Hello, I’ve been a user of pool doctor for three seasons now. It’s a great app, and I have no problem dropping a twenty every year to support your endeavor. I had a tree come down on my pool last year and the city water here is very high in alkalinity. Insurance provided a new pool, but I’ve been in a constant battle between high alkalinity, then low ph, and Chlorine not staying in the pool long. Costing me a lot of $ in chemicals. Any advice, or has anyone else been in a similar situation? Alkalinity is gradually coming down, but it’s a constant add muratic acid one day, add ph+ the next
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Thanks for the kind words RJ — I’m really glad that Pool Doctor has served you so well! Hopefully Pooldash can do even better (eventually).
Sorry about the tree — but it’s great that insurance covered a new pool! I’m trying to think through these symptoms…
It’s tricky to increase the pH without spiking the TA. Aeration can help (waterfall or sprayer), but it’s not possible for most people. At the minimum, make sure you’re circulating your water a lot.
It’s probably safe to leave the TA a little bit high in this case — I personally use as little muriatic acid as possible.
Additionally, you probably need more CYA to stabilize the chlorine, but that will make your alkalinity problem even worse (Role Of Cyanuric Acid (CYA)…).
Finally, if you lost a tree, you might have lost some shade, so the extra direct sunlight (and heat) can cause your chemistry to swing faster.
I’d probably try this… it’s not exactly orthodox, so a few folks might disagree:
-
start by balancing free chlorine, total chlorine, and CYA. If a shock is necessary, wait an entire day before continuing.
<circulate for ~20 mins> -
balance the TA, but if muriatic acid is necessary, only add 1/2 the recommended dose
<circulate for ~20 mins> -
balance the pH using soda ash
<circulate for 20 mins>
If I had to guess, this will leave your TA high, but it’s probably less harmful than a bad pH / FC.
Whether you try this or not, let us know how it goes! We might even update the app based on this experience if it seems worthwhile.
Thx for the advice. I’ll try it out starting tomorrow and let you know how things are going in a week or so. I’ve asked other pool “experts “ and I’ve been told there’s nothing you can do about it. At least you’re willing to try.