High TA, possible small algae bloom

[keithk]

I'm one of those owners that have a PITA Intex pool (15'x4'). I'm sure I'll catch some slack, but I don't have a good tester, only really check on pH and TC. Took a sample in today cause I think I had a small algae bloom when I got back from a work trip Tuesday night. Wed AM I threw in some algaecide and shocked it. Checked the TC in the afternoon, it was really high (can only check to 4), then when I checked it yesterday AM (Thursday), it was down to 1. Shocked it again, and this morning is down to around 1 again. Pool shop in town said the TC was .7, pH 7.8 (not horrible but yeah, needs to come down) and the TA was 300. This is why I don't take the pool shops advise, she said to use 2 gallon of muriatic acid to get the TA down! SO my question is, what do I need to do for the TA? Should I go ahead and shock it too? CYA is 40.

 

[Richard320]

High TA is always the last thing you work on, after everything else is balanced and the water is crystal clear and you're bored. There are really only two reasons to lower TA, and they're given in the article in pool school, and you probably don't have either justification.

Your primary target is the algae. Getting rid of it with CYA of 40 is actually pretty simple; you raise FC to 16 and every couple hours you retest it and add more bleach to keep it to 16 until it's all gone. To do that, you need a trustworthy 24-hours-a-day pool store or your own proper test kit. Since an all-night pool store doesn't exist, and a trustworthy one is almost as rare, you need one of the test kits recommended in Test Kits Compared. A proper test kit is listed as a prerequisite in the Shock Level And Maintain article.

Sorry, but that's what it is. You need the right tool for the job. Without your own accurate test results, you're working blind. It's like painting a portrait in the dark. Oh sure, you'll get paint on the canvas, but the end result won't be pleasing and all you'll have done is waste paint and ruin a canvas.

 

[keithk]

Thanks Richard. I never worried about the TA anyway, with the small pool we have, I've just worried about the FC and pH. I have always put the test kit off, I just need to break down and get it. I'm cheap and don't like spending $$.

I never wanted to the pool, my wife bought it without talking to me about it. And of course, I get stuck taking care of it.

High TA is always the last thing you work on, after everything else is balanced and the water is crystal clear and you're bored. There are really only two reasons to lower TA, and they're given in the article in pool school, and you probably don't have either justification.

Your primary target is the algae. Getting rid of it with CYA of 40 is actually pretty simple; you raise FC to 16 and every couple hours you retest it and add more bleach to keep it to 16 until it's all gone. To do that, you need a trustworthy 24-hours-a-day pool store or your own proper test kit. Since an all-night pool store doesn't exist, and a trustworthy one is almost as rare, you need one of the test kits recommended in Test Kits Compared. A proper test kit is listed as a prerequisite in the Shock Level And Maintain article.

Sorry, but that's what it is. You need the right tool for the job. Without your own accurate test results, you're working blind. It's like painting a portrait in the dark. Oh sure, you'll get paint on the canvas, but the end result won't be pleasing and all you'll have done is waste paint and ruin a canvas.