Newbie low TA question

[mikeqb]

First off - I found these boards to be of great help in getting my spa set-up --- much, much more than my spa store!!!

I have the recommended Taylor test kit.

So, I'm pretty happy with where things are at, I have my bromine levels dialed in well with using bleach after use and the floater for residual.

I was noticing the pH was always increasing, so I added 50 ppm borates per the pool calculator (20 mule team borax and Muriatic Acid).

Right now, here are my numbers:

TA = 40
pH = 7.6
CH = 140
Temp = 102

My question is should I be concerned about the TA of 40? Afraid if I try and raise the TA that my pH will go up. Advice?

Thanks for the help...

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, mikeqb

TA of 40 ppm is a little lower than we recommend (we recommend 50 ppm TA when using 50 ppm borates), but since you have borates also providing some ph buffering it may be fine. Keep a close eye on ph to make sure it doesn't get out of range to quickly (7.2-7.8). Additionally, keep an eye on TA and if it goes down any more, I would recommend raising it up to 50 ppm.

 

[Patrick_B]

Welcome to the forum Mike!

Could you please put some info about your pool in your sig line? Type, size, type of filtration etc... It really helps us make better suggestions to help you.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum.

Afraid if I try and raise the TA that my pH will go up.

You can adjust TA and leave pH unchanged by simply adding baking soda per the dosage suggested in the poolcalculator.

 

[chem geek]

Bromine from tabs can be somewhat acidic (not as much as Trichlor, however) so watch your TA level as it may drop over time, mostly because the usage/consumption of bromine is an acidic process. If you were just using bleach to create bromine from a bromide bank, then there would be no issue.