You Have A Salt Water Pool
Salt pools tend to have a higher pH compared to traditional chlorine pools. This is partly because they dont use acidic chlorine tablets, but also because of the way saltwater generators work.
Saltwater generators turn salt into chlorine, but theres an unintended side effect that has a small but measurable effect on pH, and its something few saltwater pool owners are even aware of.
During the conversion process, salt generators create small bubbles that aerate the water, which releases carbon dioxide from the water at a slightly higher rate than usual. This effect is also known as off-gassing.
Again, since carbon dioxide is acidic, losing more of it from the water will naturally cause the pH of the water to become more basic.
Of course, if your pH is rising while your salt generator is turned off, you can safely rule this one out as the root cause of your rising pH problem.
Prevention: The best way to counter this off-gassing effect is to lower your total alkalinity to 70-80 ppm. Lowering alkalinity will create a stronger opposing pull on your pH level, effectively keeping it more stable.
Treat The Pool To Lower Ph Level
Remember, always wear protective clothing when using pool balancers to re-balance the water. This includes goggles or safety glasses and rubber gloves.
When youve determined that your pool pH is too high, there are two ways you can balance it: dry acid or muriatic acid.
If youre using a dry acid, use these steps:
- Follow the manufacturers instructions on the package. Use the recommended amount only.
- Read carefully to see if you need to pre-dissolve the product to avoid surface discoloration.
- You may be able to just add the dry acid. Do whatever the label says.
- Make sure the pool pump and filter are running.
- Spread the product in the deepest part of your pool.
- Use a pool brush to break up any clumps. This will also help disperse the dry acid evenly.
If using youre using pool balancers with muriatic acid, use these steps:
- Read the package and follow the manufacturers instructions.
- In some cases, you may need to mix and dilute the product. If not, add the balancer directly to the pool as directed.
- Slowly pour the product into your pool. Take care to avoid spills and splashes.
- Run the pool filter and pump unless the instructions say otherwise.
- Apply the pH balancing chemicals as detailed on the label.
How Do I Raise Or Lower The Ph Of My Pool
Raising or lowering the pH of your pool is simple. A pH increaser should be added to the pool to increase the pH and a pH Down should be used to decrease the pH. pH Down comes as liquid acid or dry acid.
Aqua Blue Pools is South Carolina SC leading pool builder. In addition to creating stunning pools, we also provide professional maintenance and repairs to ensure your pool remains stunning long into the future. If you need advice about the pH of your pool, or if youd like someone to test it for you, we can help. Our team has over 25 years of experience and countless happy customers.
Give our team a to find out how we can help you.
Get in touch about our award winning swimming pools on
You May Like: Hotels With Private Room Pools
What Causes High Ph In The Pool
As mentioned earlier, high pH is described as a pH test reading above 7.6. The pH can either rise naturally over time or go up with certain pool chemicals. Its more common for a pool to have a low pH over a pool that has a high pH level.
Some of the main culprits of a high pH include:
1. High Alkalinity
When total alkalinity is too high, pH will usually be too high as well. That is, when alkalinity rises, pH normally rises too. These two factors fall hand in hand with one another whereby when one shifts, the other will follow close behind.
If youre experiencing high pH and high alkalinity, lowering the alkalinity will also bring the pH down.
2. Algae
When you have algae in your pool, it uses up carbon dioxide. Due to some pesky science, the less carbon dioxide thats present in your pool, the higher the pH will become. Your pool will naturally become more alkaline over time as a result of the escaping CO2 gas particles.
Chemicals such as these can all raise pH:
- Some sanitizers
- Bicarb Soda / Baking Soda / Sodium Bicarbonate
Some sanitizers have a higher pH than others. For example, chlorine tablets generally have a low pH whilst calcium hypochlorite has a higher pH . Overuse of high pH sanitizer will cause your pools pH levels to go up.
Salt water pools pH level can rise too as a side effect of this type of sanitizing system.
Does Pool Ph Have An Effect On The Chlorine’s Ability To Sanitize Water
In a pool with zero CYA, chlorine is more effective at lower pH, but this relationship is much less with CYA in the water to point of being irrelevant.
pH does affect the active chlorine level that is responsible for most of the disinfection of the water. However, when Cyanuric Acid is in the water, it buffers this active chlorine so that pH has far less of an effect on it.
To be specific, with no CYA in the water, going from a pH of 7.5 to 8.0 has the active chlorine level drop by 50%. With CYA in the water, it drops by only 15%. Going the other direction, going from a pH of 7.5 to 7.0 the active chlorine level with no CYA increases by a little more than 50% but with CYA in the water it increases by 35%.
So we generally ignore the pH effect on chlorine except for a SLAM because the larger amounts of chlorine have the pH rise significantly so we recommend lowering the pH first before a SLAM, especially when it’s a lot of FC due to high CYA levels.
