Quote Originally Posted by denanbob View Post
Ok, let me change my question then. If my PH is 6.8 and my ALK is 300, what should I do in what order? For now I'm going to add BOROX right away, but I guess I should say what SHOULD have I done? I *thought* after lowering my ALK, I could aerate and add Borox to raise the PH since the temp is too cold to put the kids in it. I will aerate with raising the jets on one side and a fountain on the other end.
I would have started aerating right away. Wherever your pH was, it had been there a while, so a day or two longer wasn't going to be a big deal. Aerating at a pH of 6.8 will raise pH and lower alkalinity. As soon as your pH gets to 7.2, push it back down to 7.0 (one step above the lowest you can measure) and keep aerating. Stay at this until the alkalinity is where you want it, then let the pH climb back to the 7.4 to 7.6 range and see where you stand with alkalinity and how stable your pH becomes when you stop aerating.

If you have a fountain that goes on the return, that's a great way to go. If you're close to a pool store and can stop and get one that will go on your pool's return, I think it would be worth it.