TA Keeps rising

[Chris N]

I am new to owning a hot tub, I have done a ton of reading here and elsewhere about water chemistry.  My water is city water, but from a City Well.  I have a softner, but my outside water does not go through the softner.  I used outside water.  Initially my water had the following numbers from my Taylor Test Kit:

TA-180ppm

CH-160ppm

PH->8.0

I slowly worked the TA down to about 60 ppm since the PH kept rising with aeration.  A couple days later the TA was back up to 100 ppm and PH was high.  I worked TA down to 50 ppm and Ph was good, but with more aeration it kept rising to over 8.0.

Now after 2 days my TA is back to 70 ppm and Ph is >8.0.

Most things I have read indicate TA should not fluctuate much unless I am adding Ph reducer to lower it or Baking Soda to raise.  I am using MPS shock after each use and Dichlor a couple times a week to sanitize.  It also has a Silver Ion Cartridge.  Any help to try and get my water to be more stable would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[dlleno]

I don't target a ta number I use dry acid to lower ph and accept the lower ta number which can get as low as 40 ppm on my spa (be  careful... Very low ta can result in a precipitous drop in ph) 

The lower ta values are fine for acrylic spas and help with the ph drift.  There are a number of things that can raise ta but my suggestion is to stop chasing a particular ta number and let it fall as you combat rising ph

Another tip I have learned is not to be in a race to "switch to bleach". I find that ph is much easier to control (without using  boric acid) if I err a bit on the side of using dichlor a bit longer than the formula suggests. 

 

[RaviePoolGirl]

Your TA in general should not be fluctuating.  It will tend to go up over time as you keep topping off your Hot Tub.  You do what you need to do to bring the TA down to 50-60ppm so your pH stabilizes or just has a slow upward drift.  I would suggest redoing your test, possibly new tester error?  

[dlleno]

It's also possible that TA is rising because you are adding stuff. Lotions, hair products,  etc.  Are you using fabric softener on swimsuits?  High bather load? Guests?  Do you add outside water?

With those CA numbers you could suppliment your city well water with softened water.  Use the pool calculator.