How Much Muriatic Acid Can You Add At One Time
Usually 2 cups of muriatic acid in a 24 hour period is safe to add to a pool at the one time. Factors determining how much acid to add are how strong the muriatic acid is and the volume of your pool.
The stronger the muriatic acid is, the less you can add at once. In a 10,000 15,000 gallon pool, you should not add more than 2 or 3 cups of muriatic acid in a 24 hour period.
How To Add Muriatic Acid To Pool
Keeping the alkalinity of the pool at the right level can be done easily without spending a lot. Just by adding the right amount of muriatic acid and following the right process, you can easily obtain the right level of alkalinity.
If you left the pool untreated, it would cause harm in your pool water and the circulation system. Adding muriatic acid is the simplest and inexpensive way of lowering the pools alkalinity. You just need to have some patience, a bucket and know the safety precautions you need to apply.
Before you start adding the muriatic acid, you need to prepare the materials you need. Keep in mind that muriatic acid is highly caustic. It can burn your skin within seconds, and inhaling its vapor can cause severe respiratory problems.
Why Your Pools Ph Matters: And How Muriatic Acid Can Help
pH is a measure of how acidic your pool water is. Things that can affect your pools pH include rainfall, outside temperature, and how often your pool is used.
Ideally, you want your pH to be somewhere between 7.2 and 7.8. If your pH is below 7.2, its too acidic. If your water is above 7.8, its not acidic enough. When your pool has high pH/low acidity, chlorine is less effective, your pool water can become cloudy, and you may notice scaling on your waterline tiles and other surfaces.
The quickest way to get your pH back to an acceptable level is to use a chemical pH reducer. Pool supply stores sell muriatic acid or sodium bisulfate as pH reducers. Sodium bisulfate, or dry acid, comes in a powder form and is more mild than muriatic acid, so its a little safer to use, but many pool owners use generic muriatic acid as a substitute for pH reducers.
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Why We Adjust Ph And Alkalinity
The answer to this question is not “because the textbooks tell us to.” The reasons we should adjust pH and alkalinity are to keep water in LSI balance and in non-stabilized pools without any cyanuric acid , to maintain efficient sanitization. In non-stabilized pools, pH controls the percentage of strong chlorine . Therefore, pH greatly impacts the strength of chlorine. CYA changes the game, however, and that’s another conversation for another time.
We know that many factors will raise pH over time, so reducing pH is a very common practice. And each time you add acid to reduce pH, you’re reducing some alkalinity in the process too.
How To Safely Add Muriatic Acid To A Pool
Before you add any chemicals you want to test the water to make sure you really need to. To test the water, you can use test strips, a quality liquid test kit or you can take a sample of your water to a local pool store.
Next, you need to work out how much muriatic acid to add to your pool. More on that in the How Much Muriatic Acid is Needed section.
To add the muriatic acid safely you need to dilute the acid into a bucket of water.
To do this safely, wear chemical resistant gloves and a chemical-resistant apron and goggles if you have them.
Then add 1 part of muriatic acid to 10 parts of water in the bucket. Add the water first, then add the muriatic acid. Do water first then acid to avoid splashing.
If you have muriatic acid left over, you can either keep it for later or check out our blog article for how to dispose of leftover muriatic acid.
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What Happens If You Add Too Much Muriatic Acid Into A Pool
The short answer, nothing good. If you add too much acid, you will drive the pools water pH level below a 7.0 which means it will start to eat away at any cement or metallic parts of your pool or equipment that has contact with the water.
Etching the pool will make the plaster rough and cause the pebbles to loosen from a pebble finish. If you have modern equipment, you will not have to worry about metals getting corroded. But if you have a pool heater, the low pH level can make the stainless steel corrode.
Lower Alkalinity And Ph With Acid Then Raise Only Ph With Air
Lowering the pH significantly will increase the amount of carbonates that are in the form of carbon dioxide in the water and that will increase the rate of outgassing . Aeration will also increase this rate of outgassing. As the carbon dioxide outgases, the pH rises with no change in total alkalinity. You can then add acid to lower both pH and TA with the net effect of lowering only the TA.
In other words, add acid until the alkalinity reaches about 90 to 100 ppm. Then aerate until the pH rises to 7.4 to 7.6.
