Fighting with PH

[Koz]

I've been using this forum as a great resource for 2 years. Per what i've read, i've been fighting low PH by adding borax.

Similar to last year, this year has been a constant struggle to keep my PH in line. I live in W. PA, maybe it has something to do with all the acid rain that we inherit from Ohio! Probably not though as I know many pool owners who say their PH is fine.

Just a couple of weeks ago I added a TON of borax (4 boxes!) to get PH to 7.5 from around 6.8. Now, it is back down to 7.2. This has been happening all year and several times it dropped to 6.8 when I forgot to check.

I chlorinate with a mixture of pucks (bypass feeder always set low) and chlorox.

Here are today's test results:

FC - 1
CC - .5
TC - 2
PH - 7.2
Alk - 120
Cal - 140
cya - 20
temp - 87
pool size - approx 30,000 gal

Yeah, my chlorine is a bit low. I just added a gallon after kicking the kids out 10 min ago.

My return jets discharge directly into the pool and do not have adjustable nozzles. I've read that some people use an adjustable nozzle to aerate which evidently raises ph. Since my pool was installed without an adjustable nozzle is there an easy "after construction" way to aerate? Will this really help?

I'm probably going to buy-out Wallmart's supply of borax tomorow. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Watermom]

You can aerate with a fountain or anything that will cause a lot of splashing. (A pool full of kids will even help!) If you are using pucks, that may be part of your problem because they are extremly acidic and will drive your ph down. Stick with only bleach and ditch the pucks and see if that helps. It should.

[mbar]

If you use the trichlor pucks, they are very acidic, it will bring your ph down very quickly. You can invest in a fountain that goes in the pool, it will aerate your water nicely.