How Do I Bring Down The Ph In My Pool

Set A Target Value For Total Alkalinity

In the same example above, I set my target value of TA at 100 ppm. It is important to note that both the levels of TA and pH reduce when acid is added. A target value of 80 ppm or 90 ppm should be just fine, but I anticipated that the levels of pH would drop way below 7.0 when I add a strong acid, so my experience told me that 100 ppm was ideal for raising the level of pH later on through aeration.

Baking Soda To Raise Ph And Alkalinity In Pools

Most people know that chlorine is an important chemical in keeping pool water safe for swimming. But adding too much chlorine can lower your pools pH as well as its total alkalinity. When alkalinity falls, it is more difficult to maintain a stable pH. Plus, a lower pH and alkalinity of your pool water creates several negative effects, from itchy skin and stinging eyes for swimmers to corrosion of your pool ladders, liner, or other components.

When your waters alkalinity is too low, any chemicals you add will exponentially affect the pH, creating a condition known as pH bounce. Youll also need to add more chlorine to get the same sanitizing effect, and your swimmers will complain. Overall, pool water with inadequate alkalinity levels can be frustrating and costly.

Fortunately, there is a simple and cost-effective way to maintain your pools alkalinity and pH. You might use it in your cookie recipes or to freshen your fridge. This handy tool for pools is none other than Arm & Hammer baking soda, although youll need pounds of it rather than a pinch.

How To Maintain The Proper Pool Ph Level

• Written by Kent Belcher on Sep 03, 2009To ensure our content is always up-to-date with current information, best practices, and professional advice, articles are routinely reviewed by industry experts with years of hands-on experience.Reviewed by

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Maintaining your pool’s pH level is an important part of pool ownership. PH is the measurement used to determine the waters acidity. The pH scale has numbers from 0 to 14, with the ideal range for pool water between 7.2 and 7.8. As the pH number rises above 7, it indicates that the water is becoming more alkaline or basic. As pH decreases below 7, it indicates that the water is becoming more acidic.

Why the pH Level Matters

If your pH level is too high, the water is too alkaline and will begin to cause the formation of scale on various surfaces within the pool and equipment. If your pH level is too low, it is acidic. This will cause corrosion on surfaces in your pool and on your pool equipment. To maintain a balanced pH level in the pool and prevent potentially costly damage to pool surfaces and equipment, you need to use chemicals to either raise or lower the pH level.

Raising the pH Level

Lowering the pH Level

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What Does Baking Soda Do For A Pool

Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate is naturally alkaline, with a pH of 8. When you add baking soda to your pool water, you will raise both the pH and the alkalinity, improving stability and clarity. Many commercial pool products for raising alkalinity utilize baking soda as their main active ingredient. You can maintain your pool for a fraction of the cost by going straight to the source and using pure baking soda in your pool.

Tips For Keeping Ph Levels Balanced

Although pH is a pretty unstable factor in your pool chemistry, it’s possible to keep it balanced most of the time. You just have to stay on top of a few pool maintenance tasks.

> > Read: How to balance your pool water

• Test your pool chemistry twice a week. Or if you’ve had issues with pH balance, test it every day until you get it under control. This may seem like a giant pain the in you-know-what, but it only takes a few minutes of your time, versus the hours you could have to spend correcting problems.
• Keep your pool clean. Since even things like dirty leaves can affect your pools pH balance, keep it as clear from debris as you can. Use a pool skimmer to clear out the junk every day. Its a great way to make the kiddos earn their allowance!
• Check your filtration system regularly. If your pool filter is doing its job, it will take a lot less elbow grease to keep the water clean and balanced.
• Shock your pool regularly. Most experts recommend once a month, but you should do it more often if during times of high usage or weather changes. Shocking the pool helps restore all the chemistry levels to normal.

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Products To Help Lower Ph Levels

There are two main chemicals normally used to lower pH levels in pools: sodium bisulfate and muriatic acid.

Both can cause damage to the pool surface and your skin, so its important to use caution with either one, including wearing clothing that fully covers your body, along with gloves and goggles.

You’ll also usually find these chemicals in products called something like pH Reducers or pH Minus. If you’re particular about which you use, be sure to check the labels before buying.

