High alkalinity, but everything else great

[Pool8]

This is my second year with our Intex 5,000 gallon pool. We have the bigger pump and also the SWG system. Last year, things went really well once I found this site and stopped going to the pool store. After the first few weeks, I basically had to run the SWG and that was it. No chemicals and my levels stayed great with no algae or cloudiness.

This year I used what I learned last year to get the pool set up. Everything is great, but my alkalinity is high (it was really high early on last year and must just be our normal water). In reading, it shouldn't really matter if my alkalinity is high, and if my ph stays low it should help pull it down anyways, right? Here are my levels:

Chlorine: 2
CYA: 60
pH: 7.2
Alkalinity: 232 (it was 313 a week ago)

So am I okay to carry on as long as my pH and chlorine stay good?

[Watermom]

Your chlorine is too low for a CYA reading of 60. Read the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below.

Also, here is the procedure for lowering alk. (Be sure you also read the link below about using muriatic acid safely.)

Lowering Alkalinity Step-by-Step

Hope this helps!

[Themadczar]

This thread pertains to my situation too... What I would reallty like to know is, do we NEED to lower alkalinity? What are the consequences of it being too high? In other words, how big of a problem is this?

[Themadczar]

Did a little research and found th answers here

[Pool8]

Your chlorine is too low for a CYA reading of 60. Read the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below.

Also, here is the procedure for lowering alk. (Be sure you also read the link below about using muriatic acid safely.)

Lowering Alkalinity Step-by-Step

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the feedback! I think my CYA is actually lower after measuring it myself. I got that number from the pool store, but it seemed really high. After testing it myself, I got 30, which seems more in line with what it should be based on how much I put in. I am also curious like Themadczar if a high alkalinity is really a problem in a vinyl pool? The first step in the plan was something like, make sure you really need to lower and your not just trying to hit a number. That is what has me confused. If everything else is good, do I need to lower my alkalinity and risk messing up my pH?

[CarlD]

Remember: With an SWCG system your FC should never be less than 5% of your CYA level. So a CYA of 60 ==> FC of 3 or more. The ratio of FC to CYA is lower for an SWCG pool than the Best Guess table, but you are still too, too low!

[BigDave]

...if a high alkalinity is really a problem in a vinyl pool?

Too high TA can be irritating, cause rising pH, and contribute to scaling if the calcium gets too high. It's not something to fret about, but, it's better to have it in range.