Also Check: Can I Change My Pool To Saltwater
It Scales Your Surfaces And Equipment
Calcium scaling is a white, chalky substance that can build up on your pool surfaces and pool equipment, especially along the waterline.
In extreme cases, calcium scale can even compromise your plumbing and filtration system, restricting flow and affecting the circulation of your water.
While having high calcium hardness is an important factor, the real driving force behind these pool stains is actually high pH water.
Again, this has everything to do with LSI.
Without getting too much into the chemistry, as the pH of water increases, water requires less calcium. As a result, the excess calcium falls out of solution and deposits itself wherever your water makes contact.
This is why even moderately hard water can cause scaling when the water pH reaches a certain level.
What Happens In A High Ph Swimming Pool
A swimming pool with a high pH is considered alkaline, which can cause issues with the pool and swimmers. There can be several answers to what causes high pH in pool, such as a sudden rise in water temperature, but more importantly that the causes are its effects. If the pH level is above 7.8, you can expect the water to become cloudy and to see scaling along the pool sides.
Further, a pH that is above normal prevents the chlorine and other disinfecting chemicals to do their job. This means bacteria and other microorganisms may thrive in your pool. While you cannot see with your naked eye, bacteria in your pool water can be harmful when they enter your body. Read on to learn how to lower pH in pool naturally.
Recommended Reading: Rapid City Hotels With Pools
Why High Ph Is Bad News
Knowing how important pH is to your pool chemistry, its unsurprising what happens when it comes out of balance.
These are the side effects of pool water thats too basic :
- It weakens your sanitizer. Chlorine sanitizing power is strongest at lower pH levels, so as your pH rises, your water becomes less protected against contaminants like algae.
- It scales your surfaces. High pH causes the calcium in your water to fall out of solution, which leads to staining on surfaces known as calcium scale. This effect is worsened if you have high calcium levels.
- It makes your water cloudy. As pH rises and calcium falls out of solution, it floats around in your pool water causing it to appear murky or cloudy, especially with higher calcium hardness.
- Its harsh on skin and eyes. Very high pH water can begin to irritate your skin and eyes, though, oftentimes, the real culprit is a build-up of used chlorine in the water .
- It makes pH harder to adjust. High pH causes high alkalinity , and since alkalinity is a pH buffer, this ultimately makes it harder to adjust your pH level.
Note: The severity of these side effects depends largely on the LSI of your water a measurement that extends beyond just pH.
What Chemical Is Best For Lowering Ph
If you want to lower the pH in your pool, you need to use a low pH chemical, otherwise known as an acid.
The acids most commonly used in pools are:
For most pools, the best acid to use is muriatic acid.
Both dry acid and sulfuric acid add sulfates to your water, which, at high levels, can lead to a number of issues.
While not as problematic for vinyl pools, sulfates can damage concrete or plaster pool surfaces, be corrosive to metal pool parts and fixtures, and even degrade your saltwater generator if you have a salt pool.
Muriatic acid doesnt contain sulfates or any other additives, making it the cleanest and most efficient acid for the job.
Note:Cyanuric acid is also often used in pools to stabilize the chlorine. While it does lower pH, it should never be used primarily for that purpose because too much cyanuric acid will reduce the sanitizing power of chlorine.
Recommended Reading: Chemicals For Hot Tub Start Up
Ways To Prevent High Ph
High pH levels in your pool can be avoidable by staying vigilant. Keeping a stable pH comes down to measuring it regularly, perhaps even daily, to maintain consistency. This way, you can catch problems in advance before they become too much of an issue.
Your levels may lean toward the low or high end of the spectrum. Since you have already learned about high pH, here are suggestions on how to tackle low pH levels.
Youre Not Using Chlorine Tablets
Most traditional chlorine pools typically run on chlorine tablets to sanitize their water.
These are usually trichlor.
Trichlor tablets are very acidic with a pH level of around 3 so, as they dissolve, they lower the pH of the pool water resulting in a small but continuous downward pull on the pH.
Saltwater pools arent subjected to this they make their own chlorine, so they dont need chlorine tablets like traditional chlorine pools.
Without the constant downward pull of a slowly acidic substance, the water in a saltwater pool naturally sits a little higher on the pH scale.
Read Also: What Do I Need To Maintain My Above Ground Pool
The Chlorine Generation Process Produces Sodium Hydroxide
The process of converting chlorine to salt can best be explained with a chemical equation.
H20 + NaCl -> HOCl + NaOH
Or to put it in plan English:
Water + Salt -> Chlorine + Sodium Hydroxide
When you put water + salt through the energized cell plates, you end up with chlorine and sodium hydroxide.
Safety Suggestions For Pool Chemicals
- Keep pool chemicals away from other chemicals and locked up in a cool, dry place.
