Sodium Bicarb

[Jonzjob]

Scooby, have you ever tried to get a 25 kilo bag of bicarb! Or do you go and TRY to get it from a pool shop where most of them think that you are a mad baker and if you do find one that has any idea of what it is used for is going to charge you enough for a mortgage to be sought!

If you do know then would you please inform the rest of us? Andrew can get it for you and tell you how much you need 'cause if you go and get a 5 kilo tub for mega€€€s from your local friendly pool shop if you can find one you will find it going into your pool in one go if the TA is very far from the 180ppm it needs to be.

Is there a mod looking at this who can clarify the situation. Because at the moment it looks like the forum is about to lose valuable input from Andrew and probably others across the various forums?

 

[Scooby]

Pm'd you

[Judith]

[quote user="Scooby"]I'm sure your posts have been worth the time and effort in terms of the new business they have generated over the years Andrew.   I hardly think your posting here is purely altruistic...otherwise you wouldn't bother to use your signature to link to your business web site.

[/quote]

I wasn't going to contribute, but I feel I must.

By putting his "affiliation" into his signature, Andrew is indicating the level of his knowledge on the subject, and it is up to those reading it to know that thus he has the expertise to answer the question, and as it happens in this case, to help the OP find the supply of product he needed.  The fact that he happens to be selling the product is this case possibly helpful to the OP, given, as Jonjonz (?) says, the difficulty of buying such a product in bulk.  He correctly asked the OP to pm him if he so desired to take the matter further.

 

As a professional information researcher (what I did for all my working life), I was always delighted when the source of the information given was so clearly supplied, thus the enquirer can make up his own mind as to the reliability of the infomation given.

It would be a shame if such nitpicking were to loose the forum a valuable contributor.

And a bit less childlike behaviour on the part of some forum members wouldn't go amiss either.

[Scooby]

Sorry my view still stands Judith.

[g8vkv]

Blimey - I never realised that there was so much interest in baking soda[;-)]

So, given that, here's what I've discovered so far ....

Firstly, my measurement of 'Total Alkalinity' (TAC). I've got a Scuba+ which I use as the primary instrument for all measurements. On this particular one, it shows 'Lo' - which, according to the specification, means it must be less than 10ppm. However - the error bar on the TAC measurement is +/- 50ppm - so it could be as high as 60ppm while still showing 'Lo'. I also have some dip-strips which measure (among other things) the TAC. Now I know colour-comparision testing is prone to a host of subjective errors, but this test shows it's at the bottom of the OK range - about 80ppm. So my guess is that it's probably about 60ppm-ish. It's my intention to concentrate some pool water by evaporation and test the concentrate to get a more accurate measure. I had intended to do this today, but got distracted by F1.

Secondly, the price/availability of baking soda. It's not widely available - just one of the local Bricos had a single tub, gathering dust, at €50 for 5Kg[:P]. Phoning around indicates that this is about the 'going rate'. It's also available off t'interweb at about €25 for 5Kg, but when you factor in the cost of delivery, it comes up to about €45. The cheapest I've found is at Carrefour, where they have 400g pots (for use in baking) at €2.15, making it about €25 Kg. This is probably what I'll end up using. What _is_ more available is combined pH+/TAC+ (NaCO3 and NaHCO3 at 25€/5Kg) - but raising pH in order to raise TAC and then having to lower pH again seems a bit, well, daft.

Finally, does it matter? I spoke to the very nice lady at the local pool shop, who assured me that so long as the pH isn't jumping around all over the place (which it isn't), then don't worry too much about the TAC.

So - there you go.

[Stu-le-brew]

[quote user="Judith"]

I wasn't going to contribute, but I feel I must.

.........

And a bit less childlike behaviour on the part of some forum members wouldn't go amiss either.

[/quote]

I agree, with you Judith.... shouldn't we all be outside enjoying our pools rather than following this silly discussion thread.

I think Andrew's contributions are of value to the forum as a whole, so I am off for a swim !!

[Steve]

[quote user="g8vkv"]Blimey - I never realised that there was so much interest in baking soda[;-)]

So, given that, here's what I've discovered so far ....

Firstly, my measurement of 'Total Alkalinity' (TAC). I've got a Scuba+ which I use as the primary instrument for all measurements. On this particular one, it shows 'Lo' - which, according to the specification, means it must be less than 10ppm. However - the error bar on the TAC measurement is +/- 50ppm - so it could be as high as 60ppm while still showing 'Lo'. I also have some dip-strips which measure (among other things) the TAC. Now I know colour-comparision testing is prone to a host of subjective errors, but this test shows it's at the bottom of the OK range - about 80ppm. So my guess is that it's probably about 60ppm-ish. It's my intention to concentrate some pool water by evaporation and test the concentrate to get a more accurate measure. I had intended to do this today, but got distracted by F1.