Natural Ph Rise: Carbon Dioxide Loss

The chemistry of pH sounds a lot more complicated than it is. In short, the less CO2 in solution, the higher the pH. CO2, when dissolved in water becomes something called carbonic acid .

H2O + CO2 H2CO3

Water + Carbon Dioxide creates Carbonic Acid

See the chart below.

The more carbonic acid in your water, the lower your pH will be. Injecting CO2 lowers your pH, but not total alkalinity. Acid, on the other hand, lowers both pH and total alkalinity. The opposite is also true about CO2. When CO2 off-gasses , the amount of carbonic acid decreases so the pH rises. So aeration itself raises the pH of water because CO2 escapes. If you want to raise the pH without adding any chemicals, just aerate the water to release CO2.

Check out this detailed diagram of all the chemistry going on, courtesy of Robert Lowry:

Henry’s Law of Solubility of Gases

Naturally, CO2 wants to be in about the same concentration in the water as it is in the air. So CO2 off-gasses until it is in relative equilibrium with the air above the pool. This phenomenon is known as Henry’s Law. And don’t worry, we had no idea what Henry’s Law was either…but it makes a lot of sense as to why carbon dioxide naturally leaves, and the pH rebounds some time after putting acid in. This means chasing pH is a bad habit, because it is futile. pH is naturally going to rise. Embrace this.

Related: CO2 and pH: Understanding Henry’s Law

Algae raises the pH of water too

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Lowering Your Pool Ph With Muriatic Acid:

How Much Sodium Bisulfate To Lower Pool Ph

Below you will find the approximate amounts of pH Decreaser you will need to lower the pH and alkalinity in your pool.

The amounts below are approximate. Its always best to read the manufacturers guidelines. Its also best to add less than you think to avoid overshooting your target pH level.

* Approx. amount of sodium bisulfate needed to lower pH level and alkalinity. Amounts are calculated based on 10,000 gal of pool water.

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Natural Ways To Lower Pool Ph

There are a couple of natural household products that could potentially be used to lower your pools pH.

Vinegar: Wondering how to lower pool pH with vinegar? Ordinary household vinegar could in theory be used to lower the pH of your pool. The pH of vinegar is about 2.5, which is quite acidic when compared to your pool water.

Household vinegar is very weak though , so you would need quite a bit to lower pH.

And in addition, using vinegar would cause a reaction leaving acetates in the pool water, which is not desirable. Its generally not desirable to add extras to your pools water.

Muriatic or Hydrochloric acid is a far better choice for lowering pH and alkalinity.

Baking Soda: Baking soda differs from the previous two natural remedies in that it has a higher pH of 8.3. If your pools pH is above 8.3, baking soda will bring it down to approximately the same value.

However, its more beneficial to use baking soda when looking to raise pool pH and alkalinity levels. You need approximately 1.5 lbs per 10,000 gallons of water to raise the alkalinity by 10 ppm.

Whats Wrong High Pool Ph

pH is a measure of the waters balance between acidity and alkalinity. If the pH isnt properly balanced, problems will start to occur. On a pH scale, 0 indicates extreme acidity and 14 indicates extreme alkalinity. Ideally, you want to aim to keep the pH between 7.2 and 7.6. When the level is too high other problems will occur such as high calcium levels that may cause cloudy water, clogged filters, scale build-up, and skin and eye irritation. In addition to that, pool pH that is too high runs a risk with your chlorine, your chlorine will no longer disinfect fully.

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Ph Minus Didnt Work What Next

Yes, there are times when pH Minus may not be strong enough to lower the pH levels of your swimming pool. This is basically as a result of excessive alkalinity. But the good news is, there are still other options that can help get the job done . Both these acids should reduce the pH level effectively.

Got any other questions? If yes, dont waste a second to contact us today. Were very much available to provide answers and if necessary offer lasting solutions to your pool problems.

Why Should You Lower Your Pool’s Ph Balance

If your pool has a pH balance that constantly gets a little too high, you could start to notice some pretty significant problems.

It can even be dangerous for swimmers, killing the chlorine benefits and posing some serious health concerns.

Here are some things you might see:

• Skin and eye irritation
• High chlorine demand
• Cloudy water

Clogged filters and scaling may not sound like a big deal, but when you consider that it can affect circulation and put a strain on your pool equipment, you might start seeing dollar signs.

