I'm in big trouble - I turned water green

[Watermom]

I'll let Pool Doc or Marie talk to you about the copper issue. But, just wanted to tell you that baking soda is used to raise alk, not pH. You need Borax to raise pH. Wait a couple of hours before retesting. If you are dealing with a metals problem you'll want your pH to be no higher than 7.4 and probably 7.2 is better.

[joecus]

Won't the baking soda raise both the ph and alkalinity?

[sturev]

Washing Soda raises both PH & Alk. Baking Soda only raises Alkalinity. But in your case it may be you don't want your PH going up right now, so hold off until Marie can respond about the copper.

[Watermom]

No, he needs to bring his pH up. Early this afternoon, he posted that his pH was 6.2. That is dangerously low. I'm not sure how he got that reading since most testers won't register anything lower than 6.8, but nevertheless, he needs to be bringing it up to at least 7.0. As I said above, since there is a metals issue, he wants to keep pH on the low end of normal -- 7.4 or lower and probably 7.2 is better but he definitely MUST get it above 7.0 ASAP or risk damage to his pool.

[PoolDoc]

Hi Joe;

First things first . . . unfortunately, you've got several first things.

=> pH, chlorine, copper

FIRST:
Get a CHEAP drops test kit -- the kind that turns yellow for chlorine, and yellow to purple for pH, and test your pool. We need to know if your 6.2 pH reading is real, or bogus. Some pool stores might be able to test for pH; in others it's just going to be a bogus reading. I'd like to see YOUR readings, to either confirm or repudiate the pool store readings.

Verify that your pH is actually very low (yellow on the drops kit -- but don't confuse OTO drops (yellow = chlorine present) with phenol red drops (yellow = low pH). Don't test pH if the OTO drops turn orange: the chlorine / bromine is too high for phenol red to work well.

SECOND:
Dose with 1/2 gallon of bleach each evening, simply to maintain sanitation control a way least likely to conflict with anything else.


THIRD:
Assuming the pH is low, gradually start raising it, using 1/2 box of borax per 10K gallons, added every few hours. If you have a pump timer, disable it, and run your pump & filter 24/7.

FOURTH:
Answer some questions:
=> Do you have a heater?
=> Have you added any algicide, recently or last fall? What kind?
=> Do you have a Nature2, 'mineral' or any other gizmo that might contain or add copper.

FIFTH:
Do the fingernail scrape test I described, and include the results from that.

SIXTH:
Post your info, after you've collected it. Post the pH as soon as you've confirmed it -- if your pH is REALLY that low, and the color was yellowish-brownish-greenish, I know what it is.


PoolDoc

[joecus]

Thanks -
first - the 6.2 ph reading came from my local pool store. I have both the strips and the tester that you add yellow and red drops. I just took the strip reading, showing ultra low ph. The drop tester turns water yellowish when I add the red drops indicating a very lowph. I will work first on getting the PH up.

second - I did the bleach
third - I am running the filter 24/7 and will add borax (1/2 box ? what size box?)
forth - I'm sure the copper came from the Algicide I added since this is when the water started to change color to greenish/yellow upon adding shock. Like I said, the water quickly turns back to clear. I do have a heater. The copper reading of 1.7 also came from my local store.

fifth - I did the fingernail test on the black spots and it does dissipate.

So, tomorrow I will work on getting the ph up using the borax, correct? Don't add the backing soda yet, correct? What about the alkalinity, don't worry yet? Is there a reason you don't want me to raise both ph and alkalinity at same time using baking soda? Lastly, what do I do about copper? Thanks a million, again. Did I forget anything?

[Watermom]

I'm gonna let PoolDoc address most of this with you but just a couple of comments. I think the only size of box of Borax that I have seen is 4lbs. 12oz. Don't put off until tomorrow adding the first 1/2 box of Borax. Go ahead and get it in there tonight. Low pH is REALLY bad for your pool. Critical to get it above 7.0 ASAP. After a couple of hours, retest and redose as needed.

Also, baking soda raises alk a lot, but not the pH much. The low alk is nowhere near as critical as the low pH.

PoolDoc will be by shortly to direct you further.

EDIT -- Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and washing soda (sodium carbonate) are not the same thing. Washing soda is the same thing as soda ash.

[aylad]

Also keep in mind that one side effect of dichlor is lowered pH.....

Janet

[Watermom]

That's right, Jan. I wasn't thinking about that. At any rate, Ben wants him to use bleach right now for his chlorine.

[joecus]

Sorry - I forgot to mention, I'm was using the Arm and Hammer baking soda instructions on how to raise the PH and Alkalinity. I bought this 12 lb bag at Costco and it has specific instructions for raising both. I'm not sure why some people are saying washing soda instead of backing soda.