Low alkalinity and high Ph

[In Canada eh]

 ???I always thought that the two were somewhat related meaning a low number on one would mean a low number on the other.  Tested water 15 mins. ago(with a Taylor kit thanks Vinny) and alkalinity was about 80 and Ph was at 8.2.  I am now confused

I guess that you should treat the Ph first and then adjust the alkalinity but I hope someone can confirm

Thanks in advance

[wmccall]

Are you using Dichlor or Bromine?  I would use a little baking soda to get the alk to a minimal point in the acceptable range and see how much the PH changes. Chances are the PH will come down in time.  

[In Canada eh]

Thanks for the responce

We are using dichlor and mps shock thanks to this forum

1 tablespoon of dichlor after each use and 3 tablespoons of mps once a week as a shock treatment

[cappykat]

I have had the same problem.  I added about 3-4 oz of baking soda and the next day alk and pH were back in the normal range.

[orlandoguy]

I have always been battling high ph and was advised to get the alk correct before adjusting ph.  I did, it worked, and my problems have been greatly reduced.  I keep my alk a little on the high end of the good range.

I also find alk adjusts for me a lot faster than ph and learned not to dump the whole bottle of ph down in at once.

[In Canada eh]

Thank you for the info I seem to have done the right thing ( dumb luck or getting better at this I don't know)

Orlando Guy,

     The whole bottle of Ph down,  YIKES!!!!

[wmccall]

People are going to get tired of me saying this over and over again, but I think here it really applies.  You add baking soda to get the Alk up.   You also mentioned that you shock with MPS.  If you use a non-buffered MPS product, it will drive down the PH pretty quick.  By non-buffered the bottle should say, 100% MonoPwhatever and not 40-50% inert materials.   The buffering of MPS products is to help prevent it from changing PH.

[loneoak]

We battled high Ph since we got the tub las October.  Then a guy at the dealer suggested shutting off the air after each use (turning it back on before using).  

We have an Acrtic Spa, so I don't know if all spas are like this, but there is a knob you turn which adds air to the water coming out of the jets.  This gives the jets a more powerful massaging action.  It is the air that causes the Ph to rise.

Since we started turning off the air, the Ph has remained stable.  Before that, I was constantly fighting high Ph.

Hope this helps.

Astrid.

[In Canada eh]

Hello to all and thank you for the responces. I can,t tell if the shock(mps) we are using is buffered or non buffered as wmcall had asked

I also forgot the tub has ozone although I don't know if it makes any difference.

What I did do was to add enough Ph down to drop the Ph to about 6.8 then waited an hour and then raised the alkalinity back to 100. I have no idea if this is the correct way but it seemed to work

[DoubleA]

I believe what wmcall was saying is that buffered shock is about 50% monopersulfate and 50% buffered ingredients so it doesn't affect pH as much, where unbuffered is 100% monopersulfate.  On the bottle there should be a list of the percentages of the ingredients. That should be able to help you to see if it's buffered or not

[Brewman]

Also look at the lables of different MPS products and see if they boast about not affecting Ph or alk.  And check the recommended dosage- the buffered products will require more product per 100 gallons) than the non buffered products.

I think my Brilliance brand of unbuffered MPS says to use about 1/4 ounce per 100 gallons.  Or something very close to that.

[In Canada eh]

Judging by the amount used as Brewman stated our bottle says to use 74 grams per 1000 litres or about 1/4 oz per US gallon.  So is it safe to say that this is un-buffered and will affect the Ph and alkalinity and also is one better that the other

[Brewman]

I'd guess it's non buffered.  
Personally, I'd go with the non buffered, and adjust the Ph and alk. on my own.  But nothing wrong either way, just what you prefer.  Maybe the buffered is more convenient, but I've never used it so I don't know for sure.