saxxlane said:
Thank you again guys! Okay, I have the 6-way test, just tested it and this is what I got (shocked about 3 hours ago):
pH: 7.8
TA: 310 ppm (
![Shock :shock: :shock:](/images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
)
Chlorine: 5
Our CYA is 41 and I was looking at the chart from the link in your siggie, frustratedpoolmom, and it looks like the CYA and the amount of chlorine in the pool are okay. This morning, before shock and before the actual test kit, the test STRIPS showed really low chlorine.
The water is now cloudy, but not so much I can't see the bottom of the pool. Is that normal after shocking?
The shock was cloudy.
Oh yeah... we went and bough muriatic acid at Lowe's if you guys advice us that we need to use it! Newbies are rotten, aren't we?!
What did you use to shock? This is important
Read
How to Lower TA. You have two choices, follow the steps in the article to speed up the process....OR....every time the PH creeps up to 7.8 you will lower the PH down to 7.2 with acid. The acid additions will slowly drop the TA over time, and the TA will eventually reach the recommended range and the PH will stabilize. It sounds like you have high TA in the tap water? Can you test your tap water TA? Because if you have high TA in the tap, every time you "top off" the pool your TA will increase.
Basically the only problem with high TA is the ph drift. As long as you are diligent in monitoring the PH with daily testing, and adjusting it when it does reach 7.8, it shouldn't be a problem. High PH can be irritating and also cause scale, especially when CH is high.
Do the test strips show FC or total chlorine? Can you compare the results? Also, you can use a 50/50 dilution to test the chlorine up to 10. Make sure you use distilled or chlorine-free water to dilute the pool sample.
If the water is still cloudy, it could be two things, the product you used to shock, combined with high PH... or you have algae trying to take hold and you need to shock the pool, raising the FC up to 16.