Will I fight pH forever?

[mphare]

I'm trying to correlate all I've learned/read on this forum.

What I think I know:

Aeration only raises pH, not lower TA. The idea is to lower pH low enough to also lower TA, then raise pH through aeration, which doesn't raise TA, the net effect is TA is lower whil pH remains the same.

However, in order for this work work, pH must be low enough for the TA to be converted to CO2, which means pH of 6.8 or so.

As I said, this is what I think I know.

My TA tends to creep rather high, has ever since the pool started up 3 seasons ago. It was as high as 150 a few weeks ago. It's now down to about 100.

Since my pH never goes below 7.5, I don't think I ever get much of the reduced TA benefit.

At least, that's what I think I know.

[mphare]

I'll post number this weekend after I test them again.
I've posted them elsewhere in other threads.

This was really just a general question about constant aeration.

Thanks for the help!

[CarlD]

If your pH is over 7.2, aeration should not have an effect.

TECHNICALLY, aeration does lower TA, but practically it doesn't.

TA rises and falls with pH, generally, but when we aerate it doesn't. pH rises, but TA stays the same.

My understanding is that the amount it actually lowers TA is offset by TA rising with the rise in pH. The net effect is zero change in TA.

So while the chemists will tell you that aeration actually lowers TA, when we use it to raise pH, we don't see TA change and therefore say it's the only way to raise pH (after we lower it to lower TA) without raising TA again.

Since this process only works when pH is at 7.2 or lower, it shouldn't affect your pool. Try keeping TA higher--say 125-130 at a normal pH--and see if your pH rises as fast.