Total Alkalinity - how much does it matter?

Mattikuss

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Sep 1, 2023
103
Minnesota
Pool Size
21000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
My pool is dang near perfect, it’s vinyl so not a whole lot I need to worry about. CYA, Cl, pH are all spot on but this darn TA is giving me trouble. Several weeks ago it was 220, I hit it with a gallon of Baume, dropped it to 110, got the pH in check, all was good. I added 4lbs of CYA 48 hours ago and did a full chem check 10 min ago. TA is back up to 240 and I’m not sure why. My understanding is that TA shouldn’t flex much because it’s a pH buffer just as CYA is a Cl buffer.

Three questions:
1) what is likely raising my TA?
2) My pH has been super steady, what’s the harm in my TA being as high as it is?
3) What am I doing wrong that my TA keeps skyrocketing?

-Murph
 

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1) what is likely raising my TA?
Fill water. Have you tested your fill water.
2) My pH has been super steady, what’s the harm in my TA being as high as it is?
No.
3) What am I doing wrong that my TA keeps skyrocketing?
The 110 was likely a testing error. 1 Gallon would lower pH by 1.5 and lower TA by 24ppm.

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