How can i increase alkalinity in my pool

It may appear bright and clean but with unsafe alkaline levels. Your swimming pool can come to immeasurable harm if it contains water with low alkalinity. You risk your pool walls becoming etched, delaminated, or cracked. Some metal surfaces will give way and melt under the corrosive water, which aftereffect is a stained pool wall.

Even the slightest alterations on pool water chemical composition can cause severe fluctuations in the pH levels.

When the pH level becomes unbalanced, the phenomenon is called pH bounce and can cause low alkalinity in the pool, as the case may be. With low alkalinity, the standard amount of chlorine added to your pool would be useless. It would only be useful when more than the usual amount is added for standard results. This means you buy more chlorine and waste more time trying to get to an adequate concentration level with the substance. Asides its effects on your pool, a low alkalinity swimming pool is unsafe for swimmers as the acidic water can cause nasal, eye, and skin irritations.

Bear these two things in mind — your target range and your swimming pool size. Ideally, your pool should be between parts per million. However, depending on the area, your swimming pool is located, experts might require you to stay in the — ppm range. Sodium bicarbonate, aka baking soda, is one of the most useful compounds in the pool industry. Substances like alka-plus, aka-buffer, or alkaline increases are all products used to increase the alkalinity of a swimming pool. The deal is finding the ones that are made of sodium bicarbonate.

There is no substance that increases alkalinity like baking soda, and the fact that it is readily available and cheap makes it irreplaceable. You can get sodium bicarb from a retail store or a pool supplier — it is the same compound. The only difference is that buying from your pool supplier comes with perks like instructions on how to use.

If you would like the know how to test the alkalinity of your pool, then check out: Testing Swimming Pool Alkalinity. If you know your alkalinity is high, then read Lowering Swimming Pool Alkalinity. One of the biggest reasons to keep your alkalinity level balanced is low pool water alkalinity can be damaging to your pool. Pool walls and surfaces can be etched, pitted , cracked, and delaminated. Metals surfaces can discolor, corrode , then finally dissolve.

This can result in stained pool walls. With low alkalinity, the water pH is no longer stable, and minor changes in the pool chemistry can cause large fluctuations in pH, often called pH bounce. Not only will you have trouble with damaged pool surfaces and equipment, but any chlorine added to the pool is less effective.

The result is you have to add much more chlorine to achieve the same sanitizing effect. This adds expense and takes more time to keep the chlorine level at the desired concentration.

Swimmers will also complain, as water that is low in alkalinity will also often bring the pH level down in the water. The resulting water is acidic , which can sting eyes, nasal passages, and skin. I discuss all the individual ways low pool alkalinity can cause trouble in the article: Maintaining Swimming Pool Alkalinity. Make sure to know how large your pool is, and how what your target range is. You ideally want to be in the middle of the range. Some pool contractors will recommend you stay between — ppm.

Always follow their advice as the alkalinity requirements in your area might be slightly different. In the pool industry, pool products intended to raise the alkalinity will have names like alka-buffer , alka-plus , alkalinity increaser , and similar names. Just make sure the product is made from sodium bicarbonate before you purchase. Sodium bicarb, or baking soda , is the key substance used to raise alkalinity.

It is cheap and readily available, so there really is no need to use anything else. The baking soda you can buy from your pool supplier is the same as what you can buy from a retail store. The big difference is on the labeling. Adjusting the alkalinity in a saltwater pool is relatively similar to that in a chlorine pool.

The difference is, saltwater pools are much more stable at an alkalinity of ppm and a pH of 7. When your saltwater pool dips below 70 ppm, baking soda is a great option to assist in raising the alkalinity. The process of raising alkalinity in an above ground pool is the same as that for an in-ground pool. You can proceed with the same steps described above to adjust for alkalinity and pH.

Using natural products can be a safe and effective way to ensure you reach optimal alkalinity and pH levels. Are there any other natural products that have worked well in raising the alkalinity in your swimming pool? If so, which ones do you recommend? Baking Soda. Alkalinity Up or Alkalinity Increaser. Pool Water Testing Strips. Liquid Pool Water Testing Kit.

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