How Do You Test Total Alkalinity And Ph Levels In Your Hot Tub
We suggest using dip test strips to test the pH level, total alkalinity and sanitiser levels. Theyre easy to use and provide quick and accurate readings, so you can make the proper chemical adjustments if required.
Top tip: We recommend testing your spa water at least once a week, depending how frequently you use your hot tub, to keep it fresh and clean.
Did I Cover Everything You Wanted To Know About Whether Its Safe To Use A Hot Tub When The Ph Is Too High
In this article, we took a look at the pH of hot tubs and how high is too high.
We examined what happens when the pH gets too high, and what to do when it does. We also looked at the urban myth of whether baking soda can lower the pH.
Specifically, though, we answered the question of can you use a hot tub if the pH is high? The answer to that question is, of course, it depends on how high the pH is.
But if the pH is over 7.8 on your test strip, its best to NOT use it until youve balanced the water chemistry.
How To Lower Ph In A Hot Tub
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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.
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Balancing Your Hot Tub Ph Level & Total Alkalinity
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Whether you own a hot tub or are looking into investing in one, its important to learn about balancing your waters chemical levels to ensure that its clean, healthy and safe for bathers to use.
This guide helps you discover why balancing total alkalinity and pH is essential to keeping your hot tub in top condition and your sanitisers working at their most effective.
Total Alkalinity is closely related to pH, and managing it is a key factor in maintaining healthy pH levels. When adjusting alkalinity, youre also adjusting the pH levels and vice versa. We recommend getting your Total Alkalinity balance correct first as it acts as a buffer and prevents rapid pH fluctuations plus, high pH levels are much more challenging to adjust.
So, lets commence.
How Do I Lower The Ph In My Hot Tub Without Chemicals
You can lower the pH in your hot tub without chemicals by using vinegar. All you need is to add four cups of vinegar to water and add to your hot tub. Allow circulating the water before you test the pH level. Repeat the process if the pH level is still high. As mentioned earlier, you can either use apple cider vinegar or regular white household vinegar.
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How To Lower Ph In Your Hot Tub
- |March 22, 2021
pH is the measure of how acidic or basic your water is.
Like a swimming pool, the ideal pH level for your hut tub is between 7.4 and 7.6. Anything above this range will eventually lead to issues with your hot tub chemistry.
Lets talk about what causes rising pH, why its important to keep an eye on it, and how to correctly lower pH in your hot tub.
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Does Pool Shock Or Spa Shock Raise Or Lower Ph
A pool shock with calcium hypochlorite will raise the pH level of your pool because chlorine has a high pH level. Also, this type of shock will alter the level of chlorine in your pool. However, the pH of chlorine-free shock is neutral, and this will not alter the pH level or chlorine level of your pool.
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Prepare And Pour In Your Vinegar
As soon as you confirm the pH level, you can now start preparing your vinegar. Itâs simple. You just have to get a measuring cup and your vinegar for this. You can use white vinegar, which is common in households and can be easily bought in your local shop, but if you donât have any, another alternative is apple cider vinegar. Pour in about 4 cups of vinegar in the water and wait for it to set.
What The Pool / Spa Owner Wants To Know About Ph
A typical pool / spa owner only wants to know things that affect their use of the product. So what are the features of water with a proper pH? What are the benefits of these pH features?
- Swimmers are more comfortable.
- The pool/spa equipment and surface last longer and perform better.
- The sanitizers in the water work more efficiently.
Acceptable pH range: 7.2 to 7.6
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How Do You Clean A Jet Tub With Vinegar And Baking Soda
Baking soda and vinegar are natural household cleaners that are cost-effective and active. They are very effective cleaners for hot tub jets. You only need to use them the right way to get the desired result.
The instructions below are the easy guides to clean your hot tub jet with vinegar and baking soda
How To Bring Your Ph Back Up
After youve dropped your TA level, you may notice the pH level is now lower as well. There are a few ways you can bring the pH back to a neutral level.
You have 3 options: soda ash, baking soda, or aeration.
