Lowering TA caused chalky stuff on pool tile

[tagteamcomputing]

It was recommended on this forum to reduce my TA and that might make my water have less calcium build up. It was at 110 and I have been working with and it is now at 80. However, since I have started that process it seems worse. I am not getting white chalky stuff on my tile when I never did before.

You can see the build up from this picture


You can also see in this pic where I took a brush and water/MA misture and scrubbed it for a while. You can see on the left side it did a pretty good job of cleaning it off.


So what is the deal, does dropping the TA make it worse or better? Or is this some issue that just happens while dropping and when i am done and have cleaned everything it will not keep coming?
Thanks

 

[Bperry]

It was recommended on this forum to reduce my TA and that might make my water have less calcium build up.

Can you post a reference to that recommendation? Lowering the TA will make the pH rise slower and I guess higher pH can precipitate calcium easier but that’s more of a pH issue. Got some test results to share?

 

[reggiehammond]

So what is the deal, does dropping the TA make it worse or better? Or is this some issue that just happens while dropping and when i am done and have cleaned everything it will not keep coming?
Thanks

Without test results, it's hard to say what you're seeing. If MA removes, then it's likely calcium scale, but lowering TA would reduce your CSI as long as your CH isn't very high. Might just be coincidence but need to see all of your results.

You ought to use PoolMath, logging results for $7/year for everyone to review.

 

[JamesW]

Above the tile is not a water chemistry issue.

It might be efflorescence from water coming from above the tile.

Water that splashes up will evaporate and leave every type of dissolved solid compound possible.

Did you use dry acid to lower the TA?

 

[tagteamcomputing]

I dont really know how to reference the thread but this is what was said.
Lowering the TA to 60 will likely stop the scaling.

my tests results are in pool math but I dont know how to share them
PH 7.8
TA 80
Calcium 325
CYA 60
Salt 3100

yes, I used acid to bring it down, then I ran my fountain and turned on a sprinkler to raise it. Then I would do it all again until I got down to 80 TA.

 

[Bperry]

yes, I used acid to bring it down, then I ran my fountain and turned on a sprinkler to raise it. Then I would do it all again until I got down to 80 TA.

Note the question was “dry acid” or muriatic acid. There’s a relevant difference.

 

[JamesW]

I don't really know how to reference the thread but this is what was said.
Lowering the TA to 60 will likely stop the scaling.

That is for below the waterline.

Above the waterline, the pool chemistry is less relevant, but not completely irrelevant.

I used acid to bring it down

Dry acid adds sulfates, which is why we need to know what acid was used.

 

[tagteamcomputing]

Sorry, i read that too quickly, I use Muriatic Acid.

 

[JamesW]

If the ground is usually wet, you can get efflorescence above the waterline from water coming from the crack below the deck and above the tile.

Evaporation scale is not really affected too much by water chemistry.