Secondly, the price/availability of baking soda. It's not widely available - just one of the local Bricos had a single tub, gathering dust, at €50 for 5Kg[:P]. Phoning around indicates that this is about the 'going rate'. It's also available off t'interweb at about €25 for 5Kg, but when you factor in the cost of delivery, it comes up to about €45. The cheapest I've found is at Carrefour, where they have 400g pots (for use in baking) at €2.15, making it about €25 Kg. This is probably what I'll end up using. What _is_ more available is combined pH+/TAC+ (NaCO3 and NaHCO3 at 25€/5Kg) - but raising pH in order to raise TAC and then having to lower pH again seems a bit, well, daft.

Finally, does it matter? I spoke to the very nice lady at the local pool shop, who assured me that so long as the pH isn't jumping around all over the place (which it isn't), then don't worry too much about the TAC.

So - there you go.

[/quote]

Nice one G8

Steve

[Scooby]

And all FOC no strings attached! [:D]

PS - Another useful tip - a paste made of bicarb of soda is excellent for cleaning stonework.

[g8vkv]

[quote user="Scooby"]And all FOC no strings attached! [:D]

PS - Another useful tip - a paste made of bicarb of soda is excellent for cleaning stonework.

[/quote]

... and smelly fridges.

[Jonzjob]

[quote user="Steve"][quote user="g8vkv"]Blimey - I never realised that there was so much interest in baking soda[;-)]

So, given that, here's what I've discovered so far ....

Firstly, my measurement of 'Total Alkalinity' (TAC). I've got a Scuba+ which I use as the primary instrument for all measurements. On this particular one, it shows 'Lo' - which, according to the specification, means it must be less than 10ppm. However - the error bar on the TAC measurement is +/- 50ppm - so it could be as high as 60ppm while still showing 'Lo'. I also have some dip-strips which measure (among other things) the TAC. Now I know colour-comparision testing is prone to a host of subjective errors, but this test shows it's at the bottom of the OK range - about 80ppm. So my guess is that it's probably about 60ppm-ish. It's my intention to concentrate some pool water by evaporation and test the concentrate to get a more accurate measure. I had intended to do this today, but got distracted by F1.

Secondly, the price/availability of baking soda. It's not widely available - just one of the local Bricos had a single tub, gathering dust, at €50 for 5Kg[:P]. Phoning around indicates that this is about the 'going rate'. It's also available off t'interweb at about €25 for 5Kg, but when you factor in the cost of delivery, it comes up to about €45. The cheapest I've found is at Carrefour, where they have 400g pots (for use in baking) at €2.15, making it about €25 Kg. This is probably what I'll end up using. What _is_ more available is combined pH+/TAC+ (NaCO3 and NaHCO3 at 25€/5Kg) - but raising pH in order to raise TAC and then having to lower pH again seems a bit, well, daft.

Finally, does it matter? I spoke to the very nice lady at the local pool shop, who assured me that so long as the pH isn't jumping around all over the place (which it isn't), then don't worry too much about the TAC.

So - there you go.
[/quote]

Nice one G8

Steve
[/quote]

Which just goes to prove my point about stupid, useless pool shops!

http://www.swimming-pool-care.com/total-alkalinity.html

I had some difficult problems a while back and it turned out the be that the TA was waytoo low. After correcting it, with bicarb supplied by Andrew, the problems were resolved.

Just as a matter of interest the next time you go into your pol shop ask them if they have any sulphuric acid (acid sulphurique)? If they then say no ask them if they have PH minus. If they then say yes have a look at the tub and see what chemical it is.

[Clair]

From sodium bicarb to forum signatures...[blink]

A quick refresher... [:)]

Forum signatures are intended

to show that posters may have relevant experience to

allow them to advise on matters being discussed with some authority (see http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/997577/ShowPost.aspx).

If you think any poster is not complying with the forum code of conduct, please bring the matter to the moderator's attention by clicking on the Report button (bottom right of each post).

The mods will deal with any problem with the poster if they believe a problem exists.

[Scooby]

Posters may have very relevant experience but if they aren't touting for business they wouldn't necessarily have a link in their signature.  (I speak from experience [;-)]). 

(Nevertheless, it doesn't matter how experienced you are there will always be a forum 'man in the pub' who will be certain he knows better!)