TA and CH Out of Wack

[poolflyer]

Well, the week has come... to convert my pool to salt and take it over myself. Have some questions on what to do first with CH and TA(&PH).

Been researching it all- K-2006C, chemicals & relationships, SWG's, etc. Have bought all the chemicals and ready to do this! And feeling very confident and comfortable with my testing knowledge and skills. Did my first test today. Realized how much more accurate and precise the Taylor test kit is than strips!

Results:
PH- 8.0
TA- 170
CH-150
CYA-30
FC-3

My main concern is CH. That seems really low. I'm in central Florida. So it looks like ~25 lbs of calcium chloride will raise it to the desired level 350. But my other concern is that CH and TA seem to have some relationship I've read? But didn't see much on it.
So looks like I need to add muriatic acid to lower PH and TA and aerate to bring PH up and repeat until TA is at desired level.

My question: Should I do one before the other with CH and TA/PH adjustment?

Thanks!
PS- Super happy with this decision so far and very impressed with the knowledge and info TFP Pool School has. Thanks admins!

 

[mknauss]

Great decision to take control of your pool water chemistry.

What pool type do you have? Filling out your signature would really help us help you.

If you need to add calcium, add it in small amounts. No more than 50 ppm CH worth at a time.
You can simultaneously lower your pH to 7.2 and then wait a day or two and test pH and repeat. Test TA every other time or so as the data point is needed in Poolmath.

 

[generessler]

Recommend you get the PoolMath app (or use the old web calculator ) and set it up for your pool. With a SWG and plaster pool, you're looking for CSI in -0.6 to 0. Ideally -0.3 to 0. For vinyl liner, more negative is fine.

Plugging in your numbers with 60F water produces CSI of 0.24 for me. So just a bit high.

You want to shoot for something slightly negative to minimize scale on the SWG plates. But overall the consensus here is that CSI is not something to over-manage. The desired range of +- 0.6 is actually easy to hit. Drifting outside for a while is fine, just not for months. Also if you see scale anywhere, it's time to bring CSI down.

A reason your fairly low CH produces okay CSI numbers is the high TA. Also, CSI is sensitive to pH. Just getting to 7.7 produces CSI -0.1, which is about perfect. You'll want to get CYA up to around 60-70 for a SWG. That will also decrease CSI. Finally, lower temps decrease CSI, so summer CSI is higher. You can see all this happen by fiddling with the numbers in PoolMath.

 

[poolflyer]

Thanks for the responses! I’ve updated my bio to reflect my setup
Pool math has been great- got the paid version & I just played with the numbers! Super helpful.

I’ll start adding calcium per your recommendations in small amounts and repeating the PH and aerate cycle to get the TA in check!

 

[proavia]

Fill out your signature (different than the profile in the left border) with pool, pool equipment (including manufacturers and model numbers) and test kit info. Be specific.
This assists us in providing you with help without needing to ask you for this info each time.
See mine and others signatures for inspiration. If on a mobile device, turn the device to landscape mode to see signatures.

https://www.troublefreepool.com/account/signature

Link your PoolMath logs with your forum account by signing into PoolMath using you forum account details.
This way, when you enter/save a new log, it will show when we click on your profile icon and select PoolMath Logs.