What Can I Do About A Chemical Mess During Pool Start Up?
It is very high in chlorine (a reading of 10 on the Aquacheck bottle) and very high alkalinity (240 on the Aquacheck bottle). It is quite obvious I didn't do it right. It's a 21' above ground pool. How do I now "balance" the chemicals or fix this mess shy of emptying it out and paying another ton of $ for pool water? Thanks for the question This question is interesting because of the alkalinity level. I couldn't be at our last scheduled pool maintenance shut down at the YMCA. My supervisor and his son attempted to balance the pool. They put in over 40lbs. of sodium bicarb. to raise the alkalinity from a fill water level of 30ppm to the acceptable level between 80 - 100ppm. Long story short, they raised it to 240ppm. My supervisor called me and asked how to get the alkalinity down, so I walked him through it. It was balanced out in about 3 days. So don't worry. It's a little high, but you can get the level down. First, I would encourage you to get a Taylor FAS-DPD K-2006 test kit. Aquacheck is good, but I've found the FAS-DPD kit is the most accurate. Water Testing Kit Pool Water Testing Yes, the chlorine is up a little high. If you need to use the pool quickly, there's 2 way to go: 1. Drain 1/3 - 1/2 of the pool water and refill, but this might mess up the other readings because you're diluting everything. 2. A chlorine neutralizer called Thiosulfate. This can be found at most pool supply stores. Use this sparingly and only when you really need it. The pool chlorine will come down on its own, mainly through the sun and heat. You can swim safely at a level of 6ppm. Your 21 foot pool probably holds about 9100 gallons of water. Now, you are going to use a few of gallons of acid to bring the alkalinity into balance. For a 10,000 gallon pool, to reduce the alkalinity 100ppm, it will require you to use 2 gallons of acid. Pool Alkalinity Total Alkalinity This will take some time and a few applications, but you can get the alkalinity in check. But, when you do add acid, you might hit the pH level a bit, so be careful when making any adjustments to the alkalinity. Swimming Pool pH Levels If the pH does start decrease a bit, you can use either soda ash or 20 Mule Team Borax. This raises the pH without much happening to the alkalinity. When you lower the alkalinity, be sure the pump motor is off and the water is motionless. Very gently sweep the area to break up any "hot spots" of acid because muriatic acid is heavier than water and will sink to the bottom. Follow the links above to lower your alkalinity and you'll be fine, but you do need patience because it is up there pretty good. Hope this helps and have a great swimming season. Robert |
