. So my hubby poured 3/4 of the gallon into the pool. No change the next morning and it was still over 8.2. He poured the remainder of the bottle in the next day. It still tested over 8.2. We are just starting to see the bottom in the shallow end so it's slowly getting better, but still tests high PH. We can't really balance anything else until we get the PH below 8.2, right? Our chlorine fell rapidly over the past few days and now is just about 1 ppm. I told him to try the bottle of clarifier since mid-summer last year, I suddenly had a cloudy pool (but with lower PH of 7.2-7.6) and it didn't clear up until I used a clarifier ... then it was perfect the next morning. Not so this time.
I've poked around a bit on the forums but so far when I read about cloudy water, it always refers to getting the PH up to proper levels first. The tips page on cloudy water never mentions the scenario of extremely high PH that can't be brought down with a bottle of muratic acid. The temperatures have been warm this winter and spring so far. We have been averaging in the 60s but last week there were three days where we dipped to the low 30s at night but went up to 50 during the day. It's been just at 60 the past two days and it was 70s on Sunday before a big rain came in. We get down to the mid 40s at night.
Do I add more muratic acid? Is that safe to use that much? (just so you know, we do handle it safely...)
As for problem #2, being attached to them for opening and closing, they open with a Stow Away quart, an algaecide backup quart, a Natchem Spring Opening dose, and a spring pool shock treatment. For closing, our water tests before they treat were as follows:
2007 chlorine 1.0 PH 7.6 TA 150
2008 chlorine 0.0 PH 8.4 TA 180
2009 chlorine 0.0 PH 7.8 TA 240
2010 chlorine 0.0 PH 8.4 TA 240
2011 can't find the stupid bill...but most likely like 2010.
Then the company treats with a Winter shock treatment, Winter Algaecide 40, NatChem Fall closing dose, Anti-freeze.
Thanks, I look forward to your help and to learning as much as I can from all of you.
Sincerely,
JuJuBee
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Originally Posted by PoolDoc
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