TA rising

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TeenaTeens

TeenaTeens

Bronze Supporter
Apr 25, 2022
293
Tampa FL
Pool Size
12200
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Hayward Aqua Rite Pro (T-15)
Last week I had some flakes with a TA of 80. I was advised here to drop it to 60. Did it and flakes disappeared. Great. But the TA just tested at 80 again! I have added water to the pool twice this week as zero rain and extremely hot. I just added acid to lower the Ph back to 7 and will get the TA back to 60.

Is this normal? Will I need to do this all the time? I rarely touched the TA before and only a bit of acid for the Ph. Am I doing something wrong with the balancing now? Is there something else I can do to get it more balanced?
 
Test the pH, TA and CH of your fillwater and plst the results here.

Chances are your fill water has a high TA. This will increase your pool water TA whenever you add water to the pool.
 
A fill water TA of 90 isn't too bad (my fill water TA is 130).
It is normal for TA to rise when fill water TA is higher than pool TA.
Each muriatic acid addition (to keep pH in the 7's) will help lower TA a little.

If you notice the SWG flaking again, you may need to be more proactive in lowering TA.
 
proavia said:
A fill water TA of 90 isn't too bad (my fill water TA is 130).
It is normal for TA to rise when fill water TA is higher than pool TA.
Each muriatic acid addition (to keep pH in the 7's) will help lower TA a little.

If you notice the SWG flaking again, you may need to be more proactive in lowering TA.
Click to expand...
Is 60 ok for TA?
 
mknauss said:
Yes.
Click to expand...
So I lowered it again on Monday. Back to 60. Had the FC drama yesterday and added some liquid chlorine. It’s back to 70 again! Is it normal for it to constantly rise like this? I thought if I took it down to 60, I would be able to stop chasing Ph, but now it seems I’m chasing TA. Haven’t added water to the pool since before the last add of MA.
 
TeenaTeens said:
So I lowered it again on Monday. Back to 60. Had the FC drama yesterday and added some liquid chlorine. It’s back to 70 again! Is it normal for it to constantly rise like this? I thought if I took it down to 60, I would be able to stop chasing Ph, but now it seems I’m chasing TA. Haven’t added water to the pool since before the last add of MA.
Click to expand...
The acceptable test results difference for the TA test is +/- 10 ppm. That's only 1 drop of reagent for the TA test.
Don't stress about this small difference. Just keep the TA in the 60-70 range.

Remember, the pH test is inaccurate above FC of 10. You are only 'slightly' above FC 10, so the error could be minimal.
Just wanting to be sure you are aware of this possibility.
 

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proavia said:
The acceptable test results difference for the TA test is +/- 10 ppm. That's only 1 drop of reagent for the TA test.
Don't stress about this small difference. Just keep the TA in the 60-70 range.

Remember, the pH test is inaccurate above FC of 10. You are only 'slightly' above FC 10, so the error could be minimal.
Just wanting to be sure you are aware of this possibility.
Click to expand...
Ok that’s interesting because water guru is telling me I’m at 58 for TA. Everything else is accurate in the water guru sense 2 so, I might split the difference and get on with it. I didn’t know about the testing difference if 10. Thank you.

One more question. If I’m trying to contain Ph rather than chasing it, do I continue to add MA when it reaches 7.8? Or do I wait for it to get to 8. A year in and I’m still learning.
 
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Believe your drop testing before relying on Water Guru.

For the pH - either is fine. It's only a 0.2 difference.
 
Use CSI from PoolMath.
LSI is an old standard used for boilers.

Given the reported TA and pH of your fill water, replacing some pool water will raise your TA.

Dropping the CH from 460 to 400 won't have an appreciable effect.
Let your TA drop to 60.
 
proavia said:
Use CSI from PoolMath.
LSI is an old standard used for boilers.

Given the reported TA and pH of your fill water, replacing some pool water will raise your TA.

Dropping the CH from 460 to 400 won't have an appreciable effect.
Let your TA drop to 60.
Click to expand...
The problem is I keep dropping it to 60 but it keeps rising again… so just get down to 60 every week then? That means my CSI is always out of balance as I’m constantly adding acid to drop the Ph to a low level. I must be doing something wrong. And sorry - wrote LSI by accident. I use pool
Math csi
 
proavia said:
Use CSI from PoolMath.
LSI is an old standard used for boilers.

