+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: PS234s results (trying to run high pH)

Hybrid View

  1. #1
    waterbear's Avatar
    waterbear is offline Lifetime Member Sniggle Mechanic waterbear 4 stars waterbear 4 stars waterbear 4 stars waterbear 4 stars
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    St. Augustine, Fl
    Age
    71
    Posts
    3,743

    Default Re: PS234s results (trying to run high pH)

    another thing to condsider is that the amount of hypochlorus acid in the water is going to be minimal and most of your chlorine will be in the form of hypochlorite ions at that high a pH. Hypochlorus acid is what actually is a sanitizer, hypochlorite ions are not.

    SWGs are different because they are producing sodium hydroxide (lye) when they generate chlorine which is what causes the pH rise. Running a high pH pool is more of finding where a plaster pool wants to go and not fighting it all the time when sanitized by manual chlorine addition.

    To test pH that high you need a different indicator and test block or a pH meter. That pH range is not normal for pool/spa use so you will have to look outside of the pool test kits to find it.Taylor and LaMotte probably have some kits that will test that pH range (I bellive that some of LaMotte's soil testing labs do) but be aware that you are getting into 'experimental waters' so to speak.

    The Hamilton Index is what is ususally used to run a pool at a higher pH and that does not use Calcium hardness but rather total (calcium and magnesium) hardness in the equation. Temperature becomes much more important in this equation also and it is accepted that the sanitizing abilities of the chlorine are lessened too.

    The Hamilton index is probably about as useful as the Langelier and Ryzner indecies for balancing a pool which, IMHO, are not really usefull tools. (But that is a different and somewhat technical discussion that is probably best in the China Shop!)
    Retired pool store and commercial pool maintenance guy.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Winter Springs, FL
    Posts
    23

    Default Re: PS234s results (trying to run high pH)

    Thanks for all the advice. I guess I am going to have to back-off the high pH plan, at least for now. I'll go ahead and start lowering it with muriatic acid. When I get down to normal ranges of pH, I'll get everything else balanced and run it that way for awhile. I just hope the acid use eventually becomes manageable.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Winter Springs, FL
    Posts
    23

    Default Re: PS234s results (trying to run high pH)

    An update: I didn't really know what my pH was, since it was at the top of the color code. I used Michael's calculator to determine the exact amount of acid needed to reduce the pH by 0.4. The pH then tested at 7.8, so I think now that I originally had a level of 8.2.

    It will be interesting to see if the Cl production increases now that the pH is getting close to the acceptable range.

+ Reply to Thread

Similar Threads

  1. New pool results from PS234s
    By micon2 in forum DPD-FAS based testing
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 10-24-2006, 05:16 PM
  2. Results: alk too high?
    By salinda in forum DPD-FAS based testing
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 08-15-2006, 07:18 AM
  3. Current testing results from PS234-Calcium too high?
    By Pinman24 in forum DPD-FAS based testing
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 08-06-2006, 08:29 PM
  4. Check out my PS234s first week results
    By adillenal in forum DPD-FAS based testing
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 07-04-2006, 03:06 PM
  5. Salt results with PS234s
    By estermer in forum DPD-FAS based testing
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 05-18-2006, 11:07 AM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts