High TA

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want2swim

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Jun 30, 2011
57
So this year I am converting to SWG. I've spent weeks here reading about it, and today am finally ready to take the plunge so to speak.

Pool is cleaned and empty. SWG is hooked up and pool filter hooked up (obviously lol).

I just did a test on my fill water and these are my numbers:

FC=5
PH=7
TA 220 (whoa!)
CH 60 ppm
CYA= 0

So from the SWG pool school guide, my FC is acceptable, PH needs to come up .5, CYA needs to come up 70, and my TA needs to go down to 60-80.

So I am reading how to lower my TA and I am thinking this is going to be a fun as heck project, heavy sarcasm.

My question is, since my PH is already at 7 i need to aerate. Will filling the pool up (5061 gallons) contribute in any way to aerating? I mean, I can throw a kid in there to stomp and play for a bit too while it's filling up.

How long is it going to take to get this TA lowered? I'm frustrated, but need to go back, I don't think my TA was ever this high but I could be mistaken. It seemed to me I didn't test this one very much??

Also, so do I not add the salt at this time? I'm worried about FC getting too low and getting algae and getting behind.

I hate to admit but I am completely beyond confused at this point. I thought I had it all down pat, but obviously not, and I don't even know where to begin now.
 
You do want to lower TA, but there is no rush to do so right away. In many cases it is fine to simply lower the PH to 7.2 each time it gets to 7.8 until the TA comes down to where you want it.

The only thing you really need to deal with right away is starting to raise CYA. Your CYA level probably isn't really zero, just too low to measure, so don't add too much just at first, but do get it up to at least 30.
 
Just wanted to add that I would not worry about raising the pH chemically, the high TA, SWG, aeration from filing and kids playing should raise it pretty quickly.

Definitely get some CYA in the water.
 
want2swim:

The first thing I would do is get your CYA up to the 60 -80 ppm range for your SWG as you have already realized. Since you are starting with a CYA of 0, I would use 100% stabilizer to bring your CYA up. You can fill an old sock with the granular CYA stabilizer and either place it in the skimmer or hang it in front of a return. The handle on an old bleach bottle filled with water will serve as a sturdy yet portable anchor from which to to hang the sock so it dangles in front of the return.

Since your pH is a bit lower than we would recommend, I wouldn't try to lower the TA right now since that would also lower your pH and you definitely do not want to do that at this time. In fact, I would bump up your pH to at least 7.2. The best way to do that is by aerating and getting in and going swimming. TA indicates the water's ability to buffer changes in pH. Typically, low TA levels tend to contribute toward fluctuations in pH while high TA usually causes pH to drift up. However, the latter situation is not currently happening in your pool. I would focus more on managing your pH over TA. I would still test both (pH several times a week; TA at least once a week) just to keep an eye on things. It is quite possible that once more people are swimming in the pool that the pH may begin to drift up. Then you would lower the pH which would bring TA down with it.

When filling, having your fill source (hose, sprayer, etc.) above the water surface will also provide some aeration of the water.
 
Sounds like my fill water. Well, except your CH is a lot lower.

My bright idea: fill a sock with CYA, tie it to the end of the hose, and let the hose dangle above the pool so you get some aeration when it's filling and the CYA can start dissolving without laying directly on the vinyl.
 
THis is why I LOVE this place! I didn't hang around much last year because I got to know my pool pretty well and could use pool school or search if I needed help :)

CYA is definitely the first thing I wanted to get done, and I knew that would be pretty low. I put in the calculator I wanted to get to 40 from 0 and it said 21 oz. I am out from last year, so I need to get that when I go get the salt. Great idea of tying to the hose!!

We have two hoses, but they draw off the same water line so I'm not sure it would be best to run one with sprayer and one without. I do believe that I will put the CYA in sock on end of hose with sprayer nozzle and also let kids splash around in there.

I did forget to ask however, is the salt okay to put in now? Also, should I pick up some MA now, or just wait and see how it goes? I have lo n slo? and PH down from a few years ago (2011) not sure if it's still okay to use or do I need "fresh"?
 
I guess one more thing.

My pump is apparently the new model. I bought it on clearance at target, well it was mismarked for $15.41. I got it January 2012 but didn't want to mess with it. So it has the copper bars and also generates less chlorine. I researched and lots of people said it's easy to disconnect the bars, but I still can't find a diagram of where I disconnect. With a family of towheads, we definitely want to avoid that copper if at all possible! I fought green hair after memorial day party last year, not dealing with that again this year!

So is there a proper diagram that I'm missing out here?
 
I absolutely love that idea, and that will be so cool for them, especially the one who hates going under water!

So I'm done scrubbing the walls again with my last gallon of bleach, rinsed walls, washed the ladder really well and weed eated around the pool. Ready to go get my bleach, stablizer, and salt (for future). Hope walmart doesn't freak when I buy a lot of bleach LOL!
 

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Walmart has actually gotten somewhat used to TFPers buying lots of their bleach. I think that a thread on here last year pointed to the fact that some stores were actually putting bleach next to the other pool chems on the shelves.
 
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