Too high TA?

[Keifer]

FC - 2.4 (I just added 55 oz of 6% bleach)
CC - 0
PH - 7.6
TA - 140
CH - 200
CYA - 30

Hi Everyone,
I am new here to TFP and am very grateful for all of the information I have found here. This is my first pool and this last summer I took over the care myself since the pool guy I hired rarely showed up. With my ignorance, I followed the advice from my local pool store and spent tons of money over the summer. My CH and CYA levels were off the charts so I drained, acid washed (the calcium deposits/scaling were horrible) and refilled my pool about 2 weeks ago. The company that completed my acid wash steered me to TFP and I am thrilled with my results so far. I test everyday and my numbers seem to be remaining constant. My goal is to be knowledgeable enough by summer and to keep my numbers within range all year long.

My main concern is my TA. Is it too high? I realize my CH is too low so I purchased some calcium chloride yesterday. The CH for my tap water is 170.
I suppose that I am nervous as heck to mess this up and I am just looking for some expertise from you all.

Thanks for all of your advice in advance!

 

[JamesW]

Use poolmath (button at top of page) to calculate your CSI.

Put in all numbers, including the water temperature.

Keep the CSI between -0.3 and 0.0.

As long as you keep the CSI in the good range, you're ok.

If your pH is constantly going too high, the TA is too high. If the pH is constantly going too low, the TA is too low. The TA is correct when the pH is stable.

I suspect that the TA is probably a little bit high and you will see the pH continue to rise. If the pH is going over 7.8, begin working the TA down to about 100 to see if the pH stabilizes. Just lower the pH to about 7.2 until the TA gets to 100.

If the pH is still rising too much, lower the TA to about 80 and see if that helps stabilize the pH.

I find that a pH of 7.8 tends to work well for most pools.

Check out your CSI and then post all your values and we can help guide you from there.

Hold off on the calcium until the TA gets down and the pH is stable.

Be extra conservative using calcium chloride because the calcium will rise as you refill to offset evaporation.

Evaporation removes water, but not calcium. Fill water has calcium. So, you're adding calcium as you refill.

You might not want to add any calcium at all.

 

[Keifer]

Fc 4.2
cc 0
ph 7.6
ta 140
ch 200
cya 30
csi 0.09

 

[JamesW]

Ok, so you're good. Keep an eye on the pH. If it's going above 7.8, begin working the TA down to about 100. Then lower if necessary.

Once the pH stabilizes at about 7.8, recheck the CSI and maybe add a little bit of calcium if the CSI is below -0.3 with a pH of 7.8.

It's better to avoid adding calcium until you see how fast it's going to rise on its own from evaporation and refill.

As long as the CSI is not below about - 0.4, you really don't need to add calcium.

You can have a CSI up to about +0.3 without scale, but beyond that, you're at risk for scaling.

It's usually best to avoid going into positive CSI values.

Before draining, I suspect that your CSI was probably well above +0.3, which would cause the previous scaling.

CSI is dependent on pH, TA, Calcium Hardness, cyanuric acid and water temperature.