Total Alkalinity & pollen

[flygirl516]

Hi all, finally passed SLAM test! 2 questions:

My TA is 40. Do I need to raise it? I read pool school etc but I’m unclear if it absolutely needs to be raised.. to get to a TA of 70 I need 7lbs of baking soda!

second, I keep getting pockets of pollen on the bottom of my pool. We’ve been vacuuming to waste but then it comes back. Do we just need to keep vacuuming until the pollen season is over or is there a way for the filter to get it out?

 

[jblizzle]

Vacuum or get a cleaner to remove the pollen.

I would raise the TA up to about 60ppm and see how your pH behaves.

 

[Richard320]

Vacuum it through the filter. The filter will remove it and you won't lose any water that way. When you vacuum to waste and lose water, then you mess up the pH and TA and CYA and even the FC.

I concur with Jason on the TA target. Aim for 60.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Walmart sells big bags of baking soda in the baking goods aisle. Feels like about 7# worth too!

You're positive this is pollen, right? Like it's all over the patio furniture and cars and such?? Not just in the pool? Cause sometimes dead algae can look just like pollen... so I just wanna be sure?

Maddie