High PH - Feeling stupid

[Newbie65]

Thanks for the reply, however my ph is 8.2 or greater, i'm trying to lower it not raise it. And I have a test kit, just out of the CYA regeants. Since my ph is high I was wondering if the hotline was correct in saying not to put any bleach in until I get it lowered. Thanks again. Any other comments are welcome!

[mwsmith2]

Well, personally, I'd use muriatic acid to lower the pH. If you are at 8.2, start with 2 quarts of muriatic. Circulate 2 - 3 hours and test again. Since your alk is really high, that's what's causing the problem in trying to reduce your pH. You'll probably have to slug a good bit of acid in the pool before it moves.

Definitely get some Cl in there. It WILL help. I'm consistently amazed at the order of what pool "professionals" tell you to fix the green pool problem. When I was a new owner, they did the same thing to me...add the bleach last, and wait a day between chemical additions. CRAZY! To hit 15 ppm, you are going to need about 6 gallons of plain unscented 6% bleach.

I'd get that acid in there, dribble it around the edge of the pool. Wait about 15 mins for it to disperse and then add the bleach through the skimmer. You should see the green fade as you watch. Maintain 15 ppm until the water is clear. Watch your pH as bleach has a tendency to raise it.

Michael

[KurtV]

Newb, I don't think it will hurt anything to get some chlorine in there now, but you do need to get the pH down ASAP. As you probably know, your pH could be very, very high as all your test is telling you is that it's somewhere over 8.2

You'll probably get quicker results with muriatic acid than the pH minus (which I think is dry acid or sodium bisulphate). You can get it at pool stores, most Home Depots and Lowes', etc. Since we really don't know how high the pH is, I'd add a quart or even a half gallon of acid, wait a few hours, retest, and repeat.

Be careful with the muriatic if you use it. Stay upwind of the fumes and wear eye protection and gloves.

[Newbie65]

Thank you! Thank you! I will buy acid and bleach at lunch and go home after work and put it in. I checked my alk this morning and it was at 170. I will add the acid then the bleach and check in 2 hours. Hopefully, this will get me on track. How high do I need to keep my TC readings and for how long?

[KurtV]

...I checked my alk this morning and it was at 170. I will add the acid then the bleach and check in 2 hours.
I usually wait about an hour after dosing with one before adding the other.
Hopefully, this will get me on track. How high do I need to keep my TC readings and for how long?
You need to get your Free Chlorine (FC), not Total Chlorine (TC), up to shock levels, test frequently (like 3x per day if you can), and add more bleach after each test to return the FC to shock level. You can use "Ben's Best Guess Table" to determine the shock level for your pool but it's a function of the amount of CYA you have in the water. So, you're going to have to get more CYA reagent or take a sample to the pool store to have it tested for CYA. In the interim, it will probably be OK to use 15 ppm as a guestimate. As Michael said, it will take about six gallons of 6% bleach initially to get to 15ppm. You'll need to keep bringing the water to that level of FC until you hold FC overnight. It will probably take at least several days.

Best of luck.

[Newbie65]

Okay. Here's the update.... Put in half gallon of acid at 5:45 p.m. waited until 6:30 put in 6 gallons of bleach. Checked the pH at 8:30 still at or above 8.2 Chlorine WAY over 5 ppm, my HTH test kit only goes to 5 which is a nice yellow and my test turned almost orange. Went ahead and added the other half gallon of acid. Also, I felt the side of the pool and I have scaling/roughness, can anybody tell what to do about that? Hopefully in the morning I will awaken to a lower pH reading and a less green pool maybe cloudy blue??? Should I go ahead and brush tonight or just wait til morning?

[Newbie65]

Sat. a.m. - no change in color. Tests show orange cl, ph 7.2 (yipee), alk 150; going to try to get better test kit today so I can try to test cya. Any advice on what to do this afternoon?

[mwsmith2]

Good job on getting the pH down. If you are going to go get a test kit, and you have a Leslie's in your area, you might want to look for their High Range Cl test kit. It's a DPD-FAS test that will test up to 50 ppm Cl. It's considerably more accurate than the OTO test, as it will show you within 0.5 ppm where you are at. This will enable you to maintain the Cl level at 15 until the water clears (which is what you should be doing this afternoon, btw )

Let us know what happens with the CYA. Aim to keep your pH in the 7.5 range or so for now. We'll decide what to do once we find out the CYA level.

Michael