The main rule to keep in mind is that it takes 25.6 oz. of full-strength muriatic acid to lower the total alkalinity by 10 ppm in 10,000 gallons. The problem: If one adds enough acid to lower the total alkalinity all at once, the pH can get very low. Now, let’s see how low it would actually go in some extreme cases.
Add the Acid The key to adding such large quantities of acid to the pool is to avoid overdosing in one place, as that could damage the plaster. Adding the acid slowly over a return flow with the pump running, and then brushing to ensure thorough mixing, will prevent the pH from getting too low in one spot, potentially damaging the plaster.
Add the Air Simply doing things like pointing the returns upwards and running the pump on high to create surface disturbance will aerate the water reasonably well. One could also add an aerator to a standard return.
The idea is to increase the air-water surface area as much as possible, for as long as possible.
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Muriatic Acid For Cleaning In Pools
A lot of people wonder what is muriatic acid and what they should be using it for when cleaning their pool. When it comes to pools, muriatic acid can be used as a sanitizing agent that will clean the water by corroding the calcium and other minerals that are present in the water. It can also be used to remove organic debris from concrete floors, as well as create beautiful marble designs-just pour some on top of your wet concrete and watch your masterpiece come alive! You could even use muriatic acid for cleaning or removing rust from metal objects. This liquid is so versatile-youll want to keep one on hand at all times.
Benefits Of Using Muriatic Acid As A Ph Reducer In A Pool
The benefit of using muriatic acid as a ph reducer is that it will make the pools water softer and less alkaline, which is better for your skin.
Muriatic acid can also lower free chlorine levels in a swimming pool to prevent eye irritation or dry skin from chemical exposure. This makes it perfect for use with children who have sensitive skin.
Muriatic acid can also be used to clean other things like pool tiles and pool vacuum heads.
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Why Should You Add Muriatic Acid To Your Pool
Its important to add muriatic acid to your pool because it can help you balance pH levels when they have reached levels that are too high. The proper pH level ranges from 7.2-7.8, which means that the water is effectively balanced. If the pH levels drop below this number, the water has become acidic, which can introduce a wide range of problems to your pool water. However, water becoming too alkaline may be even more problematic.
If the water in your pool reaches a pH level thats higher than 7.8, this means that the water has become too alkaline. While alkaline water isnt as dangerous to your health as highly acidic water, it can create issues that you should avoid if possible. For instance, the water in your pool can become cloudy if it has a high pH reading.
The chlorine in the water will also be less effective, which means that it will be more difficult to keep your pool clean. High pH levels can cause scaling to occur as well, which refers to the buildup of calcium deposits in the pool water. These deposits can damage the equipment around your pool, which can make for expensive repairs. Balancing pH levels in your pool water should give you peace of mind that your pool is clean.
How Can Muriatic Acid Help Lower Alkalinity And Ph Levels
If youve read elsewhere that muriatic acid is how to address alkaline imbalance, youre on the right track. Acid refers to anything with a pH of 7 or less. That means everything from citrus fruit to vinegar, carbonated beverages, and baking powder and bleach count as an acid.
Acid is used for a variety of purposes but does the same thing: it cleans and removes one substance from another. Muriatic acid is a form of hydrochloric acid, but with more dilution and a pH level of 1-2.
Muriatic acid is a milder acid, making it appropriate for treating swimming pool water, as it will lower the total alkalinity and pH. Yep, muriatic acid can act as a pH reducer too. Whats important to observe is that the chemicals you buy have the proper concentration of muriatic acid, specifically for treating swimming pools.
Muriatic acid also cleans pool surfaces and filters. When you add it to the water, however, you aim to adjust alkalinity levels as close to 125 ppm as possible. Use our pool alkalinity calculator to help you dial it in to the right level.
Alkalinity levels decrease by default, so it might always be a little higher than average. But when you lower alkalinity levels, you also lower pH. That means to maintain balance you must adjust pH to between 7.4 and 7.6.
For the best results, its best to adjust pH and alkaline levels in stages. Consider adding chemicals slowly, according to a paper on chemical adjustment.
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Using Air And Acid To Quickly Get Perfect Ph/alkalinity
It sounds radical and way out there but it’s easy to do and it works. You really can do this. Best of all, it uses muriatic acid which is cheap and something that is free air.
