TA Reduction?

[myrison]

Moved from here.

I just recently had to do a partial drain and refill to reduce my CYA which had gone out of control from using chlorine tabs (learned that lesson the hard way and then started doing more serious reading here). I then got a real test kit (Taylor K-2006C) and tested my total alkalinity for the first time in a long time and realized my readings were awfully high there as well (220-230).

Over the past couple of days I've followed the process to reduce TA to 7.2 and then aerate back to 7.8 and repeat. I've done two cycles of this now and have achieved the following readings. Given my CSI is in the range Marty and others recommended above, am I ok with a TA reading of 165 or do I need to keep adding acid and aerating to bring it down further?

Thanks for the help!

My current readings are below:

------------------------------------------
Build Type: Vinyl
Volume: 30500 gallons
------------------------------------------
Latest Test Result Summary:
FC: 5.0 (21 hours ago)
CC: 0.0 (yesterday)
pH: 7.7 (an hour ago)
TA: 165 (an hour ago)
CH: 150 (2 days ago)
CYA: 50 (2 days ago)
TEMPERATURE: 84° (an hour ago)
CSI: 0.11 (an hour ago)
==========================================

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
There is no real reason to push the TA down unless the pH rise is happening quickly and you do not like having to add acid so often. Just check the pH daily for a few days and see how fast the pH rises.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[Richard320]

It's going to take the same amount of acid to reduce the TA to a certain level whether you do it aggressively like you have been or if you just wait for pH to naturally rise and then lower it. If you're in no imminent danger of scale formation, why go to a bunch of extra work?

 

[myrison]

Thank you both for the replies. Looks like I can settle down my efforts to reduce TA.

If you're in no imminent danger of scale formation, why go to a bunch of extra work?

Most likely purely due to lack of knowledge . I have read "ABC's" quite a bit in recent days and was basing my efforts on the recommended range for TA with a max of 80-90 for vinyl with liquid chlorine and the fact that I was over 2x the max. However, as I understand from the last thread, the real thing to worry about is not TA in isolation, but the combined chemical levels that lead to my CSI reading (and as long as that is ok... I don't have to worry about TA). Do I have that right?

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Richard320]

Thank you both for the replies. Looks like I can settle down my efforts to reduce TA.



Most likely purely due to lack of knowledge . I have read "ABC's" quite a bit in recent days and was basing my efforts on the recommended range for TA with a max of 80-90 for vinyl with liquid chlorine and the fact that I was over 2x the max. However, as I understand from the last thread, the real thing to worry about is not TA in isolation, but the combined chemical levels that lead to my CSI reading (and as long as that is ok... I don't have to worry about TA). Do I have that right?

Thanks again for the help.

Pretty much. Things used to say 50-90+ but that got people confused, too.

 

[myrison]

That's great, thanks for confirming. Signed up as a supporter today... long overdue with all the value I've gotten from this site!