Raise my TA?

[gary300]

Hello all. I had my 38000 gal pool re-plastered in May of this year and it is still taking about 1 gal per week of Muratic acid to keep the PH in range. I reduced the flow from my raised spa to a trickle to keep the aeration down. My TA is at 50. Should I raise the TA with baking soda to try to stabalize the PH a bit? What value of TA should I shoot for?

Thanks.

 

[pabeader]

Unfortunately, raising the TA will only make the pH go up faster. You are going to need to look at other ways to buffer the pH. There are a number of folks around here with plaster type pools, so someone should be along soon with ideas for you.

 

[Texas Splash]

Raising your TA will only increase the rate of elevation of your pH. Better to keep the TA lower to help hold the pH down. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of any new plaster job is pH rising and consistent use of acid. That could go on for a few months. At the same time, make sure you watch your CSI level (range) on the Poolmath Calculator to ensure it stays as close to neutral (zero) as possible.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Raising your TA will only make the problem worse, not better.

Can you post a full set of water test results?

Typically speaking, new plaster surfaces, whether from a new pool build or a resurfacing job, require a higher acid demand for the first 12-18 months as the plaster cures slowly. As long as the surface is in good shape and your water chemistry is balanced, living with the high acid demand will be a temporary nuisance.


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[JVTrain]

Does the contractor that did the replastering have any requirements you must maintain for water chemistry to keep any warranty on the resurfacing intact? That's your first concern.

After that, it's a given that new plaster will consume a lot of acid in the first 6 months to a year. If you have no requirements from the builder/contractor then you should pick one of the new plaster start up methods in Pool School and go with it. Pool School - Start-up New Plaster The bicarbonate start-up is the most involved but gets a lot of praise here on TFP. I'm not sure if that's because it's a better way to start up or that the average person on TFP likes to complicate things and have more reasons to test their sparkling pools.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

The bicarbonate start-up is the most involved but gets a lot of praise here on TFP. I'm not sure if that's because it's a better way to start up or that the average person on TFP likes to complicate things and have more reasons to test their sparkling pools.

the answer is YES

Bicarbonate Startup is the approach that produces the optimal calcium carbonate/calcium silicate shell with the least amount of plaster dust ejected into the pool. The problem is it is complicated (not really) and takes a lot of time. Typical bicarbonate startup require that no one swim in the pool for 30days after filling. Plasterers don't like that and so they use a shortcut approach (acid startup) which cheap and effective but generates a less optimally cured surface and creates a ton of plaster dust which eventually turns into CH in your water.

Since the plaster job was done in May, the curing is done and now you just have cope with the acid demand until the surface fully cures and all of the quick lime (CaO) is converted to calcium carbonate.


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[gary300]

Thanks all for the many replies. I guess I will just live with the high MA demand. Hopefully only six mor months to go. I have a Stenner pump for chlorine addition, and I just got another on Ebay for a steal. Was going to use that just for a backup, but now considering to use it for an acid pump. See more when I post in Chemical automation, hopefully soon.

Thanks again, always find my answers on this forum.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Here is a very detailed, recent thread about setting up an acid Stenner injection system.

Good luck!!


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