Through the absorption of changes in the water balance, total alkalinity controls the pH level of the water in your pool. It is a pH buffer, to put it another way.
Your swimming pool’s alkalinity should be between 80 to 120 parts per million; anything more than that will eventually cause problems with the water’s chemistry.
Let’s discuss why this occurs, why it is important, and the proper technique to minimize alkalinity in your pool.
What Is Alkalinity in A Pool?
Alkalinity is a buffer to your pool water’s pH, preventing extreme pH fluctuations. Therefore, maintaining balanced total alkalinity is crucial for maintaining stable pH levels.
You should have a total alkalinity of 100 to 150 parts per million (ppm). And the pH of your body should be 7.4 to 7.6. Anything significantly higher or lower can mess with the chemistry of your pool’s water, reduce its capacity for sanitization, and eventually harm your pool’s equipment.
High Alkalinity in Pool
High alkalinity indicates that your pool water is buffering excessively and may be weakening chlorine’s ability to disinfect some pathogens in your pool or hot tub. Total alkalinity reduction involves two steps. Muriatic acid must be used in order to reduce pH in the first step.
Effects of High Alkalinity in Pool
As alkalinity and pH are related, as was previously said, if your pool’s alkalinity is excessive, the pH will likely be as well. Pool alkalinity and pH typically increase and decrease together. Both of them work together to raise the levels of calcium.
These problems could occur in your pool when the alkalinity is high:
- hazy water
- Chlorine might not be as useful.
- Scaling
- obstructed filters
- Swimmers may develop discomfort in their skin or eyes.
Having highly alkaline pool water is ultimately terrible news for everyone and everything.
Lower Alkalinity in Pool
Similar to how low pH and calcium hardness levels can hurt your pool, low total alkalinity levels can also cause problems. Although low alkalinity levels may not be immediately apparent on pool equipment and surfaces, they frequently cause the pH level to drop, making the water in the pool more acidic and leading to dry, itchy skin and irritated eyes. The following problems can also result from low total alkalinity levels in swimming pools:
- pool wall and surface etching, delamination, cracking and pitting.
- Corrosion from filters, screws, pipes and other metal components in or near your pool may result in stained pool walls.
- Because pool sanitizers like chlorine and bromine are less efficient, you’ll need to add more to get the same sanitizing effect.
- pH bounce is the rapid ups and downs in a pool’s pH level.
How to Lower Alkalinity in A Pool?
The alkalinity of the pool can be decreased in a few different ways.
It’s vital to remember that you should test the water in your pool both before and after using these techniques since you want to continuously keep an eye on the chemical levels.
1. Use Muriatic Acid
The most popular method for reducing the overall alkalinity of your pool is to use muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid). It’s affordable, powerful enough to get rid of rust and calcium deposits in the pool, and has a pH level of 1 to 2.
Muriatic acid should be handled carefully because it is highly volatile even though it is the recommended approach and is pre-diluted. When utilizing it, you should take precautions to ensure your safety because exposure can be quite distressing.
Wear long sleeves, safety eyewear, an acid fume chemical mask, and rubber gloves that can withstand chemicals. Always put your safety first!
How to utilize muriatic acid is as follows:
- Turn off any flowing water features and the pump for the pool. Still, pool water is necessary for muriatic acid to lessen the total alkalinity as much as feasible.
- Use a digital test kit or test strips to determine how much total alkalinity is currently present in the water.
- The instructions on the bottle will tell you how much muriatic acid to use to get the overall alkalinity up to between 80 and 120 ppm. A 10,000-gallon pool can be lowered by 10 ppm with 25.6 ounces of full-strength muriatic acid. Measure accurately!
- It will be safer if the acid is further diluted. To do this, mix 10 parts water with 1 part acid (not the other way around). To stir this mixture, use a wooden stir stick and a plastic bucket.
- Pour the solution into the pool’s deep end carefully, and then leave it there for about an hour.
- Restart the pump and check the pool pH and pool alkalinity of the water once more.
If required, repeat the procedure.
2: Apply Dry Acid
Muriatic acid is a granular acid that is more expensive than dry acid (sodium bisulfate), but it is safer to work with. Additionally, be cautious to store it somewhere dry where moisture can’t get into the container.
How to add it to your pool is as follows:
- Use a digital test kit or test strips to determine how much total alkalinity is currently present in the water.
- The instructions on the bottle will tell you how much dry acid to use to raise the total alkalinity to between 80 and 120 ppm.
- Add the indicated amount of dry acid to a plastic bucket that is 3/4 full of water.
- Use a wooden stir stick to combine it until all of the grains have been dissolved. Granules of undissolved acid could fall to the bottom of the pool and ruin the top.
- Starting at the deep end, slowly pour the dissolved solution around the pool’s edge.
Check the pH and alkalinity of the water again.
