How much borax to raise PH?

[denanbob]

I know everyone says if I follow the "how to lower your alkalinity" thread exactly, it WILL work. HOWEVER, mine will not budge below 160. It went from 280 to 160 using this method, but no matter how much muriatic acid I add now, it won't budge. I'm aerating with a fountain that sprays out of my return and really seems to be bubbling and rippling the water. Also, we had a good rain last night too. Still not moving down. My PH went up from 6.8 to 7.5 with Borax. It went back down to 7.2 with the acid, and now back up to 7.5 with the aeration. I will add more acid to lower it again (no lower than 7.0 I know), and keep aerating I guess. I still don't understand why the ALK won't budge any further than the initial 120 drop from 280. If the water wasn't 64 degrees, I'd let my kids get in there to further aerate.

[JohnT]

I wouldn't be worried about it at 160. I lived with mine at 200-ish for some time before winter rain dilution dropped it. As long as you don't have high calcium hardness and you aren't experiencing cloudy water, leave it be. I always pushed my pH down to 7.0 whenever I had to add acid, and it seemed I'd gain a little every time, but I didn't work at it.

[Ohm_Boy]

Ben always said that pools find a value that they 'like', and you're best bet is to learn what your pool likes and manage around that.
160 ain't too bad.

[denanbob]

Ok, these were my numbers from this morning using the HTH 6-way test kit from WalMart:

TC - 4
PH - 7.4
ALK - 140 (it actually came down 20 more and now I'm DONE with it! LOL)
TH - didn't work

I know we have hard water (from a well, and no softener). When I filled pool water to the appropriate line and added 5 drops of hardness indicator, the water turned a light yellowish/tan instead of red like it said. Then I was supposed to add the titrant drop by drop until the "red" water turned blue. I kept adding (just to see what color my yellow would turn) and nothing changed. If anything it looked a little more clear colored. Does this mean my hardness is waaaaaaaaaaaaay up there, or that my chemicals need replaced maybe? I bought the kit last year in July. Not sure how long they are "good" for. Any ideas? Last year my hardness was 480 (yikes) but we have a vinyl pool and no problems with cloudy water so I didn't mess with it.

Dena
15x30 Esther Williams AGP 10,000ish gallons