How to lower Total Alkalinity when...

[DLuckadoo]

Our fresh make up water has a TA of 290 ppm.

Our pool water readings are:

FC 9.0 ppm
CC 0.0 ppm
pH 7.9
TA 210 ppm
CYA 60 ppm
CH 300 ppm
Salt 4300 ppm
CSI 0.41

Any suggestions?

 

[Bperry]

Our fresh make up water has a TA of 290 ppm.

Our pool water readings are:

FC 9.0 ppm
CC 0.0 ppm
pH 7.9
TA 210 ppm
CYA 60 ppm
CH 300 ppm
Salt 4300 ppm
CSI 0.41

Any suggestions?

If you manage your pH to keep is a bit lower your TA will come down over time, as long as you don’t need to add makeup water faster than the TA comes down.

If you want to speed it up, Try lowering it to 7.2 and then aerate the water to make the pH rise faster until it gets to 8.0 then lower it down to 7.2 again and repeat until the TA comes down. It’s not a big deal to leave it though. Only downside is the pH rises faster when the TA is high.

 

[PoolStored]

Lowering Total Alkalinity (TA) Quickly with the Acid Aeration Method

Thought I'd make a post that might help others. We've had quite a few members this year with high TA, and I've been typing the same information over and over. I'm going to post this so I can link it to help others. High TA can cause rapid pH rise. High TA is typically caused by high TA fill...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Jimrahbe]

D,

If you want to reduce your TA quickly, it will take several days... not just one dump and run...

My TA was not has high as yours, but it was about 130 or so... It took me about 2 days to reduce it to just below 60..

Do as Bperry suggests, but you have to keep adding acid about every two or three hours.. At first, the TA will drop very little, but as time goes on, the drop will get larger and larger..

I started early sat morning and kept it up all day until time to go to bed.. Then started again the next day until it got below 60 in the late afternoon..

I dropped it to 50, because it will come back up to 60 pretty quickly..

I have only had to do this a couple of times and now my TA is pretty stable.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[DLuckadoo]

Ok, I've been doing the acid and aeration. I'll keep at it.

I was just wondering if I'm wasting my time since my fresh water source is so high.

 

[PoolStored]

Stop the aeration. If acid additions are manageable (I.e. you don’t mind doing them/not too frequent), then don’t worry.

If is too frequent for your taste, go back to aeration.

 

[DrewLG]

just wondering if I'm wasting my time since my fresh water source is so high.

My fill water's TA is 210. But TA of my pool water is at 60 now, and it doesn't rise above 90 even in the summer when I'm adding a lot of fresh water.

So no, not wasting your time. Just be patient, it'll come down.

 

[DLuckadoo]

Thanks guys, I'll continue with the A&A cycles.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Location is key. The OP lives in Tubac (not too far from me in Tucson). Water evaporation (around 100” per year) will make keeping the alkalinity low difficult at best. The makeup water is very hard in both temporary and permanent hardness.

I suggest you focus on pH and CH control and ignore the TA mostly. You need to keep your CSI on the slight negative side (0 to -0.1). This means adjusting pH and keeping the calcium hardness in check. Let the TA fall to wherever it may.

I suggest you look into water softening to control calcium. If you can top off with calcium free water then managing the CSI will be a lot easier.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Matt,

Will it hurt anything if the OP wants to 'try' to reduce his TA?

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Matt,

Will it hurt anything if the OP wants to 'try' to reduce his TA?

Thanks,

Jim R.

There’s no harm in trying. It won’t last is the problem. The TA will always increase with every ounce of full water added. My fill water TA in Tucson is is about 110-120ppm. With regular acid additions to keep pH in range, I can get that down to 70-80ppm. If Inise a lot of acid, I can get it to 60ppm but I will use a lot of acid to do so. I could easily go through 4 gallons of acid in a month trying to hold it at 60ppm.

So around here, it’s better to get the CH as low as you can and then let the TA ride higher. The pH will go up and down between 7.4-8.0 but that doesn’t matter a whole lot.

The only other option is to use a bubble cover to control evaporation and not use a lot of fill water. The downside is that it will make the pool water very hot in the summer and you have to wrestle with taking a cover on and off.