Swimming Pool Water Treatment Guide - Swimming Pool Water Total Alkalinity (TA)

TA or Total Alkalinity measurements are one of if not the most important tests to take on swimming pools water. This test will tell you how much alkaline substance you have in your pool water. Bicarbonate alkaline is what we need to be looking at and this should be kept between 80 - 120 ppm.

Total Alkalinity (TA) should be kept in this range to prevent pH levels from rapidly changing and to keep it stabile.

When Total Alkalinity is too low - You will encounter a number of problems including: etched Marbelite and plaster walls, corroding metals, stained pool walls and floor, green water (or turning), burning to the eyes and nose. The last is rapid and random bounces in pH level going both up and down seemingly.

Raising the TA - The only chemical that can be used in a swimming pool to raise the total alkalinity level without increasing the pools pH level very much is Sodium Bicarbonate. Raising the total alkalinity can be quite a time consuming and slow process as you can only add sodium bicarbonate every four days at a rate of 1kg per 50,000 liters of water.

When Total Alkalinity is too high - It makes it hard to adjust the pH levels which turn the water cloudy and your pool constantly in need of acid (or so your test kit will say), chlorine will also lose its efficiency of disinfecting the pool due to pH levels.

Lowering the TA - It is also a very slow process to lower the total alkalinity of pool water. With the pool filter off you should add either dry or liquid acid to the deep end of the pool. The acid should be diluted before adding it to the pools water and added a little bit at a time, leaving three days between each application. If the TA is very high it could take you days or even weeks to lower it again. For help on how to reduce your total alkalinity you should consult one of our pool professionals for advice. 

We would recommend that Total Alkalinity is tested on a regular bases. If your pool is maintained well the TA should not change very much.

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Swimming Pool Calcium Hardness Levels due on 20/05/2009