Adjusting PH and TA. Which First?

[TRT77]

My FC is 1, and I just added 110oz of bleach per the pool calculator to get it to 4. I'll retest in a couple hours.

PH is at 8, and TA is 70.

So, if I understand, adding baking soda to increase TA will also increase PH. So which level should I adjust first? Increase TA (and by default increase PH), then adjust the PH down tomorrow?

I'm still learning the effect each of these levels have on the other. Thanks for the help.

 

[woodyp]

Why do you THINK you need to raise TA? I'd get the PH down to 7.4 first even in case you don't!

 

[Richard320]

Just fix the pH and be done with it.

If you target 7.5 pH, poolmath only says to add 18 oz of Muriatic Acid.

Scroll down to Effects of Adding Chemicals and see what 18 oz of MA does...TA will reduce by 3.9. You probably won't even be able to see the difference in TA when you test again.

 

[chiefwej]

A TA of 70 is not a problem. In fact, I wish mine were that low.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Just to correct a mistake, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is used to raise alkalinity without raising the pH. The pH rise due to baking soda is minuscule. You use WASHING soda (sodium carbonate) to raise pH and TA at the same time.

So you can adjust your pH down with Muriatic acid and then, if your TA is lower than you'd like, you can raise it by adding baking soda.

But, as others have said, your TA is fine.


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[TRT77]

Ok, thanks! I'll just work on getting the FC up to 5 or so and the PH down to 7.4.

I just read on the pool calculator that adding baking soda will also increase PH, and I didn't want to make the issue worse.

I was thinking TA was best between 80-120 based on something I got from the pool store.

Thanks again!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Ok, thanks! I'll just work on getting the FC up to 5 or so and the PH down to 7.4.

I just read on the pool calculator that adding baking soda will also increase PH, and I didn't want to make the issue worse.

I was thinking TA was best between 80-120 based on something I got from the pool store.

Thanks again!

Baking soda does raise pH but by a very small amount.

You can use PoolMath to see the Effects of Adding Chemicals. So if I add 96oz (6lbs) of baking soda to my 16000 gallon pool, my TA goes up by 27ppm but my pH only goes up by 0.05 units. That much pH rise is indistinguishable on a color comparator test.

I won't be the last person to say this - ignore the pool store advice.

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