Recommended TA level before adding Borates

[glo76]

I'm getting ready to add borates. Got my 55 lb bucket of boric acid on order from Duda Diesel.

Question on recommended TA level, understand it's best to adjust before you add borates as it's difficult to do afterward. My TA is 80. I've been seeing my pH drift upwards since I converted fully to bleach from trichlor a couple of months ago, so been adding quite a bit more MA than I was, probably a gallon every 1-2 weeks, before that on trichlor it was rock solid stable. TA is down from about 110 a couple of months ago.

Wondering if I need to lower my TA further prior to adding borates, or is 80 ok?

 

[RonsPlc]

Your TA is good once you notice that your PH is holding steady for about a week (I did the Borates once it got to 2 cups of MA per week).

 

[tim5055]

Rather than thinking about a specific number, stability is the key. If you are constantly adding MA you are not stable. Lowering the TA a little more may help. My pool likes the TA around 60.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

You should try to lower your TA to minimize pH rise as much as you find can reasonably be achieved. So try dropping your TA to 60ppm and see what that does for you.

It is all limited by your fill water TA in some sense. My fill water TA is about 100ppm and so both pH and TA have an upward driving force. I can reasonably hold my TA between 60-70ppm and that had me adding about 12oz of MA every 14 days or so to keep the pH between 7.6-7.8. That is with 50ppm borates in my water.

So play with the TA a bit to see what is "reasonable" for your pool. Previously, the acidic trichlor pucks you were using was the thing keeping your TA down and your pH stable. But I think you'd agree that adding acid is a much better trade off than having to dump water to keep CYA under control.

 

[glo76]

Thanks guys - will look to lower TA to around 60 and see if that holds.