If required, repeat the procedure.
Notes on Lower Alkalinity in Pool
If, after following the above procedures, you still don’t have the right pool alkalinity and pH levels, you can repeat the procedure. You can carry on doing this to change the total alkalinity and pH of your pool.
Being patient and paying close attention to how much more you need to contribute is the key.
How Do pH and Alkalinity Relate to One Another?
When your total alkalinity is too high, the raised pool alkalinity may cause your pH level to rise along with it. If your total alkalinity is too low, there is not enough of this beneficial buffering chemical in the water to help stabilize your pH. And that may make the chlorine in your water less effective.
As a result, if your pool’s total alkalinity is within the typical range (100 to 150 ppm), your alkalinity will help stabilize your pH, which in turn will enable your chlorine to cleanse your pool more effectively.
Why Is Alkalinity High in Pool?
Unfortunately, a lot of the chemicals you add to your pool’s water might affect how alkaline the water is overall. Similar to how high bather loads and low chlorine levels can raise your pH and pool alkalinity levels.
Acid Cyanurique
Cyanuric acid is the substance that increases total alkalinity the most frequently (a.k.a. CYA or chlorine stabilizer). Your chlorine is stabilized by CYA, which stops it from evaporating as a result of the sun’s UV radiation. Additionally, it serves as a buffer against the acidity that chlorine causes.
The pH of stabilized trichlor chlorine, for instance, is about 3. As a result, adding trichlor chlorine to your water will increase its acidity. However, because it has been stabilized, cyanuric acid is present. And that reduces the acidity of the water in your pool. The pool alkalinity may increase due to buffered acidity.
Because of this, it’s crucial to regularly check the chemistry of your pool water using test strips or a liquid test kit to make sure all of your levels are kept in balance.
Low Levels of Sanitizer
A high bather load in water with little chlorine is another factor that may have an impact on your pH and alkalinity. Therefore, if there are plenty of swimmers and low amounts of chlorine in the water, the swimmers may leave behind impurities that alter pH, and an altered pH can alter the total alkalinity.
Water Shock
When you shock your pool, you could also experience troubles with high alkalinity levels. Although it’s crucial to shock your pool frequently, chlorine-based pool shocks are quite alkaline and can increase pH and, thus, alkalinity. So, after shocking your water, you can observe a greater pH and total alkalinity.
Why Pools with High Alkalinity Are a Problem?
You should be aware of these since they can point to a problem with your water chemistry because alkalinity and pH are closely related, and when you have higher than usual alkalinity levels, that can result in a wide range of problems arising from both the alkalinity and the pH.
It can make your chlorine less effective.
Physical irritations include dry skin, an itchy scalp, and red, irritated eyes, which are possible side effects. Cloudy water, an accumulation of algae, and calcium buildup can all be caused by a decrease in chlorine effectiveness.
Filters may become increasingly susceptible to deterioration with time.
Scale accumulation is possible.
What Happens if The Alkalinity in Your Pool Is Too High?
High alkalinity in pool can result in a variety of problems since your alkalinity affects your pH, and your pH affects practically everything.
High pH Causes
Your pH is likely too high if the alkalinity is excessive. Additionally, murky water and scaling may be present if your pH level is high. Additionally, clogging of the pipes by scaling will limit water flow, taxing your filtration and circulation system.
Reduces the Effectiveness of Chlorine.
Your pH and chlorine are both impacted by your total alkalinity levels. As a result, the chlorine in your pool will no longer be as efficient at sanitizing the water.
Possibly Affects the Skin and The Eyes
Swimming participants may experience itchy skin and burning eyes if the alkalinity and pH levels are off. Additionally, it can make the material in your swimsuit and goggles less durable.
Resulting in Scale-Up
pool alkalinity high can promote calcium accumulation because it throws off the pH balance. Additionally, if your calcium levels are excessive, your pool may scale. You might also have calcium accumulation inside your pool equipment or apparent calcium deposits accumulating on the pool surface.
Makes Water Cloudy
Calcium accumulation can be caused by high alkalinity in pool. Moreover, hazy pool water is a result of high calcium levels in the water.
How to Restore the pH in The Pool?
If you’ve resolved your high alkalinity problem but now notice that your water’s pH level is testing too low, you can raise it by adding baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) or soda ash (sodium carbonate), though doing so will also increase your total alkalinity, particularly if you choose the latter option.
Fortunately, there is a method that uses aeration to boost your PH without lowering the water’s alkalinity. (In fact, this is the only technique to independently raise your pH besides draining.)
By adding oxygen and eliminating carbonic acid, aeration raises the pH of the water. This happens naturally when the pool is in use or when it rains, but adding an aerator will speed up the process.
Water is shot into the air by aerators, where it falls into the pool. The water absorbs oxygen from the air as it travels through it and releases it into the pool as it lands.
