HELP! Made BIG mistake!!

[Sully]

Crank up the waterfall and let it run. Check you Chlorine, add some if needed. Do not add anything else today. Then Relax and enjoy the rest of your day!

[ivyleager]

Yes, by all means turn on the waterfall, and keep it on. It will indeed aerate the water.

Here a very quick guide to chemicals:
*Muriatic acid OR dry acid=lowers pH
*Bleach=raises Cl
*Borax (hydrated sodium borate)=raises pH…so does soda ash(sodium carbonate) BUT soda ash WILL ALSO RAISE alkalinity
*Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)=raises Alk

To RAISE your pH, add 20 mule team borax (from the grocery detergent section) at the rate of 1/2 cup per 1,000 gallons or 1/2 box per 10,000 gallons. Do NOT try to adjust your pH all at once. Allow at least 2 hours of PUMP-ON time, after adding borax, before retesting the pH. HOWEVER, since your pH is already low, just crank out the aeration (waterfall AND poolparty!!) and alk should decrease and pH increase.

You stated also that you use tri-chlor tabs? Besides adding chlorine, these do 2 things: drive down pH, and add CYA. The first you don't need, the second you do as your start level is 10ppm. Do you know if any was added at startup? If so, wait a week or so and retest. It takes that long for the stuff to fully dissolve. You may want to consider switching to bleach once you get this pH/alk issue resolved, and if CYA is still low, then add it yourself to recommended levels, and turn off the chlorinator. Read through the Chlorinating section for details.

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. Please check with your pool builder and get his/her recommendations on water chemistry, and what to expect during the curing process.

So, invite people over and begin aerating! Good luck.

CaryB
Caniac

[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

[DaBomb650]

Okay.
I'm calm. I turned on the waterfall and am letting it run. The ph tested 7.8 this after noon, I am guessing due to the baking soda.
I added 1/2 gallon diluted (diluted before puting into pool) and will wait for several days, checking the total ALK everyday.

Thanks for all your advice. I will keep you posted on the results.

Carl.

[SLR_65]

Okay.
I'm calm. I turned on the waterfall and am letting it run. The ph tested 7.8 this after noon, I am guessing due to the baking soda.
I added 1/2 gallon diluted (diluted before puting into pool) and will wait for several days, checking the total ALK everyday.

Thanks for all your advice. I will keep you posted on the results.

Carl.

You really need to follow the link chem_geek gave ya - Ben's method works, but you actually need a lower Ph to make it work . . . stop adding things, slow down, follow the directions given.

/Steve

[chem geek]

Carl,

Yes, now that your pH is up, you need to get it back down by adding acid. Otherwise you won't get your TA down. Follow Ben's procedure in the link I provided. I'm sorry if I confused you by saying you should just start aerating -- that was when I thought your pH was at 6.9 -- if the pH goes up then you want to add acid to keep it down. You'll be adding LOTS of acid in this process and that is the correct thing to do as the pH will want to rise with the aeration. The entire process goes faster if you dilligently keep the pH down until you reach your target TA level.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Richard

[DaBomb650]

Okay, update.

Checked the ALK this morning, it is down!! About 220, with a drop test. Waterfall still running. pH this morning was about 6.9, after adding 1 quart, (pre-diluted in pool water) of the acid. I will check it again when I get home. May need to add more acid as the pH rises, right?

My free chlorine has skyrocketed! It is at about 3.0ppm right now! I have turned the chlorinator to the lowest setting to try to keep this in check.
Will post more results as I get them. Trying to test twice a day.

Carl.

[ivyleager]

My free chlorine has skyrocketed! It is at about 3.0ppm right now! I have turned the chlorinator to the lowest setting to try to keep this in check.
Will post more results as I get them. Trying to test twice a day.

Do you have a Hayward inline chlorinator, by chance? If so, they are notorious for 'dial error'. There are several posts on this site about them. I have one, no longer use it as at the lowest setting or even off and chlorinator half full w/ tabs, I would get chlorine readings of 5ppm!! It is hard to believe that all Hayward chlorinators have this problem.......if you have one, here's hoping it works correctly.

Just to clarify, DO NOT ADD BLEACH THROUGH THE SKIMMER if you have an inline chlorinator which had not been thoroughly cleaned/aired out. Some say to NEVER add bleach thru skimmer if there is an inline chlorinator. Should you chose to add any bleach at all, just slowly pour around perimeter of pool OR in front of return jets. Make sure to run filter during and after adding any chems.

CaryB

[fofa]

DaBomb650 - One thing I've learned here, is more times than not, doing nothing is better than doing something. Reacting to an Algae bloom, or your filter shooting a stream of water 30 feet in the air being the exception (you get my point). Check out more of the forums, and relax. Check here first if you have a question, most matters can wait a day or two before you need to even think about doing something, so asking here will get you a good answer rather than doing the 3 AM store runs for something. Really, after 5 years of pool ownership now, I have found relaxing is much easier and I find the pool pretty much sorts it out itself as long I as I keep the chlorine levels in place, and monitor the others. Any more I only add chlorine and acid upon occasion. Have to shock if I screw up and forget to fill my chlorinator and algae gets a foothold (but it still is nothing to panic over, some shock, a little brushing, good to go). I find I work more with the skimmer (manual) than anything with the outdoor pool.