Excuse my ignorance. In Taylor kit the base demand test starts with pH measurement test. So sample is already red/purple when pH is around 7.5. Now if I drop R-0006 in that it gets more purple/violet. Maybe you are starting with something else?
pH and alkalinity are low and nothing seems to raise them
- Thread starter TristanPT
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- alkalinity low ph
An update on this.
I have added just over 5kg of sodium bicarbonate so far and the pH has reached about 6.5 and I am finally seeing a positive reading for alkalinity on my test strips. I haven't got an accurate test kit but I am almost there so I'll keep going with smaller doses of bicarb.
Thanks for the help, especially the note that the alkalinity can be negative.
One extra question. After the last 1kg was added, the pool has gone very slightly cloudy. Is that expected? Do I just need to keep the filter running to clear that out? I have been diluting the bicarb in water and spreading it around the pool edge with the pump running, not just dumping it in one place.
I have added just over 5kg of sodium bicarbonate so far and the pH has reached about 6.5 and I am finally seeing a positive reading for alkalinity on my test strips. I haven't got an accurate test kit but I am almost there so I'll keep going with smaller doses of bicarb.
Thanks for the help, especially the note that the alkalinity can be negative.
One extra question. After the last 1kg was added, the pool has gone very slightly cloudy. Is that expected? Do I just need to keep the filter running to clear that out? I have been diluting the bicarb in water and spreading it around the pool edge with the pump running, not just dumping it in one place.
- May 3, 2014
- 62,663
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Cloudy from adding sodium bicarb typically means the TA and/or pH and/or CH are high. I am concerned with the accuracy of your testing method.
I would wait to add any more bicarb until the cloudy water subsides.
I would wait to add any more bicarb until the cloudy water subsides.
> Please get a proper test kit because those strips are ridiculously inaccurate.
I'd love to but I haven't found a distributer in Portugal. Amazon in the UK sell the Taylor K2006 (FAS-DPD) kit but I don't think I can take it on a plane and I am not planning a trip by car any time soon. I'll keep looking, or try to find a company that can ship here, maybe from Spain.
> Cloudy from adding sodium bicarb typically means the TA and/or pH and/or CH are high. I am concerned with the accuracy of your testing method.
I think pH is correct. I am using litmus paper as well and it gives the same result, around 6.5. The colour has changed from dark orange to light yellow through this process as I'd expect. Phenol red gives the same value, just moving towards red, indicating somewhere between 6 and 7.
I'd love to but I haven't found a distributer in Portugal. Amazon in the UK sell the Taylor K2006 (FAS-DPD) kit but I don't think I can take it on a plane and I am not planning a trip by car any time soon. I'll keep looking, or try to find a company that can ship here, maybe from Spain.
> Cloudy from adding sodium bicarb typically means the TA and/or pH and/or CH are high. I am concerned with the accuracy of your testing method.
I think pH is correct. I am using litmus paper as well and it gives the same result, around 6.5. The colour has changed from dark orange to light yellow through this process as I'd expect. Phenol red gives the same value, just moving towards red, indicating somewhere between 6 and 7.
Are you sure that it was sodium bicarbonate and not sodium carbonate?
Can you show all chemistry readings?
Are you maintaining the chlorine at the correct level?
Maybe the cloudiness is from algae?
Maybe the cloudiness is from algae?
@TristanPT Are you able to get the PoolLab 2.0 in Portugal? It's probably the most available option in Europe even if it's limited compared to the Taylor kit.
> Can you show all chemistry readings?
Not until I can get an accurate test kit.
This company in Spain appears to sell Taylor kits (Analytics - BEHQ S.L.U.) but I can't figure out which is which and the image appears to show instructions in Spanish.
> Are you maintaining the chlorine at the correct level?
We have always used the all-in-one tablets (which was why the pH was way off in the first place). The water has stayed clear for a whole year this way, even over winter when we weren't using it and just popped a tablet in when the last one dissolved.
> Maybe the cloudiness is from algae?
I tossed in a 200ml dose of algaecide just to be sure.
> Are you able to get the PoolLab 2.0 in Portugal?
Looks like I can but it is more expensive that the Taylor kits.
Not until I can get an accurate test kit.
This company in Spain appears to sell Taylor kits (Analytics - BEHQ S.L.U.) but I can't figure out which is which and the image appears to show instructions in Spanish.
> Are you maintaining the chlorine at the correct level?
We have always used the all-in-one tablets (which was why the pH was way off in the first place). The water has stayed clear for a whole year this way, even over winter when we weren't using it and just popped a tablet in when the last one dissolved.
> Maybe the cloudiness is from algae?
I tossed in a 200ml dose of algaecide just to be sure.
> Are you able to get the PoolLab 2.0 in Portugal?
Looks like I can but it is more expensive that the Taylor kits.
The PoolLab tablet based reagents are good for 7 years rather than 1/2 years so it's a different tradeoff. Each test tablet is sealed in a medication style pack which gives that long life.