- Do not store pool chemicals near other chemicals or flammables, including petrol, detergents or alcohol.
- Always use chemicals strictly as instructed.
- Never combine chemicals together for example, mixing different types of chlorine together can cause an explosion.
- To avoid splashing the chemicals, always add the chemicals to water and not the other way around.
- Don’t add the water to the chemicals.
- If you are splashed, rinse contaminated clothing straight away and wash your skin thoroughly in plenty of water.
Don’t Miss: Key West Bed And Breakfast With Pool
Its A Little Harsher On Your Skin And Eyes
Its not surprising that pH would irritate your skin and eyes, but this one isnt as significant as you might think.
Considering tap water can have a pH of over 8, it would take an extremely high pH level before any ill effects are felt from high pH well above the ideal pH range for a pool at 7.2 to 7.8.
In fact, unless youre unusually sensitive to changes in pH, you would need to see a pH reading of more than 10 for it to be a cause for concern.
Whats more, eye irritation from swimming is often wrongly attributed to high or low pH water, but the cause is far more likely to be excessive chloramines in the water. This is why regular shocking is advised as it suppresses the natural build-up of chloramine.
Overall, while this is a side effect of high pH, in most cases its so subtle you really dont need to worry about it.
What Happens If The Ph Is Too High
When pH gets excessively high, the water becomes overly soft. The effects? Well, just think skin irritation alongside dryness and red eyes. Too high a pH level can also damage swimwear including swim caps and goggles. Thats not all water with a pH thats too high can cause scaling on pool equipment which in turn hampers the effectiveness of the pools circulation system and increases the cost of maintenance.
Its also worth noting that too high a pH level can cause you to spend more on chlorine. Why? Well, its only because soft water causes the chlorine to work less effectively. In other words, youll need to add much higher amounts for proper disinfection.
Read Also: How Long Should I Run My Pool Pump
You Recently Shocked Your Pool
Shocking your pool is a necessary part of your regular maintenance schedule. It resets your waters sanitizing power by oxidizing used up chlorine and taking out any contaminants your normal sanitizer level is unable to deal with.
Depending on what type of shock treatment youre using, however, this process may be responsible for your high pH reading.
The most popular type of pool shock treatment is calcium hypochlorite, commonly shortened to cal hypo. This is granular chlorine with a high pH level of 12.
As you might imagine, adding this alkaline substance to your water will raise the pH level of your water along with an increase in calcium hardness, albeit a small increase.
If you happen to be using other types of shock treatment, such as dichlor, trichlor, or chlorine-free shock , you dont need to worry about your pH rising as these are either pH neutral or acidic substances.
Liquid chlorine does have a high pH level but the small rise in pH caused by this type of chlorine is short-lived, effectively making it pH neutral.
Prevention: If youre using calcium hypochlorite to shock your pool, pair it with a suitable dose of muriatic acid to bring the pH back down and effectively nullify the increase in pH.
More Facts About A Pools Ph Levels
The pH scale ranges from 0-14. Having a pH level from 0-6.9 indicated that the pH is acidic. For example 0 is equivalent to battery acid. Orange juice has a pH of 3, black coffee has a pH of 5, and milk has a pH of 6. Anything that has a pH of 7 is completely neutral. Pure water is an example of a neutral pH level. You want your swimming pool water to sit right at 7.5.
Read Also: How Do I Lower The Alkalinity In My Pool
Is It Safe To Swim In High Or Low Ph Or Alkalinity
Maybe yes, maybe no. Your pool water pH and Total Alkalinity can affect disinfection by chlorine. Chlorine is very slow to react at high pH levels, and can dissipate quickly at low pH levels. However, a pool could still be sanitary with good levels of Free Available Chlorine and effective filtration. However, the water may be uncomfortable for the skin and eyes, and will damage your pool over time. Its important to address chemical imbalances as quickly as possible to keep your pool experience a pleasant one.
Is There An Definitive Amount That Adding Liquid Chlorine Will Raise Ph
There is no simplistic answer when it comes to pH calculations because pH depends a lot on what chemical species are in that water that can buffer pH. Carbonates, cyanurates and borates all exist in solution and will modify pH calculations beyond simply accounting for a specific amount of hydroxide ion added or taken away.
For example – at a pH of 7.5, CYA 50ppm, TA 80ppm, the addition of one gallon of bleach to 10,000 gallons of pool water will increase pH by +0.13. If you decrease the TA to 60ppm, the pH change is +0.17 and if you change the TA to 120ppm, the pH increase drops to +0.09. None of those changes would be particularly visible on a phenol red pH test. Pool Math use to call out the pH change when one added chlorine but because of programming limitations, it really was not accurate and it would confuse people who were trying to make FC adjustments to their water.
Don’t Miss: How Much To Install Above Ground Pool