Given the reported TA and pH of your fill water, replacing some pool water will raise your TA.

Dropping the CH from 460 to 400 won't have an appreciable effect.
Let your TA drop to 60.
Click to expand...
The problem is I keep dropping it to 60 but it keeps rising again… so just get down to 60 every week then? That means my CSI is always out of balance as I’m constantly adding acid to drop the Ph to a low level. I must be doing something wrong. And sorry - wrote LSI by accident. I use pool
Math
TeenaTeens said:
The problem is I keep dropping it to 60 but it keeps rising again… so just get down to 60 every week then? That means my CSI is always out of balance as I’m constantly adding acid to drop the Ph to a low level. I must be doing something wrong. And sorry - wrote LSI by accident. I use pool
Math csi
Click to expand...
To drop the Ph to get the TA down I mean. Ph isn’t rising and isn’t a problem.
 
Adding tap water with a TA of 90 will raise your pool TA a bit over time (although, not above 90).
Just adjust the pH to keep the CSI in the 0.00 to -0.30 (negative 0.30) range.
Don't chase a specific number for TA or pH - you're aiming at an ever moving target.

If you measure a pH of 7.8 to 8.0, add acid to lower the pH only to get the CSI into range.
If you find yourself in a long dry spell, you may need to work on lowering the TA (due to adding tap water with a higher TA) - but normally in Tampa you shouldn't need to worry about it too much.

Try not to be a slave to your pool. There is no "perfect" or "ideal" set of test results.
There are specific recommended ranges for chemical balance.
Go swimming and enjoy your pool.
 
TeenaTeens....I am having the same issue you are. I started the TFP method about 3 weeks ago after doing a FULL drain/refill. I seemed to be fighting rising Ph and thus have to keep adding MA. I was also aiming for a lower Ph (7.2-7.4) which caused me to constantly add MA and more of it.The good thing was...I think adding all that MA helped keep my TA from rising. However, in the last 7-10 days or so, I started aiming for a higher Ph (7.6-7.8) thinking that would help from needing to add so much MA by finding a stable Ph level.

My problem now is....my TA was steady for the first 2 weeks when I was aiming for a lower Ph (tested TA 7 days ago= 70). now tonight it's 80. So, I think the fact that I am adding less MA is now causing TA to rise.

Interesting side note that I discovered over the past two days though. The pool size that I have been using for all my calculations has been wrong. So, when I was adding Chlorine and Muratic Acid...it was not getting the pool to my anticipated levels. For example, when I THOUGHT I was adding enough MA to drop my Ph to 7.4, it was only dropping it to 7.6. So when I was testing the following day...and my Ph was at 7.6, I was thinking it had risen by .2....in actuality it hadn't risen at all. So the Ph rising issue I *thought* I was having....I might not be as bad ad I was thinking. I was using 18,000 galloon pool size (verbally told my my PB)...and after looking at my PB paperwork..it is close to 19,000.

Knowing all this..I think I am going to aim for a "lower" Ph again (7.2-7.6). It is my understanding that it does require a bit more MA to drop Ph from 7.6 to 7.2 (verses dropping it from 7.8 to 7.4) so I think that should help keep the TA from rising too fast.

Edited to Add :I read on another thread that if you need a drop in your TA...let your Ph rise to 8.0, then add enough MA to lower it to 7.0-7.2.That will drop it a "good" amount. Then from there, you can in theory maintain that lower TA level...by aiming for a lower Ph on a daily basis?
I am still new to all of this...so I defer to the experts...:)
 
Last edited:
proavia said:
Adding tap water with a TA of 90 will raise your pool TA a bit over time (although, not above 90).
Just adjust the pH to keep the CSI in the 0.00 to -0.30 (negative 0.30) range.
Don't chase a specific number for TA or pH - you're aiming at an ever moving target.

If you measure a pH of 7.8 to 8.0, add acid to lower the pH only to get the CSI into range.
If you find yourself in a long dry spell, you may need to work on lowering the TA (due to adding tap water with a higher TA) - but normally in Tampa you shouldn't need to worry about it too much.

Try not to be a slave to your pool. There is no "perfect" or "ideal" set of test results.
There are specific recommended ranges for chemical balance.
Go swimming and enjoy your pool.
Click to expand...
Thanks this is really helpful!
 
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