Lowering TA

I found your sight and really appreciate your tips.

However, when it comes to reducing the TA, you said, “Lowering it is a pain in the patoot”. I completely agree. With that said, HELP!!! Our water comes from what is called, two-way water. Meaning part of it is well water & part is treated water. It seems our chemicals are completely out of whack! Yesterday our chlorine was very low, PH was good & TA was off the chart. It seems balancing these three components is a mystery to us. I really, really hope you can help. I DO NOT want to take a water sample to our pool dealership. I have already ran into the same experience you have mentioned in your post. Every time I have taken a water sample in from our hot tub, I leave there with a list of “needed” chemicals! I am at my wits end with this.

Please, please help me!
Desperate in Texas!

First thing, order a good test kit (Taylor K-2006 or 2006C) from the test kit link in my signature below. In the meantime, pick up a cheap OTO/Phenol Red kit (yellow and red drops) from Walmart or someplace. Post your chlorine and pH readings.

Tell us what kind of pool you have, the volume, the size of pump and size and type of filter. Also, give us a list of all the products you have used in your pool, meaning ingredients and not just 'shock.'

Then, somebody here will try and help. Welcome to the Pool Forum!

Sounds like you have a spa?

If so, you might want to check out poolspaforum.com -- we're pretty pool focused, here. That forum has some pretty dodgy posters; however you can trust advice from Waterbear (who also posts here).

Meanwhile -- lowering TA on a spa (or pool with aeration jets) is a snap:

1. Get your test kit (not: teststrips!)
2. Get some muriatic acid . . . AFTER reading the muriatic acid guide in my signature.
3. Turn your aeration jets, blower, whatever ON.
4. Add 1/4 cup of muriatic acid per 500 gallons.
5. Wait 10 minutes and retest pH. Repeat doses till you go just below 7.0.
6. When pH rises back to 7.4, retest alkalinity.
7. If still high, repeat steps 4, 5, 6 .
8. Continue till alkalinity is at the desired level.

Process above is for a SMALL volume of aerated water.

It's a above ground pool. 18'x 48" Intex Ultra Frame, 6,423 gallons, Pump is Krystal Clear model 635T, filter cartridge, filters 1500 gallons an hour. The only chemicals that have been added are; HTH 1' CHLORINATING TABLETS in a floating holder. Tested the water the next day with AQUACHEK Test strip. Strip showed little chlorine, high PH, High Alkalinity, low stabilizer. next we added a gallon of MURATIC ACID, waited 24hrs & tested the water again. All readings were the same, except PH was now normal. Added I pouch of SHOCK 'N SWIM. Tested the water later in the evening. All readings were back to the original numbers. Added 1/2 gallon of MURATIC ACID waited several more hrs, tested again. PH high, showed little Chlorine, alkalinity still high, low stabilizer.
Thanks for all the help!

Get an *new* OTO phenol red test kit ASAP.

==> I do NOT trust your test strip readings! <==

1.5 gallons of 31% muriatic acid should be way, way too much for a 6,400 gallon pool