Imagine, for example, that you get some severe scaling in a pipe, which causes your water not to be able to move through it at the same speed.

In this case, your pump is still pushing water through your pipes just as fast as it was before, but now your system cant quite handle it.

This can cause pipes to burst or your motor to burn out, both of which can result in some pretty expensive repair bills.

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Accelerating The Aeration Process Using An Air Compressor

Using an air compressor at the surface of the water will add more disturbance and speed up the process.

With an air compressor, it may take only a few hours to get TA and pH back to recommended levels.

What Causes High Chlorine Levels

There are a lot of reasons your chlorine levels in your pool are too high. Maybe you just shocked your pool after a big backyard barbecue and added a bit too much. Perhaps you went on vacation, leaving way too many chlorine tablets in the dispenser.

Many pool owners will use a chemical called cyanuric acid in their pools to protect the chemical structure of chlorine, keeping it from breaking down as quickly from the strong rays of the sun. Adding too much chlorine with a splash of cyanuric acid is a recipe for an over-chlorinated pool.

Speaking of the sun if your pool sits in a nice shady spot in the corner of your backyard and hardly ever gets any sun, theres a good chance that the chlorine you are adding may not be burning off as quickly as a pool in direct sunlight. You may not have to add as much in the future to keep your levels where they need to be.

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Muriatic Acid: Not The Kind From Woodstock

This chemical isnt the kind that will make you see pink elephants flying over rainbows delivering cupcakes If only that were really a thing. But it is the kind commonly used to clean brick and lower the pH of masonry to help paint adhere better.

Its also found in the human stomach. In your body, it works to lower the pH in your gut to aid digestion and destroy microorganisms that would otherwise make you sick.

Muriatic acid balances your pool chemistry by lowering total alkalinity and pH. It typically has a lower concentration of hydrogen chloride than the muriatic acid youll find at hardware stores for use in industrial applications like masonry.

Make sure the chemicals you use have the correct concentration of the functioning agentthats like the active ingredient in medicine. Achieving balanced water chemistry will be safer and easier with products formulated especially for use in pools.

If your pool uses a cartridge filter, you may already have muriatic acid on hand. Its commonly used to deep clean filters, and is especially useful in breaking down the gooey residue that can build up there. If youve been using muriatic acid to clean your filter, you can use the same stuff to lower your pools alkalinity.

Is It Safe To Swim In 68 Ph

A pH level of 7 means that water is neutral above 7 means the water is alkaline, while below 7 indicates acidity. Aim for a pH level of between 7 and 7.6. If the water pH is higher than 8, anyone who swims in the pool is at risk of skin rashes, while a pH of lower than 7 can sting swimmers eyes.

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References and Further Readings :

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What About Low Ph

If your pool water problem is due to too low pH, then youll have issues like pool plaster and grouting erosion, metal corrosion, and staining among many others. You may also notice your swimwear thinning or fraying out! It can also take a toll on your health, the same way as having high pH does.

So how do you go about solving this?

For starters, you can add alkali or a base chemical designed to increase pool water pH level. Most pH increasers use sodium carbonate as their active ingredient. Keep in mind that dosage also depends on Total alkalinity, so be sure to follow the chemicals instructions to a T.

Youll also notice that your pools pH goes down after heavy rains. This said, youd want to check the pH level after several days of rain before getting into the water.

Pool Ph & Alkalinity: Tips & Troubleshooting

Pool pH and Total Alkalinity are crucial for protecting pool surfaces and providing sanitary water conditions. However, they can be challenging to manage unless you understand what they are and their role in overall pool balance. In this post, well go over exactly what pH and Total Alkalinity are, why theyre important for the health of your pool, the impact of high or low pH/Total Alkalinity, and how to address tough issues that might arise from an imbalance. Class is now in session lets dive in!

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How To Lower Ph In A Hot Tub

wikiHow is a wiki, similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 9 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time.There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 275,132 times.Learn more…

When the water in a hot tub becomes too alkaline, its pH increases, and the condition of the water deteriorates significantly. The total alkalinity of the water will probably be high at this point, as well. To lower the pH in a hot tub, you need to add a pool acid capable of dropping both the pH and total alkalinity.