TA stuck at 120? Help

[CausticMeasures]

Hi All,
First time pool owner here. The pool was opened mid May and we installed a new pump, DE filter, heat pump and SWG. I read just about every pool school post and started the slam process. The pH was off the charts low so I followed pool math to bring it up with soda ash before adding chlorine. Unfortunately, I hadn’t found the “effects of adding” function yet… Pool math recommended 275oz of soda ash. I got nervous and stopped at 220oz.

Needless to say my TA went through the roof. Now I can’t seem to get it down. I’ve added almost 2 gallons of Muriatic acid over the last two weeks (aerating in between) and I’m still stuck at 120 TA.

Do I stay the course with acid or am I missing something?

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum

Stay the course. If you measure accurately, you can drop the pH down to 6.8 before aeration...........that may be a bit faster.

While 50-60 TA seems to work better, 120 is at the top of acceptable range and it will slowly drift down on it's own if you want.

 

[CausticMeasures]

Welcome to the forum

Stay the course. If you measure accurately, you can drop the pH down to 6.8 before aeration...........that may be a bit faster.

While 50-60 TA seems to work better, 120 is at the top of acceptable range and it will slowly drift down on it's own if you want.

Thank you! That’s good to hear. There seems to me some scaling on the liner (feels a little like sandpaper?), so I was getting nervous. I ordered some jacks magic purple. Should I wait until the TA drops before adding?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Something to keep as reference:
Baking Soda = Big TA Change, Small pH Change
Borax = Big pH Change, Small TA Change
Washing Soda = Big pH Change, Big TA Change

 

[pjt]

The pH was off the charts low

Do you know what caused the low pH? How low would you estimate? What was your TA before you added soda ash?

Pool math recommended

PoolMath is just a calculator. Don't blindly follow its recommendations. Start here: ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry

 

[CausticMeasures]

Do you know what caused the low pH? How low would you estimate? What was your TA before you added soda ash?


PoolMath is just a calculator. Don't blindly follow its recommendations. Start here: ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry

I would estimate the pH was in the 6’s. Unfortunately no I’m not sure what caused it. We just bought the house in February so I’m not sure what the previous owners put in the pool before closing. The company that installed the new equipment also opened the pool. It sat open without a filter for a couple weeks before we sorted out an electrical issue at the pool panel (thanks again to this forum). TA was 60 prior to the addition of soda ash.