Quote Originally Posted by mohawk
We have a 20,000 gal ag pool with 220 alk and 7.8 ph. I want to try to lower the ph and aerate for the alk, but I wonder, how long do we have to wait to use the pool again? We live in Minnesota and are not to accustomed to the 90+ degree weather we're having. The family would not be happy with me if they couldn't use the pool every day. Any thoughts? Denise
If you are asking how long it will take to get your alkalinity down, that depends a lot on how well you will be able to aerate your pool water. I assume you will follow Ben's guide to Lowering Alkalinity in which case you will get faster results if you can lower your pH as much as possible but not lower than his 6.6 limit. Your test kit may not register that low so that is probably where you will be most limited (be sure to follow his instructions to not go to the lowest pH color on your test kit because you won't know how much below you are if you do).

Once you've finished Ben's procedure, there's no waiting time necessary.

If anyone else has actual experience with how long it took to lower their alkalinity, please chime in. My guess is that it will take more than a day to drop from 220 to, say, 120 or so.

Richard