High Alk with stable PH question

[denanbob]

Hi everyone. Here are my numbers from this morning:

TC - 2
PH - 7.5
ALK- 220

I know the Alk is high. I've tried to lower it using the "how to lower your alkalinity" thread but it is not budging. I've used a whole gallon of muriatic acid so far. I don't understand. My question is:

Is it ok that my alk is that high SINCE:

1). My PH has NEVER moved from 7.5. We've had water in our pool for 3 weeks and everytime I test it (2x day) it is 7.5 even after days of no swimming/heavy swimming loads and/or thunderstorms, etc............it's like it's a fixed number or something.

2). My water is crystal clear. It looks like liquid glass. My hardness is super high too (400ish) and I read high hardness and high alk can cause cloudy water. No problems so far.

So is this a matter of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and I should stop worrying about it? Or should I work harder at lowering the alk?

Thanks a bunch!

Dena

[Tredge]

My Alk is 330....so what?

If you have a PH you are happy with, then enjoy your clear water! Lowering the Alk is not neccessary imho.

Others will say that if your PH does get out of control, then you will have a tough time due to the high alk....keep an eye on the PH and all should be well.

[duraleigh]

Dena,

While Alk of 220 is no HUGE deal, I see no reason to manage your pool water outside of normally accepted ranges. Very high alkalinity will make adjusting your pH problematic if you ever need to do so.

I suggest you reread Ben's VERY detailed post on lowering alkalinity......it will work for you as it has for everyone who tries it......something in your procedure is not correct.

I think I saw your other post (you'd do better not to post the same problem in two places) and you indicated you pointed your return eyeballs upward....that's not aerating. Aerating is creating splash (and lot's of it) so that you are creating thousands of air bubbles. If you are not doing that...that may be the error in your method.

[JohnT]

Getting pH to move with high TA can be a little tricky at first. Try doing it with five gallons of pool water in a bucket. Keep track of how much acid you add and extrapolate to the whole pool. I believe that's the idea behind the acid demand test some kits contain.

Don't get in a hurry, as 220 TA isn't that big of a deal.