How do I aerate the pool?

Ed

Quote Originally Posted by CarlD View Post
Tamminen gives the typical garbage the pool industry gives you. They love the "slug of Muriatic Acid" approach and give you a MacBeth Witches' explanation for why it works. If it does, it's incidental.

There's really only one way, short of dilution with low T/A water to lower T/A and that's what's here. It's not always clear so here's how you do it:

1) Lower pH to 7.0-7.2. (Muriatic or dry acid are both fine) This lowers T/A somewhat.

2) Aerate your water. This raises pH WITHOUT raising T/A--and it's the ONLY WAY TO DO IT!

3) Lower your pH again to 7.0-7.2, bringing T/A down some more.

4) Aerate to raise pH again without raising T/A.

5) Repeat until T/A is in the desired range.

You "ratchet" your T/A down. T/A and pH are linked. pH goes up, T/A goes up. pH goes down, T/A goes down. ONLY BY AERATION can you break that cycle and do the raising of the pH without raising T/A, allowing you to lower it more the next cycle.

The "standard" method only works if you have inadvertent aeration to raise pH that makes it look like it worked.

Worse, the "Slug" of Muriatic Acid can do major, even catastrophic damage to your pool. If that "slug" comes to rest on a vinyl liner, with its 30% concentration of HydroChloric Acid, it can dissolve your liner or weaken it enough to fail.