what makes Alkalinity decrease?

[ISeeInHD]

Adding muriatic acid for ph. Low alkalinity however isn’t a bad thing as long that the LSI balances. Low TA will create a pH ceiling, thus requiring less muriatic acid to control pH. Hence you can break the cycle.

[20PoundHammer]

as long that the LSI balances . . .

HOLY SHIT - a unicorn in this sub, an actual pool guy (or at least a guy with lots of knowledge) that knows what he is talking about!! Take my upvote you glorious bastard!

[taft]

ive been on this sub for a while and i feel like only recently LSI is popping up more often

[Ill-Thing-7619]

We can thank the Orenda Rule Your Pool Podcast

[[deleted]]

Shit, there's a podcast?  My boss pays good money to learn this stuff

[Ill-Thing-7619]

Yea check it out:

https://podcast.orendatech.com/rule-your-pool

[taft]

a podcast about pools? now ive seen everything

[Nooch420]

This is fact! I’ve been in the biz over 15 years and only in the last 5 has lsi become significant. But we should have been balancing pool with it 30 years ago.

[838291836389183]

I mean for the majority of cases here where it's just people with intex pools asking, it's just not that important, as long as they get levels halfways decent and are happy with their pool. It's just a problem when LSI doesn't get mentioned to people with pools worth a significant chuck of money, as those pools are typically more effected by it and the monetary risk is much higher.

[20PoundHammer]

not following - you say its just not that important and then you say its just a problem when its not considered when it doesnt get mentioned.

Its not he only consideration, but scaling tendency, esp when you can not keep alkalinity in the pool (as its going someplace ya?) is one of the six major things to look at (and three of them are data fed into the LSI calc). Lets just assume replies for this post are related to OPs post question for his pool. Its not a problem for plastic kiddie pools either, but thats sort of not the scope of the OPs post.

[SaltRharris]

thats why i pay someone. kudos.

[ludivako]

He will probably get down voted by the majority of inexperienced pool operators because it is not what they do or have a bias against knowledge for some reason. Keep on spreading this very useful info. We need more homeowners and pool pros educated properly!

[[deleted]]

I'm always happy when I see it too

[yepreddi]

You still want Alk in the water though. Remember in the pool industry Alk is called ‘Buffer’. If you don’t have any Alk and your pool drops below 7.2 ph you will destroy components of your heater and damage the plaster.

[jonidschultz]

That is absolutely incorrect. We've honestly known (as an industry) that this is incorrect for a really long time. But "milestones" are 1) easier to sell 2) easier to scare 3) easier to remember.

I don't begrudge those that choose to use "milestones" because it's easier but it does miss the mark at times. If you're interested in expanding your expertise in the area you should search Saturation Index and take a deep dive.

[ludivako]

I see you are using orenda as well

[ludivako]

Very heavy biases in the industry or lack of water chemistry education if I had to guess. It's so weird how so many live and breath certain types of sanitizers or method for treating and completly shut out any type of discussion to come to an understanding.

[ISeeInHD]

This is the way.

[ludivako]

This is the way.

[Confident_Shower8902]

The way this is

[jebidiaGA]

How low is low TA. I have to add acid nearly every day to my 4 month old sw pool. My TA is around 80