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Field Notes
The pH Ceiling: Why Your pH Keeps Rising and What Physics Says About It
William Henry figured this out in 1803. Your salt cell is doing exactly what physics says it should. This post breaks down the Henry’s Law mechanism behind pH rise, the carbonate alkalinity distinction that most calculators miss, and why the 8.2 “ceiling” is not what anyone told you it was.
Why Salt Pools Don’t Get a Higher CYA Ceiling
The argument sounds reasonable: salt cells produce chlorine continuously, so CYA interference matters less, so you can run higher CYA. The argument is wrong. Here is why the 50 ppm ceiling is the same for every pool type, and why the governing standard is sanitization in the plumbing, not exposure at the surface.