High TA -- what should I do?

[scheng007]

Hi Everyone!

So we just opened our pool for the season about 2 weeks ago, and this past week, the pool company that we have contracted to open and close our pools mistakenly threw in all kinds of buffer (I forget how much) into our pool -- they got our pool mixed up with another customer. I used the handy dandy TF-100 test kit, and here are the results:

FC 6
CC 0
TC 6
pH 7.8
TA 200 (from 140 the week before)
CH 290
CYA 40

What's your take about what to do, outside of complaining to my pool company? (don't give them too hard of a time though... they are good people over there). I figure I need to lower the TA with muriatic acid... so I just dropped 4L (1 gallon) of 31.45% muriatic acid into the pool and wait for it to do it's magic. I read that I need to aerate the pool to bring the pH up. some questions though... how long would it take using this process to lower the TA to something more reasonable (like 100) for my pool? Is there a faster way to do it?

Any answers would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your answers!

Sam

 

[duraleigh]

Sam,

If your [pool is truly 15k and you truly put in one gallon of muriatic, I think you should test your pH (I think it will be too low to measure) and then I would suggest you get some 20 Mule Team Borax to get it back into the mid 7's.

Aerating may well take too long to raise your pH which I calculate to now be dangerously low.

Use Jason's Pool Calculator to calc how much Borax you will need to get up to at least 7.0 and then you can consider aerating.

Also, when you do the TA test, wipe the dropper tip with a damp cloth every few drops (of the R-0009). You may get a lower result and need to do nothing to your TA.

 

[scheng007]

Thanks for the response. Yeah, I kinda screwed up with the muriatic acid. I used the pool calculator and I entered a super low target pH by mistake, and it told me I needed to put in an ungodly amount of muriatic acid. I started with 4L (equivalent of 1 gallon) of muriatic acid, came back and realized the error of my ways. Anyway, in checking with the pool calculator, the amount i needed to put in to lower the pH from 7.8 to 6.9 would have been 4L of 31.45% muriatic acid (given that my starting TA is at 200) -- it sounds like according to the calculator, the effect of putting muriatic acid changes when the TA is up at 200 instead of 120.

ANYWAY, I just tested my pH and it's sitting somewhere between 6.8 and 7.2 -- right where the pool calculator pinned it. So... with that said, it looks like the pH is okay... ya? is it just a waiting process to for the pH to go back up to 7.5? is there a faster way of increasing pH that doesn't affect the TA? just curious...

Sam

 

[duraleigh]

Also, when you do the TA test, wipe the dropper tip with a damp cloth every few drops (of the R-0009). You may get a lower result and need to do nothing to your TA.

 

[Guest]

is it just a waiting process to for the pH to go back up to 7.5? is there a faster way of increasing pH that doesn't affect the TA? just curious...

Sam

Aeration speeds up the pH rise. The more efficient the aeration the faster it goes. This thread has some ideas on how to aerate:
how-to-lower-ta-t5341.html

 

[scheng007]

thanks for the link. i guess patience is the key. thanks for the tips, folks!