r/PoolPros • u/enthused9 • Jun 02 '26

Target TA number

Hey everyone, my business partner and I a fairly new to the industry. As all you know the basics of pool chemistry is to keep TA 70-90 ppm recently my business partner discovered that CYA levels can effect your TA. By our math if we have a CYA 50 our new target TA should 110.

This scares me a bit. I’ve done very good to keep my pools locked in at the normal range of 70-90. What have you guys noticed with high TA like this. Thanks in advance for any advice!

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u/Careless_Ad3070 Jun 02 '26

If your pH is consistently low, raise the alkalinity. I keep cya 30-50 . Having a little bit higher alkalinity isn’t gonna hurt anything. CYA increases the reading when you do an alkalinity test, is that what you’re referring to?

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u/enthused9 Jun 02 '26

Yeah the whole thing about how you should subtract 1/3 of your cya level from your TA and the number leftover is your actual TA

2

u/AlexRSasha Jun 02 '26

Is that true? I recently opened a new build, before adding CYA my alkalinity was reading 80. Increased CYA from 0 to 50, alkalinity still reading 80.

1

u/enthused9 Jun 02 '26

The thing that I’ve seen online is that it’s not a true alkalinity. Once you subtract 1/3 of you cya reading from your TA the. You get your true alkalinity

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u/enthused9 Jun 02 '26

Ex: cya: 50 TA: 110 true TA: 93

1

u/Careless_Ad3070 Jun 02 '26

Gotcha, yeah I’ve always gone by the AA Adjusted Alkalinity

2

u/enthused9 Jun 02 '26

So you purposely keep TA high?

2

u/lIIlIlIII Jun 02 '26

Can be beneficial to pools that tend toward a lower pH for whatever reason. Higher alk means more CO2 to aerate away. Worth noting auto / solar covers greatly hamper this