Jayelbee, you seem to be very knowledgeable. If you are offering to help me figure out why my acid demand is so high, I will gladly take it. I have been operating my pool for about 18 years, the last 10 using liquid chlorine. Here are some of my practices and observations:
- I try to maintain a cl level of around 2, an alkalinity level around 90-110, and pH around 7.2, and the cyanuric acid stabilizer around 50.
- Prior to liquid, I used the 3" tablets through a stacking tube erosion chlorinator. Seemed to maintain my cl levels ok, but always had algae and had to buy expensive non-foaming algicide to keep it in check. I discovered by researching BBB and verified by testing that the stabilizer level was tremendously excessive since it continued to add with the tablets. My pool store tested my water and never mentioned that the stabilizer was too high and thus, required higher and higher levels of cl to do the same work.
- During this time, I rarely had to add acid, maybe 2-3 gallons per year.
- When I switched to the liquid (I use the 10% pool variety), the algae problem went away and no more need for algicides and the cl level was easy to maintain and effective. Once I got the stabilizer at 50, it normally required no more attention except when heavy rainfall dilutes the concentration and I readjust it independently with cyanuric acid.
- Demand for acid went up greatly with this switch, as I have had to add usually one gallon per week during times of heavy cl demand, usually 3+ gallons of chlorine per week during sunny and hot periods. I am trying to maintain 7.0-7.2 pH as recommended by my pool builder for the colored plaster I have. The day I test, my pH will be 8.0, I add the gallon of acid and it goes down to 7.2, returning to 8.0 the following week.
- Alkalinity is fairly stable, 90-110, but I do add regular baking soda when it slips below this level, again usually after heavy rains.
- My pool has a hot tub that is plumbed with it and total size is about 12000 gallons, so no large at all. I bought a big Taylor test kit and have been testing my water weekly for about 10 years. Results are fairly consistent and expected.
- Notable is during the cooler and less light months, the acid demand drops in direct relation to the cl demand. I dont add much of either but try to maintain the chemistry balance throughout the year since we can isolate the hot tub and heat it only. It gets a lot of use in the winter. I have also on few occasions, used the 3" tablets to add stabilizer as needed. I have used them all up so I havent done this in several years as I used up all my stores.
So, as unlikely that I need that much acid may seem, I am going by test results and 10 years of direct experience,
Can you tell me what I need to do differently to reduce the amount of acid I am using? I have asked this same question to several informed folks, but have never gotten an answer.
My apologies to the OP for derailing your post. I did try to be helpful in describing what I used to feed liquid chlorine. I do think the other suggestions for the bulk storage and metering pumps are much better than what I am using, and hope to move that direction in the future. Perhaps my experience with going to liquid chlorine will also help those reading this post and help them with that decision. I did not go with salt water since we have a large amount of rock masonry used in and around the pool. Also have a lot of landscaping that I was concerned with. My concerns may not be relevant, however, but the information I have at the time has me still concerned. Even with the negative results of using the liquid chlorine I have experienced, I would still make the same decision to use it if only to stop declining effect of chlorine vs. the increased levels of stabilizer.
Apologies again.