Soda ash and baking soda are usually the go-to methods, but they have an unwanted side effect of also raising the TA . If you dont want to be balancing your water for hours, you might want to try aeration.
There are aeration devices you can buy that attach to your tubs return jets to help introduce oxygen into the water. However, due to a hot tubs design, the jets are already bubbling water at the surface. You can aerate the water by simply running the jets for an extended period of time.
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Why Is The Ph In My Hot Tub Always High
The main reason why the pH in your hot tub is always high is that the total alkalinity is too high. Total alkalinity is the buffer that helps to keep the pH within range. However, if the total alkalinity itself is not in the correct range, it wouldn’t effectively buffer the pH, and your hot tub pH will not be within the desired range.
Hot tubs have a relatively high water temperature. Combined with bubbles, this results in the production of carbon dioxide gas. A buildup of this gas can also cause the pH to increase.
Raising Total Alkalinity Levels
If your TA is low, it is most effective to use TA Plus to increase this level. PH Plus will increase your TA as mentioned above, but it will do so at a slower rate.
- As with all other adjustments, remember to do this gradually so that you dont increase TA levels too high resulting in the need to bring these down again.
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Raising Your Hot Tub Ph
If you have acidic water, you will need to increase your pH. Ask your pool store professional for a pH increaser or a product with active sodium bicarbonate. No, we are not talking about baking soda! Although the names are similar, they are slightly different compounds so please do not start pouring baking soda into your hot tub! Trust the professional products with this one.
Please be mindful that your pH increaser will also raise the total alkalinity. Make sure that after adding and circulating the increaser, that you once again test for pH and total alkalinity.
Increaser products typically have an “ashy” compound and may cloud your hot tub water. For this, we recommend adding a clarifier to your spa water to bring your water back to that clear, shiny look.
What Does Vinegar Do To A Hot Tub
Many spa owners have turned to vinegar as a cheap alternative to hot tub cleaning agents. However, it works just fine and is one of the best substances to use as a cleaning agent.
Vinegar and baking soda are natural cleaning agents and they are safe for the body and the hot tub. Vinegar helps to remove calcium deposits in the hot tub.
Moreover, it serves as a disinfectant along the process. Vinegar can serve as a good and safe disinfectant for cleaning your spa. But it is not to be used as the sanitizer for the hot tub.
Like we discussed earlier, it can be used to lower the pH in a hot tub. But it is not the best chemical for the job. Muriatic acid is more effective and widely recommended for hot tubs.
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What Causes High Ph In My Hot Tub
The primary reason for a high pH and the tendency for the pH to stay high is a very high total alkalinity. Total alkalinity is the buffer to keep pH in range. If the total alkalinity is not in range, it cannot buffer the pH to stay in the desired range for hot tubs. Hot tubs in particular generate a lot of bubbles and tend to have higher temperatures. This combination creates a gas called carbon dioxide very quickly. Carbon dioxide builds up and makes the pH go up. This is why hot tub owners, on a regular basis, need to add something to lower their pH and alkalinity. Hot tubbers that have an even harder time lowering their pH is are ones that have well water for the source water softened or straight from the well, it generally has a high pH and total alkalinity.
How Much Vinegar Do You Use To Clean A Hot Tub
Get a spray bottle and mix 1 part vinegar and 3 part water. Thats a safe ratio of vinegar to water to use for your hot tub. A high concentration of vinegar may damage your hot tub components.
If the concentration is too low, you may not get the result you need. So, go with the 1:3 ratio. Thats what I always use and it works just fine.
However, if your spa dealer recommends other chemicals or ratios, go with that because your supplier knows the hot tub more than anyone else.
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High Ph In Your Hot Tub
When your pH levels climb beyond 7.6, your spa water can be described as basic. What this means for you is poorly sanitized water, carrying the same risks as any other cause of ineffective sanitizing.
Basic spa water is also prone to forming scale and drinking pumpkin spice lattes year-round. Kiddingits not that kind of basic. But it really will cause flaky scale to build up on your spa surfaces.
The scale is due in part to high calcium hardness caused by the high pH. Cloudy water is another symptom of a high pH level in your spa.
