Why does my Ph continue to soar

[Madty]

I put in a gallon of acid to get my 8.2+ ph down to about 7.4- a couple of days later, right back up over 8. 26,000 gal saltwater. IG vinyl .

Chlorine stays perfect

[waterbear]

What is your TA?

[Madty]

Waterbear-- I don't know TA- I'm out of testing solution and will bring sample to pool store. Pls advise what my TA will show in relation to PH and how should I correct...how to raise , lower, etc
Thanks

[waterbear]

A high TA will make your water resistant to pH changes. TA serves as a buffer in the water to keep the pH from bouncing around but if it is too high it makes it difficult to change the pH. You need to get a set of test results to see where you are. Post them and we can take it from there.

[aylad]

If you need to raise it, use Arm & Hammer baking soda. If you need to lower it, well, that's a different animal--see the sticky at the top of the "Dealing with Alkalinity and Calcium" forum for instructions on how to lower it.

Janet

[mas985]

My guess is the SWCG. My PH always wants to be over 7.8 and continually adding acid drops my TA to about 80. I am thinking of just operating at a high PH but I am fighting high CH as well.

[waterbear]

Missed the fact that it's a salt pool. Yes a SWG will cause your pH to always climb. If the TA is high this will make it even harder to change the pH...post a set of test results and we can see whether it's just the acid demand created by the SWG or if high TA is compounding the problem.

[Madty]

Ok got pool numbers today-
Mineral 3000 (salt)
CYA- didn't get
Tot CL .9
Free CL .9
PH 7.8
TA 44
TOT Hardness 157 ( they said I need to add 15 lbs of balance pak- they said low hardness will eventually hurt my liner- more critical in winter they said- I bought nothing)

So is the reason my PH soars over 8 due to low TA- what to do- Borax or what?

[waterbear]

Add baking soda to bring it up and then ajdust your pH if needed after the TA is where you want it.

[Madty]

Thanks Waterbear- how much should I add? 26,000 gals TA 44