TA too low ??

[rezasaba]

Pool was cloudy my TA was low and PH was also at 6.5 i use the Chlorine tablets which with the heat here these days is being used up rapidly i keep the chlorine level high due to heat at round 5-6 . I have added 8 Lbs of baking Soda in the past 4 days and the TA is still at 60 range . How can i bring up the TA so I can bring up the PH to 7.5 level??? all the Borax I used last week did not bring up the PH much, pool had developed some orange stain , around the rim but the stains are gone now.

Topic moved to appropriate forum.
257WbyMag - Forum Moderator

 

[dmanb2b]

Arm and Hammer Washing Soda or PH+ will raise both PH and TA. You have a large pool, so please make sure you are dosing correctly. You can use poolcalculator.com to determine amounts needed. Also, please try to post a full set of results so that we can help you better.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Hi Reza
Tablets are acidic and lower both PH and TA.
Use Borax for PH but use Baking Soda to raise the TA.
The orange stain is from the metals in your water. If your PH gets too high they may reappear, have some metal sequesterant on hand just in case.

Monitor that CYA level and replace some water if your CYA has risen past 50 because it's unlikely that your tablets will be able to maintain enough FC if the CYA gets too high.

 

[rezasaba]

Thank you all i am using the dosage from the Pool Calc. i just didnt want to add 13 LBS of baking Sida all at once , once i get the water TA to 120 i will add the borax. :!: :!:

 

[rezasaba]

Thanx pool people , my TA came up to 110 and the PH is at 7.2 water is not as cloudy anymore . Thanx

 

[dmanb2b]

glad it worked out...if your still using tabs, raise your PH to 7.5 using borax. The tabs are acidic and 7.5 is ideal PH on your eyes

 

[rezasaba]

well here MY #s
Chlorine= 20
CC= 0
PH= 7.2
water is cloudy still , at 6 foot depth my feet are Bluryyyyy
TA = wat out of wack due to High Chlorine
I keep the chlorine High due to Heat these days and lots of trees around my pool this year i have no Algea issues so far , anything i can do to keep the [pool clearer ???

 

[JasonLion]

With the FC level that high, your PH test is probably reading higher than the PH actually is. You should raise your PH to at least 7.5.

What do you mean "TA = wat out of wack due to High Chlorine"? The TA test can still be done at high FC levels, even though the colors are sometimes different than normal.

 

[rezasaba]

Thanx Jason , ok i will add 4 LBS of borax , as for TA yes i was getting diffrent color it was turing Peach sort of color after 20 drops can my TA be that high (200 +)?? Thats what i meant i could not decifer what the correct reading is for TA, is that why my water is still kind of cloudy?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Its possible - or you are on the verge of an algae bloom.

You should leave the filter running 24/7 and do an overnight loss test - take out any tabs for the test to get an accurate reading on the FC overnight.
Overnight FC Loss Test

On your TA test - its possible you overshot before when you added baking soda, or someone else added any? Have you been adding tap water to help with evaporation at all? What is the TA of your TAp water, perhaps that also raised the level somewhat.
Do the TA test again, wipe the tip of the r-0009 dropper bottle in between drops with a damp cloth to reduce static. When you see the color change and stay changed, that's your level so if it turns peach at 20 and stays peach, then yes, your TA is 200.

 

[rezasaba]

Algea bloom ??? hope not my Chlorine level is very high is it still possiable to get algea? i`m letting the clorine level drop a bit , but the days are so hot here in NJ I am afraid i get algea , I will take the TA test again , yes i did add water to the pool it is evaporating like nuts.. its so hot every day temp/ around the pool is well over 100 F pool water temp is around 88-90 , i added 8 LBS of borax last night the PH had droped to 6.8-7 range . clorine was at 10 range . water was cloudy and i ran my Aquabot nonstop in order to dispurse the Borax and also clean the pool. my filter is runing 12 hours a day 10 am to 10 pm.

 

[benavidescj]

Rezasaba, you need to post your test results so we can better help you. Please post the following numbers:

pH
CYA
TA
FC
CC
CH

What kind of kit are you using to test?

Without these number it will be difficult to give you good advice.

 

[rezasaba]

ok here are some #s
FC 3
TC 3
TA 90
CYA 35
TDS 1200 =Total Dissolved Solids
Phosphate 300
water is clear and feels great
anyone knows about Phosphate? please elaborate , i know its in Fertilizer thats about it , what should i do about it use Phosfree from the pool store ?

 

[dmanb2b]

How about PH? Those numbers do not seem so bad, but don't let you FC get below 3ppm.

Forget about TDS and Phosphates, which leads me to my next assumption that these are pool store test results? If so, they are helpful in a pinch, but are not always accurate and is likely what has prohibited you from taking charge of your pool. You should really invest in your own kit and measuer your chemistry as needed. At this point you are guessing and therfore your water chemistry is swinging all over the place.

You do realize that when your FC was at 20 a few days ago, you were above shock level right? Just making sure that's what you intended

 

[rezasaba]

dmanb2b Thanx the PH is 7.4 i do have the test kit and do complete testing myself time to time . I ask the pool store to do the test , they are much faster than me . LOL . yes i kept the Clorine level high . my water has been cloudy so i let the clorine drop this past week from 20 to about 4 or so and the water got clear . also when i test the water my PH was around 6.8 may be bit higher . Thanx for the comment on TDS and Phosphate .

 

[benavidescj]

rezasaba, your numbers look good now. The only thing I see is to try and keep the pH between 7.5 and 7.8. Your chlorine level may have gotten too low and may have caused your clouding. You say that the pool store is faster that you testing, but by the time you run up to the pool store to get your testing done you would have been done. You should get in the habit of testing at least your pH and FC level yourself at least a couple times a week to ensure your levels are ok. It is real easy to put off going to the pool store to get your readings and doing the readings yourself will be more accurate anyways.