New Spa- TA sky High!

[JodieM]

Just filled the spa, 250 gal, and ran a full set of tests on it. Fill water -our outdoor spigot. city utilities.
CL 0
PH 7.2
TA 400
CH 200
CYA 0

Added a little too much CL, and added a little Sodium BiCarb.

CL 8
PH 7.5
TA 400
CH 200
CYA will test tomorrow- The granular chlorine the spa company gave me might have stabilizer, but I don’t know.

Anyway... need to get TA way way down. Pool Math says add MA to take PH back down to 7 - 7.2. Will that fix TA quickly or will it take quite some time?

 

[Richard320]

Just filled the spa, 250 gal, and ran a full set of tests on it. Fill water -our outdoor spigot. city utilities.
CL 0
PH 7.2
TA 400
CH 200
CYA 0

Added a little too much CL, and added a little Sodium BiCarb.

Why?
Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) raises TA. So does Sodium Carbonate (Washing Soda, Soda Ash)

CL 8
PH 7.5
TA 400
CH 200
CYA will test tomorrow- The granular chlorine the spa company gave me might have stabilizer, but I don’t know.

Anyway... need to get TA way way down. Pool Math says add MA to take PH back down to 7 - 7.2. Will that fix TA quickly or will it take quite some time?

If that TA number is correct, then all you need to do is run the spa with the bubbles on and the pH will skyrocket. And then you'll need to add acid to lower the pH, which will also lower the TA. If you enter all you information on PoolMath it will give you the dose to lower pH to 7.2. Then you can enter that amount down below the table where it says Effects Of Adding Chemicals and it will give you the TA reduction for that dose. Note the pH effect will be wrong, except in very narrow parameters, which the disclaimer mentions.

And before you get too far along. there is a known issue with static electricity on new bottles of R-009 which makes the drops smaller so you think TA is higher than actual. The fix is to wipe the tip off with a damp paper towel before each drop. Only for a few days.

 

[Oly]

If you tap water is very high in TA then don't increase it with sodium bicarbonate, no need.

 

[splashpad]

Anyway... need to get TA way way down. Pool Math says add MA to take PH back down to 7 - 7.2. Will that fix TA quickly or will it take quite some time?

It takes time

Lower Total Alkalinity

A lower Total Alkalinity level can help a pool owner stabalize their pH increase. We'll explain how to lower TA with a little help from muriatic acid.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[JodieM]

Tested PH today. Very high, over 8 it was quite red. I added MA and retested, my PH came down to 7.5. Also added liquid chlorine. I will run another TA test and see if I’ve made any headway.

 

[JodieM]

TA is now 270. Way better than 400!
I will add more MA tomorrow and test again.

 

[splashpad]

TA is now 270. Way better than 400!
I will add more MA tomorrow and test again.

Good job!