TA thoughts

[magicalyak]

I decided to try a local pool store instead of Leslie's. I walked in, knew what I wanted (in this case, muriatic acid, Cyanuric Acid and DE). I asked to see the concentration of the Muriatic acid and the guy said "how do you know all this stuff?". I responded troublefreepool.com and another guy perked up (who worked there). Turns out he does the borate thing (like me) but said, while he respects most of the stuff here, that he really disagrees with the TA and how it is mostly ignored here. I have to say it's one area I never focus on too much. Borax raises, muriatic lowers and at the moment mine is low (just opened today but it's at 50 and I figure I need to be at 100). The guy actually helped me immensely as I was also looking for a T-Cell stand (really just an end cap on the Hayward salt cell so you can clean it), he sold me a union with a cap (about half the cost and probably twice as reliable).

So to bring this back to topic, what is the general consensus of TA and it's issues on here? Am I missing something or was he confused? Is there a dismissal of TA's importance?

Just for reference, I have a 24k gallon vinyl pool, I do borates (I aim for 50 at opening), also have a SWG.

Also as a side note, does CH really matter for vinyls? mine seems a bit low but I don't want to raise it without reason.

One great comment from this guy. "Phosphates are a bunch of bullish*t". He said this in the pool store at the counter out loud. Instantly had a bunch of respect for the guy

 

[linen]

TA is important for some pools, especially those with high CH, and then keeping it lower can help prevent calcium scaling. Another place is in combination with swg's, since they tend to cause ph rise which can happen quite fast with high TA. Pool with aeration from jets, or waterfalls also benefit from lower TA.

Other than that, TA often does take care of itself. When ph goes up, and MA is added to lower it, TA goes down a little. This happens over and over until the pool finds it's happy spot for TA. If you do not want to add acid often, then a more proactive approach can be taken to get TA low...but that certainly is not necessary. Unfortunately, if your fill water is high in TA (which many have, mine is typically close to 300 ppm), then that upsets this natural stabilization.

 

[Richard320]

What he said ^

Low CH isn't a problem with a vinyl pool. TA will come down eventually if pH is adjusted. But when you have huge CH numbers like I do, and water restrictions every few years, TA is about the only thing you can adjust to maintain the CSI without having pH go out of the safe zone.

 

[duraleigh]

Borax raises, muriatic lowers

Just to clarify, borax raises TA negligibly. Baking soda raises TA.

while he respects most of the stuff here, that he really disagrees with the TA and how it is mostly ignored here.

I'm not sure what he means. Did he explain how he thinks it should be addressed differently?