220 TA, PH about 8

[lovemy3azboys]

New pool, got FC to 4 this am, didnt check CYA yet this am.

Tested TA & it's at 220! Should we worry? From what I;ve read on poolschool the TA shouldnt be adjusted unless the PH is a problem.

PH is somewhere between 7.8 but closer to 8.2 according to the Taylor Basic kit. Thinking of taking sample to Leslies for more accurate reading?

We realised that our water was lower than the inlet so we've added water since these readings. Will adding water change the PH at all?

Should we go ahead & lower the PH before we retest?

What are the problems with high PH?

Thanks in advance for all your help

 

[JasonLion]

You pretty much always want to keep the PH below 8.0, so yes you should lower PH. When the PH gets too high you are at risk for calcium scaling, though the exact risk depends on your other levels.

Adding water will change the levels, but probably not by very much this time. In general, if you have high TA fill water, which you appear to have, and have lowered the TA, adding more water will raise TA part of the way back up.

Don't assume that the pool store test result will be more accurate than your result, even if you are having problems reading the colors.

 

[Txmat]

I use a basic kit to test PH and although it is not precise it works well enough since the ideal PH is a range, not a specific number. I have learned to stay out of pool stores. Not only are their tests not as reliable as my own, but they always try to confuse me with suggestions that will not make things better but worse. I attribute this to the high turnover and lack of training of their personnel - at least at my store. As you learned in Pool School to lower TA you are going to want to lower the PH and aerate the water. I do this by plugging my test numbers into the Pool Calculator and adding MA and turning the eyeball up so the water is breaking the surface.