Order of Operations

[JimJimR]

I opened up the pool last weekend and have it cleaned up from deep green to perfectly clear. I checked chems this afternoon and have the following:
FC = 0
PH = 8.2
TA = 40
Salt = 3200
CYA = 0
Borate = 15
Salt is good and turned on the salt generator to supply FC. I added 4 lbs of stabilzer and will pick up 8 more lbs to correct.
My question is should I adjust the PH first or TA? They seem to contradict each other.
I will adjust borate after everything else is correct.
Any suggestions or course of action?
Thanks in advance,
Jim

 

[AimeeH]

HI Jim,

You'll want to correct your PH and then monitor TA. Your TA is a buffer for your PH. Normally you don't need to chase a particular TA number unless your PH isn't staying stable.......which it generally won't if TA is too out of whack.

 

[duraleigh]

Aimee is correct about the actions of pH and TA but I would suggest you raise the TA first......up to about 80-90 ppm.

Secondly, bring your pH down to around 7.5. This will cause your TA to fall as well but not dangerously low since you had raised it previously.

You didn't ask but I would get CYA in the pool right away and I would dose your pool with liquid chlorine up to about 5 ppm to get it started.......saving cell life on the swg.

 

[JimJimR]

Thanks AimeeH and Duraleigh. I put the last of my acid in last night and have to make a chem run. Will check again this AM and adjust TA followed by PH.
I did add some CYA and will add the remaining today.
Thanks again for the help!

 

[JimJimR]

After thinking about it, it makes sense to correct the TA first since it is a buffer for the PH. This seems similar to the CYA/FC relationship. The CYA "protects" the FC and the TA protects the PH?
Is this correct?
Thanks,
Jim

 

[Jezza]

Yes you are sort of right -TA buffers and stabilises your pH levels.

The balancing act is to get your TA to a point (around 50-90 mark usually) which stabilises the pH rise and hence the need to add acid as much. However going below this mark usually crashes the pH which is obviously a highly undesirable result as it threatens the integrity of your equipment and pool.