Whatever I Do I Cannot Get My Ph Correct
Firstly, check your alkalinity. If your PH is hard to set, then TA may be causing the difficulties in setting your PH. Secondly, how old is your water? If your water is 3-4 months old, it is probably due a water change as the TDS have got too high. TDS is the measure how much dissolved stuff is in your water this includes all chemicals you add and anything taken into the hot tub by bathers. Once this reaches a point, you will find it very hard to get your sanitiser or PH/TA levels right. It may also be worth checking the expiry date/quality of your test kit.
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Will Baking Soda Lower The Ph Level In A Hot Tub
No, baking soda will not lower the pH level in your hot tub water because baking soda is an alkaline substance. This means it doesnt lower pH levels. Instead, it raises the pH level of the water. Baking soda will not make the water in your hot tub acidic by lowering the pH, it will instead make the water more alkaline by increasing the pH level of the water.
Baking soda is categorized as an alkaline substance. When mixed with water, baking soda produces a base or alkaline solution that raises water pH rather than drop it. So your baking soda will in no way make the water more acidic.
This doesnt however mean that you can just add baking soda to the hot tub water. Remember that the right pH range for a hot tub is between 7.2 and 7.8 on the pH scale. Baking soda can very much raise your water pH level above the 7.8 range.
When this happens, you wouldnt notice staining or corrosion as you would with acidic water. Instead, the water will become unclear, cloudy, and foam will start to appear in the water. Not to mention the fact that your hot tub will have a serious case of scale.
So if you are to add baking soda in a hot tub, follow the instructions or add a tablespoon of baking soda to every 100 gallons of water. So if you have a 600-gallon hot tub, add 6 tablespoons of baking soda.
How To Deal With Too Much Vinegar
If you suspect there is too much vinegar in your hot tub water, the first thing to do is to test the water to be sure. If the results show that the pH level of the water has been lowered, then that means you have added too much vinegar.
The next thing to do is to dilute the water. To do this, drain a bit of the water in the hot tub and refill it. Then test the water to check if the pH level has been raised to the needed level .
Related Read > > > Can You Use Vinegar in a Hot Tub?
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Is There A Specific Order To Adjust Ph And Alkalinity
Yes, there very much is. It all depends on the alkalinity levels. Remember that the alkalinity if set correctly locks the pH in place and gives you the ability to control it. Preventing the pH from going up and down randomly.
If alkalinity is too high it will be very difficult to lower the pH for example. If Alkalinity is too low it will be very hard to keep the pH at a stable level.
You should always adjust the alkalinity first to the 80-100 ppm range then adjust the pH to the 7.2 to 7.8 ideal range.
Is High Ph In A Hot Tub Dangerous
High pH levels in your hot tub are not safe for your hot tub and your health. Its dangerous to use your hot tub when the pH is high. Just like low pH, high pH can cause itchy skin and eye irritation.
More so, your hot tub components are not safe. If the pH is too high you will start to notice scale build-ups. These scale deposits can clog the filter system and pipelines which can damage and reduce the lifespan of the equipment.
The general rule is to keep your pH within the safe range of 7.2-7.8. However, I always endeavor to maintain the ideal range of 7.4-7.6. To have clear understanding of pH levels and why it is dangerous check this post: Can You Go In A Hot Tub With High pH?
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How To Lower Hot Tub Ph Naturally
Discovering a high pH level in your hot tub might make you dread the thought of adding more harsh chemicals to adjust it. Maybe youre curious if there is a natural pH decreaser alternative. Maybe something like a natural acid like vinegar will work.
So, is it possible to lower pH with vinegar? And, if so, how do you do it?
It is possible to lower your hot tubs pH level with vinegar. Vinegar contains acetic acid, and when added to water, reduces the waters pH. All you need to do is to calculate how much you need to reduce the pH and then add 4 cups of vinegar each time until you rebalance pH levels.
Before we dive into the steps of how to apply vinegar to your hot tub, lets have a look at the most popular options for pH decreasers for your hot tub.
Hot tub jacuzzi with jets.
