Holy Mackerel! SUPER high TA + other questions

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G

gale

0
Jul 14, 2009
41
north central Indiana
I finally did a full round of tests (almost). The pool has been up a week and I added supposedly enough stabilizer to bring CYA up to 40. Today I tested CYA and it tested around 25. I know it's not 100% though so I'll add enough to go from 25 to 30 at least. But I naively thought that if I start at zero and add (by weight) the amt it says to go to 40 it would go to 40. Apparently other factors affect it?

So the ph is about 7.8 but since I had added stabilizer I didn't add anything to lower ph yet. I checked TA today and I got to 33 drops before the water got pink. So a minimum 330?? Really?? I added 3 cups of ph down because that's all I had-I'll have to get more tomorrow. I'll put the kids in there to aerate later. But the PH down bottle says for every 10K gallons to add 2 lbs for each 10 ppm of TA. That would be about 50 lbs for my pool. :shock:

Also the FC. Thursday the kids didn't swim in it so in the afternoon I added enough bleach to bring it to 5 ppm. At the time it was around 2. Friday they didn't swim (we were gone all afternoon) but when I tested FC in the afternoon it was still 5. I was elated! Then this afternoon it was down to .5. Since the CYA was lower than I thought I added enough bleach to bring it to 4 but why would it use up chlorine one day and not the next? Friday was in the mid 80s, as was Thursday and today, and the pool has been covered w/ the solar cover since Wednesday afternoon.

If I have to lower the ph a bunch to bring TA down I know I have to aerate. Does that mean not having the solar cover on at all? Because if the pool water isn't warm enough the kids won't want to swim in it. It's getting pretty cool at night so the cover really does help.
 
Re: Holy Mackerel! SUPER high TA

Try wiping the tip of the dropper bottle with a damp cloth every few drops. Some people have problems with static causing small drops.
 
My fill water has TA of 340 so I would not be surprised with that in a newly filled pool. Your water may vary.

I use that droppers with left and swirl with the right when I am not using the SpeedStir so I doubt your method is off.

As for aeration, any way to turn the return from the pump up towards the surface? Or can you screw some PVC to it and get it to the surface that way? And, a pool full of kids is mighty good aeration anyhow. You won't want to drop pH too low but 7.2 should be fine, let it circulate well then let the kids at it. When pH gets to 7.8 again, repeat.
 
I can probably aim the eyeball to the surface but I'll have to fold back the solar cover there or there won't be any aeration anyway. Or fold it way back and then unfold at dusk to keep the heat in. The kids and I played in there for 2.5 hours or so. FC stayed at 3-4 and ph went from 7.8 to 7.6. Not a very big drop. I guess I'll get more ph minus or muriatic acid tomorrow and try again.
 
Keeping the solar cover on will keep the PH from rising... redo the TA test and verify your actual level. Now, a high TA doesn't mean much other than it may cause the PH to rise. When it does, and reaches 7.8, you add acid to lower it to 7.2. Eventually, the TA will drop down into the recommended range. Other than that you don't need to speed up the process since you have no SWG or other water features that necessitate a lower TA.

You may find your PH is stable even with the high TA...every pool is different...
 
frustratedpoolmom said:
Keeping the solar cover on will keep the PH from rising... redo the TA test and verify your actual level. Now, a high TA doesn't mean much other than it may cause the PH to rise. When it does, and reaches 7.8, you add acid to lower it to 7.2. Eventually, the TA will drop down into the recommended range. Other than that you don't need to speed up the process since you have no SWG or other water features that necessitate a lower TA.

You may find your PH is stable even with the high TA...every pool is different...
Click to expand...


Mom, you're awesome! This is what I was looking for! My fill TA is 420. Ugh. :)

Thanks!
 
gale said:
That's good to know-thanks. I've been reluctant to use muriatic acid (it sounds so scary!) but trying to dissolve the ph minus all the time is going to get old. In our old pools I didn't worry about it as much since they were temporary ones.
Click to expand...


All you have to do is respect the muriatic acid! Oh, and don't breathe that smoke stuff that comes out of the bottle! Just be careful, wear clothes you won't mind ruining, and you'll be fine.

Oh yeah, technically, wear goggles and gloves. I don't necessarily practice what I preach though. :hammer:
 

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