FC loss in 24hrs

[Woodberg]

Is there a problem keeping the TA at 60 or lower, or is the idea of TA just to get it to a level where it stabilizes the PH?

Just hypothetically, if I found that a TA of 10 kept my PH stable, would that be ok or would it cause other problems?

 

[JasonLion]

There is no direct problem from any particular TA level. But the TA level does very much affect how much the PH changes. If the PH gets either too high or too low there can be serious problems.

At a TA level of 10, your PH would swing around dramatically, going out of range almost any time you add a pool chemical, from rain, and possibly even from something simple like a person getting in the water. It would be impossible to keep the PH in range.

TA levels as low as 60 work acceptably. A couple of people have tried TA around 50 and had some issues, but nothing too serious. At TA levels below that, things start to get problematic.

I suggest you try lowering your TA level to 60 and see how that goes.

 

[stev32k]

I've read (can't remember where) that it can have as much as 20% excess caustic.

There's no way it's 20%. It could be 2% which would be high and yes, would contribute to rising pH. Clorox Regular unscented has very low "excess lye" in it -- around 0.25% -- so should have minimal pH rise compared to the off-brand bleach you are using. Or course, it's probably more expensive.

I may have remembered wrong it could have been 2% or even 0.2%. I just remember thinking at the time that was likely why my pH was drifting upwards. I know that excess caustic in bleach is something caustic/chlorine plants try to avoid because of cost. However, I have first hand knowledge of at least one plant that will on occasion add excess caustic to their bleach production because they have nowhere else to put it when all the caustic tanks are full. Bleach is actually a by-product for them and I believe Wal-Mart is one of their customers.