How to Raise pH in Pool – You must know that keeping the pool water at the right pH level is an important part while having a pool.
Unfortunately, people only know that chlorine will always save the pool water that not all the time.
In fact, giving the chlorine overdose will not make a balanced pH and can be dangerous for your body and break your pool equipment. That’s why we are here to show you some important chemicals in the pool fields.
Let’s see how we keep and raise the pH level in the pool. Furthermore, you will also see a product that is useful and makes your pool safe for swimming. Come down after this.
What is pH?
pH is a measurement of how hydrogen ions in a liquid. Scientifically, pH stands for potential hydrogen that has a scale from zero to fourteen. So, how does it work for the pool?
The zero scales will be the most acidic, and fourteen will be the most basic. A perfect scale pH for a pool is on the seven scales. In detail, it is between 7.2 to 7.6, but if it gets 7.4 is ideal.
What causes low pH in the pool? A pool is full of chemicals containing chlorine, killing bacteria and maintaining a sanitary condition. Keeping the pH in perfect balance is important. Moreover, if the water gets too acidic, it causes damage to the pool and irritates the skin and eyes. Then, if it is too basic, it can cause more scaling and murky water in the pool.
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What’s the Difference Between pH and Alkalinity?
Some people might be confused between pH and alkalinity. We have shown you the overview of the pH above, and now time for the alkalinity. Alkalinity is used to measure the water’s support capacity to hold the change of pH.
If we don’t control the alkalinity, the pH will rise and fall abruptly. The alkalinity measurement will be in parts per million or ppm. The ideal ppm for the pool is 80 – 120 ppm. If we get high alkalinity, it will be hard to adjust the pH. You might need acid to make it low. Moreover, with low alkalinity, it is hard to keep the water balanced. Adding Some baking soda will help it rise.
The Reasons Why pH Balance Is Important
In a pool, many chemicals work to disinfect and oxide the liquid. A pH balance is highly important to maintain the sanitary and longevity of the pool. With most chemicals introduced to the market, the chemical most used to keep pH balanced is chlorine.
Chlorine works to disinfect the water to kill bacteria that cause waterborne illnesses. Further, it also oxidizes dirt and particles that come in the water from the users or environment.
However, you must know the effect of the pH level is off the balance.
It will irritate skin and eyes
The low pH balance will make the water in high acid, the skin and eyes get the impact. Then, your nasal cavity will also get irritated. Acidic will take away the natural body’s oil.
The equipment will corrode
All equipment, if it is in contact with acidic, will be worn away. Low pH balance will corrode the accessories, liner, plumbing, and many more. So, it would help if you did not let this happen.
It will kill chlorine’s power
Because the chlorine used to kill germs in the pool with low pH will be useless. Therefore, you can see how important the pH balance is for the pool.
High pH will cloud the pool
Getting cloudy water might not be dangerous. But, it is still a sign of a problem. Further, there will be no one to swim in a murky pool.
The Cause of Low pH Level
When your area has heavy rain, it can influence the pool. Most cases recorded that natural factors such as rainstorms, overuses, and mistreatment of chemicals can make your pool pH low. The rainwater has a 5 to 5.5 pH scale, a natural acidic. So, it can naturally affect the pool water.
Further, a low pH level can cause some issues to the pool. You might find premature erosion, especially in the ladder and diving board fixtures. Moreover, it also can impact the swimmer; skin and eyes will get irritated.
If you have many swimmers in the pool, the dissolved body fluids can affect the pH level. Sometimes, most chemical ingredients will make a bad impact on the pool rather than good.
Steps To Raise The pH Level in Pool
This part is important to you. After getting the information on why pH is important and the cause of low pH, here are steps to raise the pH level. You need to know this in case some issues might make the pH pool low.
Check The Pool’s Chemistry Level
Checking the pH level routine is the right thing you can do. To determine pH level accurately is one of the functions of the pool chemistry test kit. You can also test the total chlorine and pH level sequentially because most kits have the stuff.
You can start the test by taking the water sample and adding the reagents. Then, comparing the color changes is the next step. The color is compared with a reference chart to determine the chlorine and pH.
In the summer or pool season, you need to gradually check the pH. It could slowly rise because of the heavy use of the pool.
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Measure The Water Volume in The Pool
Knowing exactly the amount of water in the pool is essential before you come to the main part of raising the pH level. When adding the chemical, the amount will depend on the pool amount of water.
For long pool owners, you can know exactly how many gallons are in the pool. But, if you just bought a new house with a pool, you might call the pool operator asking for help.
Measure and Add The Chemicals to Raise pH in Pool
There is a certain amount of chemicals to use in a pool. Sodium carbonate is a common chemical that people use. Generally, sodium carbonate use is about 6 ounces per 0.2 pH in 10.000 gallons of water. You can measure by yourself how many chemicals are needed for the pool.
So, what are the steps? First, you must dissolve the amount of sodium carbonate powder into a bucket of pool water. It is done to make a slurry consistency.
Second, checking the pool circulation pump is important. The pool operators will walk around the pool. They will gradually pour the solution evenly into the pool.
It would be best if you waited 24 hours after that to recheck the pH level. Further, you can also determine whether to add or not to the treatment. This step needs more time because chemicals are usually slow in response to the treatment.
The range of 24 hours is the ideal time to take action of retreatment. Furthermore, the act also avoids the overcorrecting that can cause the pool back into excessive alkaline.
Soda Ash vs. Baking Soda to Raise pH
A balanced pool is important when you have to reach 7.2 – 7.6 in pH level. In fact, both the soda ash pool and baking soda are usually used to keep it balanced. But, they work in different ways.
In summary, we could say that soda ash will raise pH but minimal in raising alkalinity. You can use soda ash when your pool needs to raise pH drastically, but you want the alkalinity to get less impact in other ways.
In contrast, baking soda works to raise the alkalinity in the pool, and pH will slowly rise after. When you test the pool water and find out pH is less off, but alkalinity is too low, add baking soda immediately will make it balance.
Using Baking Soda to Increase pH in Pool
You might think that chlorine is the most important chemical because it keeps the pool safe for swimming. But, adding more chlorine is also dangerous. It can lower pH in the pool. The situation also affects the alkalinity.
When the alkalinity is down, it won’t be easy to stabilize the pH. In this case, baking soda will play its role. Adding baking soda will raise the pH and alkalinity as well. Further, it also can improve the clarity and stability of the water. But, adding too much baking soda in the pool can make pH rise over 7.
In addition, baking works in spot-treat algae. The water also feels soft when it touches your skin. Furthermore, baking soda is one of the chemicals that prevent your pool equipment from corrosion and damage.
Adding Ash Soda to The Pool
Ash soda is one of the chemical products that have strong alkaline. It can dissolve easily in the water but leaves some traces. This strong alkaline will raise the pH level and work best to lower down the acidity. At the same time, don’t overdose on it. It will cause another problem in the pool.
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Conclusion
It is essential to maintain the pool pH level in balance. A constant process is key in maintaining the pool water. Therefore, raising and lowering pH levels is something you will face. There might be many ways to keep it at the right level. It is better to ask the pool professional first before you take action into the water. So that you will be able to know what the right step is next.
