HELP! Made BIG mistake!!

[chem geek]

DaBomb650,

As you no doubt have figured out from the excellent posts, your adding of baking soda increased your alkalinity which was the opposite of what should have been done. Nevertheless, this is NOT a serious problem, so keep breathing...

In my first post I referred to a link (click on the following underlined text) on Ben's procedure for lowering alkalinity where you will find details of how to lower your alkalinity. You have essentially already done the first step which is to lower your pH to a relatively low level. So at this point, do not add any more chemicals to your pool (other than chlorine such as Tri-Chlor tablets) and just start aerating through whatever means you have, including getting into the pool and splashing around vigorously as well as pointing your return jets upward and bubbling air through your pool (if you have a compressor) using tiny bubbles (with all due respect to Don Ho). A pH of 6.9 will not be unhealthful for you -- it's not the ideal pH for the long-term, but it is certainly safe to swim in (perhaps a slight stinging in the eyes) and especially to splash in and is required to get your TA down.

As was also pointed out, be sure to keep your chlorine levels up as your chlorine will continue to get used up just as it always has. Having the Tri-Chlor tablets in your feeder should provide enough chlorine, but measure it to be sure and, if necessary, add more chlorine from liquid chlorine (either chlorinating liquid or bleach. If your CYA is truly down around 10, then your chlorine level should be between 2 and 5 ppm as per another link you can click on, Ben's FC/CYA chart.

Good luck and keep us posted. Aerating your pool can be lots of fun, especially if you have kids (who seem to enjoy kicking, splashing, hurling water at one another, etc.).

Richard

[chem geek]

I do believe with a new gunite/plaster pool you are going to have some fairly wild chemical fluctuations due to the curing of the plaster. Make sure to monitor the calcium hardness level; if not high enough some will begin leeching out of the wall.

These are also some excellent points applicable for a new gunite/plaster pool. Usually what happens during the curing process is that calcium hydroxide is produced so you find your Calcium Hardness (CH) increasing somewhat and your pH increasing quite a bit. Since currently Tri-Chlor tablets are being used, this is acidic and compensates for the "hydroxide" from the curing so that the combintation results in a relatively stable pH. As you point out, monitoring over time is important and getting the Calcium Hardness (CH) level checked is also important -- if no calcium was added at all to his pool water during startup, then that would indeed cause concern for etching or dissolving the new plaster (I would assume that the pool builder put in Calcium when initially filling the pool water, but you never know...).

So, Carl, please have your Calcium Hardness (CH) level checked when you get a chance and post your results.

Richard