You can use specialized pool aerators, but you can also employ pool water features like deck jets, scuppers, bubblers, and waterfalls to aerate the water.
Last but not least, you can add air to your pool by pointing the return jets up to make bubbles on the surface or by connecting a sprinkler-like device to reroute the returning water and spray it over the surface.
Choose Your Poison.
The good news is that there IS a solution for high total alkalinity, a severe water problem that needs to be addressed.
You can progressively lower the water’s total alkalinity to its appropriate range by adding either liquid muriatic acid or a granular alternative like sodium bisulfate. This maintains the chemistry balance and guarantees the pool is suitable for swimming.
How to reduce Alkalinity with Sodium Bisulfate
Acid salt or dry acid, commonly known as sodium bisulfate, is offered for sale as a pH down, pH reducer, pH minus, or pH decreaser. Although it is safer to use, it functions in the same way as muriatic acid.
Although this approach is safer to use, it is also more expensive. And you’ll still need to keep the dry acid stored in a dry, moisture-free area.
Keeping in mind that both your alkalinity and pH will decrease, as a result, be sure to retest both after.
Calculate the appropriate amount to add to your pool’s water by using the instructions on the product.
Sodium bisulfate should be mixed with water until the bucket is 3/4 full.
Mix the mixture with a wooden stick until all of the grains have completely dissolved. Undissolved grains could drop to the pool’s bottom and ruin the top.
Starting at the deep end, slowly pour the dissolved solution around the entire pool’s circumference.
Your water’s pH and alkalinity should be retested. Repeat the process if necessary.
PH vs Alkalinity:
One of the most significant parameters you can monitor as a pool owner is the pH level of your pool. You may get one step closer to reaching the appropriate pH level for secure swimming. But owning a pool means you have to deal with natural forces that seem to constantly throw off the balance of the water in your pool.
7 is considered neutral on the pH scale, which has a range of 1 to 14. Any number less than 7 is acidic, while any number greater than 7 is basic or alkaline. The pH levels of your pool can be impacted by a variety of external variables, including rain, sweat, cosmetics, debris, and leaves. Each of these objects has a pH that, when introduced to water, will either raise or lower the pH of your pool.
You can stabilize the water in your pool by reaching the proper total alkalinity. Alkalinity is a metric used to determine how much overall alkaline material is in a pool’s water. Alkalinity, then, is a measurement of the water’s acid-neutralizing capacity. High alkalinity results in overly buffered water with difficult-to-adjust pH levels, whereas low alkalinity causes significant spikes and dips in the pool’s pH levels.
Also Read: How to Remove Urine from Pool: An Ultimate Guide in 2022
How Can Alkalinity Be Reduced Without Decreasing pH?
It could be difficult to reduce the alkalinity of a swimming pool without lowering the pH.
You must pay particular attention to the total alkalinity levels of your pool in order to maintain the proper pH, which is a critical component of comprehending this pool chemistry.
A pool’s total alkalinity can be decreased by adding too many chemicals, but the pH will also be decreased.
In this sense, lowering total alkalinity is the same as lowering pH, which is something we do not want. One cannot be raised or lowered without having an impact on the other.
Turn on your pool’s air features and jets to prevent this issue.
As long as it pumps water pressure, you can lower the total alkalinity levels in your pool without affecting the pH levels.
When the levels unexpectedly drop, you can also use sodium bicarbonate and soda ash to adjust the pH of the water.
I hope you enjoyed our guide on “How to Lower Alkalinity in a Pool,” and I am confident it will assist you in lowering the alkalinity of your pool.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Does Chlorine Lower Alkalinity in Pool?
Yes. Be aware, though, that lowering total alkalinity by adding too much chlorine isn’t usually a smart idea.
Chlorine overuse can lower total alkalinity, which has the consequence of reducing pH levels as well. Additionally, if you keep up with this approach, managing your pool’s pH level will become more difficult in the long run.
Will Pool Alkalinity Decline Naturally?
High alkalinity in the pool gradually declines over time, although it takes a while.
We strongly advise you to treat your pool’s total alkalinity if you have the time. Long-term maintenance of your pool and equipment will benefit greatly from it.
How May Alkalinity Be Reduced in A Saltwater Pool?
Because salt itself is more corrosive, saltwater pools are typically more prone to scaling. On the basis of this, muriatic acid can be used in a saltwater pool to reduce alkalinity and remove scaling buildup. Simply follow the steps outlined above to reduce alkalinity.
How May Alkalinity Be Reduced in An Above-Ground Pool?
The amount of water that can be stored in an above-ground pool and the filtering mechanism are the two main distinctions between them and an in-ground pool. In the end, sodium bisulfate or muriatic acid will work effectively to lower the alkalinity levels in an above-ground pool.
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