Higher Calcium Numbers Seem to Control PH better

[smallpooldad]

CarlD,

Thank you for your quick reply.

It is concrete formed in place with plain white plaster.

Would it be correct to state, if I'm understanding you correctly, that if there were not enough calcium in the pool then the calcium measurement level would slowly rise; as it would be leached out of the wall, and/or the pH would rise to compensate?

Aloha

[CarlD]

CarlD,

Thank you for your quick reply.

It is concrete formed in place with plain white plaster.

Would it be correct to state, if I'm understanding you correctly, that if there were not enough calcium in the pool then the calcium measurement level would slowly rise; as it would be leached out of the wall, and/or the pH would rise to compensate?


Aloha

Almost, but not quite. The pH isn't rising to compensate, it's rising because calcium added to the water is alkaline and that increases the pH.

If you find you are having troubles with your FC dropping as well, for you, a good solution may be using tri-chlor pucks--they add CYA (and in Hawaii, you may want to run higher CYA because of the heat and sun) and they are very acidic, which fights the tendency of the calcium to drive pH up. But be sure to test your water every week and stop using the pucks when CYA hits your target, whereever you set it.

That's why, IMHO, in-line chlorinators are a waste of money. Floaters are $10-$15, and you only use them some of the time, until CYA requires stopping.

[chem geek]

I respond to this issue in this thread in The China Shop since it's a technical response.

Richard

[smallpooldad]

Thank you both for your responses, they are very helpful.

I do not at the present time have any issues with FC dropping, it stays remarkably static at around 5 even with a cYA of 30-35.

I use to use chlorine from WalMart and adjust the acid manually. Now with the SWG I do not have to do that. I really enjoy the fact that the in-line chlorinator does that for me as I cannot always attend to the pool when I travel for a day or few days a week. So for me it was a good purchase.

My main issue was whether or not high Calcium (575-600) numbers and a lower pH of 7.4 was a good idea. From what chem geek states in the"China Shop" post it was not such a good idea. So I will adjust to Calcium 375 and a pH of 7.5.