In a typical pool, pH is maintained at a recommended level of minimum 7.2 and a maximum of 7.8 with the ideal range of 7.4 to 7.6 . The total alkalinity is maintained at a minimum of 80 ppm to a maximum of 160 ppm, with an ideal range of 100 ppm to 140 ppm.
If the pH and alkalinity are both higher than recommended levels, muriatic acid , dry acid , sulfuric acid are added or carbon dioxide is injected to lower them. However, pH is a logarithmic value and total alkalinity is linear, so they will not be lowered or raised at the same rate.
High and Low Problem
So a service tech, commercial pool operator or pool dealer is faced with lowering either pH or total alkalinity too much or not enough. If enough acid is added to adjust the pH to the recommended range, then the alkalinity will be too high. If enough acid is added to adjust the total alkalinity to the proper level, then the pH will be too low.
When the pH is a little low and the total alkalinity is near recommended levels, adding soda ash will bring both up to proper levels. However, if pH is low and total alkalinity is OK, there has not been a practical way to raise only the pH.
How To Use Muriatic Acid In Pool
Most people often think the only chemical required during pool maintenance is chlorine. However, Muriatic Acid is as crucial as a sanitizer.
As aforementioned, muriatic acid uses are applicable in reducing pool water pH, alkalinity, and pool stains removal.
When you balance the pool chemistry but forget the alkalinity and pH, you risk your pool getting cloudy, chlorine insufficiency, and scaling. And the worst is, swimming in such a swimming pool can lead to eye and skin irritation.
If you have started getting skin and eye irritation after swimming, even when the chlorine levels are ideal, you might want to check your pool alkalinity and pH.
You can also use Muriatic Acid as a cleaning agent when cleaning your filter cartridge. It can help break down dirt build fast.
Its also a perfect stain remover. You can use it to attack the rust stains off the pool surfaces and the grout between the pool tiles.
Note: Even though its a perfect stain remover, its too hard on vinyl liners. NEVER use it to clean vinyl pools but instead use a cleanser formulated for this swimming pool type.
Besides using it for cleaning and balancing, you can use Muriatic Acid in pool to kill algae. It can help kill any algae and mold leftovers in your pool water at the end of the year.
Its Acids stout acidity can help kill the stubborn algae growth. If you combine chlorine with Muriatic Acid for pools algae, the results are exceptional.
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Add Only If Total Alkalinity Is Above 100 Ppm
Lowering or raising pH:
Maintaining proper Total Alkalinity helps maintain the correct pH. Always adjust TA before trying to adjust pH. If your TA level is too high, call us for advice on how to use acid to lower it. This can be a tricky procedure and is best left up to experienced professionals to achieve good results without damaging your plaster.
If pH is too high and alkalinity is correct:
use an acid demand test from your test kit to determine how much acid to add to your pool. If you don’t have this test, you can add 2 cups of muriatic acid per 10,000 for every tenth of a point that you need to lower pH. This is approximate. Retest pH a few hours after adding acid. Always add acid to water – never water to acid.
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Why Does Alkalinity Rise And Fall
Remember that everything that makes contact with the pool changes the pH over time. When sweat and body lotions from people enter into the pool water, the pH level increases. When new water comes through, or when pool owners shock the pool with chlorine, alkaline levels do increase.
When it rains, the pH level decreases along with alkalinity levels. Bodily fluids and other debris can also change alkalinity levels.
By Step Guideline To Add Muriatic Acid
Before you start, measure the pH and the alkalinity of your pool. You can use test strips, but digital test kits will provide a more accurate result. Using muriatic acid to adjust the level of your pools alkalinity is performed in stages, and it may take days to complete. Below are the steps on adding the chemical in the pools water
Note: Before you start, put on your protective gear the safety google, acid-resistant gloves, and chemical resistant apron
Also Check: Cyanuric Acid Reducer For Pools
How To Add Muriatic Acid To A Pool Safely
Muriatic acid has become an increasingly popular approach to maintain proper pH levels in swimming pools. Why? Because it is relatively inexpensive compared to other chemicals . Muriatic acid is truly hydrochloric acid but a less pure and diluted version of it. Pure hydrochloric acid will serve the same strong acid, pH lowering purpose at a much higher cost to the pool owner.
That being said, handling corrosive acids is no joke but when done correctly they will aid the longevity of a swimming pool through cleaning and well balanced pH levels to prevent unwanted side effects or expensive equipment maintenance.
