Ph or Alkalinity...which should i fix first

[aylad]

I second what John T said.....and when the chlorine is back down to norm and you test again, I would fix the pH first. The higher your alk is, the more stuff you'll have to add to get the pH to move.

Janet

[JKashJ]

John and Janet,

Thanks for the advice on this. I'll wait until the Chlorine is down to a workable level prior to doing anything else.

Does a high chlorine level create cloudiness in the water too? I've turned by SWG down to 40% now and the water coming out of the returns is white'r(yeah, made that up...:-) than the water in the pool. You can actually see clouds of it coming out of the returns and moving into the pool. I doubt this is salt, but there still could be some of the bottom being pulled into the main drain. I can't tell as i can't see the bottom...:-)

Kash

[CarlD]

I have to disagree. While high chlorine DOES affect pH, it usually makes it look high, not low. I would add borax (not soda ash) until pH passes 6.9. If it's above there, you can then wait for lower chlorine levels to get a truer reading, which may STILL be below 6.9--the danger point for vinyl pools.

[aylad]

While high chlorine DOES affect pH, it usually makes it look high, not low.

True, unless they are using strips or cheaper OTO test to test the water, AND the chlorine is exceptionally high...I have seen it happen in my own pool where the chlorine can get high enough to bleach out even the OTO test.

Janet

[JKashJ]

I am using Walmart strips, they're AquaChem 6way strips. I did dump in a 4lb box of Borax last night and i wasn't here at all today, but my wife said that it cleared up considerably. Hopefully the ph came up to a more workable level. I'm going down to test in just a bit.

[aylad]

Do yourself a favor and invest in a good, drop-based kit. The strips may be okay for ball-parking, but are not reliable enough to balance water with. I still think you need to let the chlorine come down first before retesting your pH, ESPECIALLY now that we know you're using strips.

Janet

[JKashJ]

I noticed that there are some who sell those on here...any recommendations?