Lowering TA with Dry Acid Or Muriatic Acid

[CarlD]

So my procedure to lower my TA is

1) Lower pH to 7.0-7.2. (Muriatic or dry acid are both fine) This lowers T/A somewhat.
2) Turn on the fountain
3) Lower pH again to 7.0-7.2, bringing T/A down some more.
4) Turn on the fountain again
5) Repeat 1-4 until T/A is in the desired range.

Yup that's it.

[Watermom]

In a 33,000 gallon pool, it is going to take about 26 oz. of muriatic acid to lower the ph by approximately 0.2. Don't try and get to your target in one dose. Small doses (maybe a pint at a time) added in front of a return jet slowly. Be careful not to splash any on you or on your liner. Also, don't breathe the fumes. Wait several hours to let it circulate, then retest and redose as needed.

[Longgrove]

It's been awhile since I visited the forum. I have had great success following the recommendations here. Glad to see it's alive and well.

18,000 FG IG

My TDS got too high (could that be from using bleach (93% salt) all these years?) so had to drain a little more than half and truck in 10,000 gallons of water this morning.

My TA is high (210) on my first test. PH is 7.2. Should I wait for everything to settle down before adjusting. Or should I start lowering PH and begin aerating now? How do you calculate the amount of muriatic acid to lower .2?

Can you shock while adjusting PH (adding acid)?

[NWMNMom]

I might be over paranoid, but why would you want to lower your PH much more than where it is? Get too much more acidic and maybe risk some damage...I would just aerate to get the TA down.

[Watermom]

Aeration doesn't lower TA. Aeration raises ph.

Check out this link.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=6746

[aylad]

For CelticDaddio yes, what you have pictured there will help...anything that gets the water moving at or above the surface will work.

For longgrove, glad to see you back. Just FYI, you'll probably get more useful responses to your question if you'll start your own thread instead of adding to another one. In answer to your questions, you can go ahead and lower your pH and begin aeration, just make sure you don't drop it too low. I would not shock the pool while in the TA lowering process--the higher chlorine levels tend to skew the pH readings, making them falsely high. You don't want to take that chance when you're dealing with pH at the bottom of the acceptable range to begin with.

Janet

[CelticDaddio]

I am confused. In this thread http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=7546 you told me my TA was too high and to read the
"HOWTO: Step-by-Step Guide to lowering your alkalinity" sticky. Having read that I thought that aeration did lower the TA, but now re-reading I have a different understanding (or mis-understanding).

Is it the acid you add that lowers the pH that also lowers the TA? Do we then aerate to raise the pH without raising the TA as well? Is it the combination of these two things (aeration and acid) which effectively lowers the TA but keeps the pH at the right level?

Ed

Aeration doesn't lower TA. Aeration raises ph.

Check out this link.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=6746

[CarlD]

Ed,
The original sticky Ben put up is confusing and leads you to think the aeration lowers T/A. It does NOT.

T/A is connected to pH, and when you lower pH it pulls down T/A. When you raise pH, it bounces back up again.


BUT, when you aerate, you gas off carbonic acid as CO2 (like making soda flat) and that allows pH to rise WITHOUT T/A going up with it. Waterbear has a great explanation of the chemistry in The China Shop.

BTW, Ed, that's got to be the absolute A-Number One UGGGLIEEST home-made fountain I've ever seen! Congratulations, guy! (though I think the monstrosity Robert DeNiro gives Billy Crystal in "Analyze This" has it beat hands down!)

But it's clever and practical and should work GREAT to gas off the carbonic acid and raise your pH--and that's really all that's important.

Carl

[CelticDaddio]

Until my wife decides on a purty fountain, will this do the job?



Seriously, though, does this serve the purpose? Should I put more holes in the end cap... i.e. add more streams?

Ed

Yup that's it.