YayaLiz Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 The water in my pool was cloudy so after reading up all about it and getting a testing kit which showed the cyanuric acid level was very low, I got a load of bicarbonate of soda (10 kilos, my pool is 40 cubic metres) and added that. It brought the level up a bit, but not to recommended level. Then I added gallons of bleach and the water now looks OK, clean, but not crystal clear. Meanwhile the pH level, which is usually low and needs chemicals to bring it up, has gone far too high! How can I get all the levels right? Many thanks for any help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YayaLiz Posted February 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2022 On 2/21/2022 at 12:26 PM, YayaLiz said: The water in my pool was cloudy so after reading up all about it and getting a testing kit which showed the cyanuric acid level was very low, I got a load of bicarbonate of soda (10 kilos, my pool is 40 cubic metres) and added that. It brought the level up a bit, but not to recommended level. Then I added gallons of bleach and the water now looks OK, clean, but not crystal clear. Meanwhile the pH level, which is usually low and needs chemicals to bring it up, has gone far too high! How can I get all the levels right? Many thanks for any help! Well this forum seems very quiet... can nobody help me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDspaguy Posted February 28, 2022 Report Share Posted February 28, 2022 You should read the sticky threads on water maintenance, maybe watch a few videos, and come back with any questions. The few of us who contribute to this forum are volunteers, and lack the time to educate you from zero. You clearly have some misunderstandings about water maintenance. I am curious why you would add ph increaser to raise your cya, and even more curious why you think it did so. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoolContractor Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 The ideal standards for pH are between 7.4 to 7.6. High pH can lead to: Lowered percentage of active killing agent from chlorine (with or without CYA) Scale formation Metals will stain at pH of 8 or above especially copper Cloudy water Reduced Oxidation Potential Reduction ORP There are two very simple ways to reduce pH increase. One: Keep the total alkalinity at a target between 70-80 ppm. High total alkalinity can be lowered by 10 ppm using 25.6 fl.oz. of muriatic acid in 10,000 gallons of water. Be sure to test and account for the cyanuric acid CYA that contributes to total alkalinity. If there is CYA present in the pool over 50 ppm 1/3 of the CYA reading must be subtracted from the total alkalinity test to get the correct carbonate alkalinity. With the total alkalinity lowered by acid to between 70-80 ppm the pH may decrease below 7.0. You can aerate by using the running waterfalls etc. in the system to raise the pH to 7.4-7.5 without having any effect on the total alkalinity. The pH can be managed better at these levels and less acid will be needed to keep pH down. The LSI can be helpful here as well. Where total alkalinity is kept is also based on the primary sanitizer used. Trichlor is an acidic form of chlorine so it will lower both pH and total alkalinity. In this case the alkalinity can be maintained at 80-90 ppm. If using cal-hypo or liquid chlorine 60-70 ppm is preferred. Two: Add borates to slow down the rise of pH. Adding borates at a level of 50 ppm will help considerably to slow the rise of the pH in pools with water features or devices that produce turbulence. Adding borates can help conserve the amount of muriatic acid needed to control a rising pH. Read Terry Arko's article on how to mitigate rising pH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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