I have a 15k gallon in ground plaster SWG pool. My TA was 40 about 2 weeks ago. Since then I've added 16 pounds of Calcium Chloride to bring my CH up from 140 to 290. I've added 40 ounces (need to add more) CYA to bring it up from 35, shooting for 70, I'm at 45 now. My pH was at 7.6, but has climbed a little to 7.8 now (since it has been 3 weeks, which is normal). My question though is what could have brought my TA up from 40 to 60 now in 2 weeks? The only other thing I've added to my pool since then is Bioguard Backup 2 which has been very effective in killing the water bugs I was having a bit of a problem with. Could the Bioguard Backup I've been adding cause it to go up? The active ingredient is Alkyl dimethylbenzylammonium chloride.....could this have caused the TA rise? I'm not complaining because I actually WANTED to increase my TA a bit, but I'm just curious now what caused it so I'll know.
What could have raised my Total Alkalinity?
- Thread starter CajunGuy
- Start date
The first word in the ingredients is "Alkyl..." so I'm pretty sure that is it. TA=Total ALKALINITY, and you added some.
Alkyl actually refers to the alkane group that is attached to the molecule that is made up of a chain of carbon and hydrogen (hydrocarbon), not anything to do with alkalinity. I don't see anything else on the SDS to indicate alkalinity such as bicarbonate.
OMG!THIS is why I'm not a chemist. It seemed so obvious to me....
Haha me too!
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Any idea what may have raised it then?
Maybe I messed up on the first test a few weeks ago, now I'm second guessing myself (scratch head).
There could have been buffering agents in the Bioguard product but not likely in the quantities needed to increase the TA by that much in your size pool. Probably not from the calcium addition either, unless that product had additives.
I wouldn't be overly concerned as it's not a bad chemistry change. The resolution of the TA test is also +/-10 ppm. So it's possible the TA has been 50 the whole time and one test came out low, one came out high.
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I wouldn't be overly concerned as it's not a bad chemistry change. The resolution of the TA test is also +/-10 ppm. So it's possible the TA has been 50 the whole time and one test came out low, one came out high.
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What's the TA of fill water to make up for evaporation?
Oddly enough, I have a troubling TA rise that cannot be blamed on anything. To cope, I pour a beer in my mouth as I pour acid in the pool. While that doesn't help the issue, it makes me look forward to pH rise...
Oddly enough, I have a troubling TA rise that cannot be blamed on anything. To cope, I pour a beer in my mouth as I pour acid in the pool. While that doesn't help the issue, it makes me look forward to pH rise...
We need to make that a sticky. 
CG, when you do the TA test do you wipe the tip to release static, hold the bottle vertically and let the drop fully form? Also, if the sample size was off a bit.
LOL at all the chemists in this thread! :-D
CG, when you do the TA test do you wipe the tip to release static, hold the bottle vertically and let the drop fully form? Also, if the sample size was off a bit.
LOL at all the chemists in this thread! :-D
I didn't wipe the tip, I didn't know that was the proper way. Do I need to do that to each bottle everytime I do a different test? Everything else was how you described.
TA is the test that specifically has more issues with static electricity causing problems with drop size on R-0009. Wiping the tip after each drop reduces this problem. Shouldn't be necessary on other tests. See notes in this post, not present in other extended test kit instructions: Extended Test Kit Directions As always, try to hold all dropper bottles vertically when dispensing drops for consistency.