A pH level of 7 means that water is neutral; above 7 means the water is alkaline, while below 7 indicates acidity. Aim for a pH level of between 7 and 7.6. If the water pH is higher than 8, anyone who swims in the pool is at risk of skin rashes, while a pH of lower than 7 can sting swimmers' eyes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the pH level considered to be ideal and safe for swimming ranges from 7.2 to 7.8. This range matches that of our body pH levels, so the water won't cause problems in the body as we swim.
When the PH of water becomes greater than 8.5, water taste can become more bitter. This elevated pH can also lead to calcium and magnesium carbonate building up in your pipes. While this higher pH doesn't pose any health risks, it can cause skin to become dry, itchy and irritated.
Lowering a pool's pH naturally can be done in four ways: installing a distilled water system to pump in water, cleaning your pool on a regular basis, leaving it alone, and letting the pH level come down on its own as minerals build-up, or installing a pool heater.
Algae can raise the pH. Adding strong liquid chlorine, calcium or lithium hypochlorite chlorine may raise it. Suddenly heating the water, whether from a pool heater or a string of sunny days, could up the pH. Saltwater pools tend to be alkaline.
Remember that a low pH level is crucial to successfully shocking a pool. At a pH level of 8.0, over half of your shock is ineffective and wasted. At a pH level of 7.2, however, over 90% of your shock will become active algae and bacteria killers.
You'll know your pH is too high when your pool water is cloudy, there is scale build up on your pool walls and your chlorine is no longer successfully sanitizing your pool. The process of proper re-balancing your pool water alkalinity can take more than one week, so be patient with this one.
Also known as “dry acid”, sodium bisulfate is a fine powder commonly used to lower the pH in pools. Sodium bisulfate is typically preferred over muriatic acid due to its safer use and ease of storage. However, as it is a powder, you should avoid using it on very windy days. The pH level of sodium bisulfate is 1.2-1.3.
Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate is naturally alkaline, with a pH of 8. When you add baking soda to your pool water, you will raise both the pH and the alkalinity, improving stability and clarity. Many commercial pool products for raising alkalinity utilize baking soda as their main active ingredient.
The most common reason for a consistently high pH level in pools is the use of liquid chlorine or a saltwater system as the primary sanitizer. Sodium hydroxide is produced, which has a pH of around 13. New pool plaster or pebble finishes will also raise pH in pools for about a year after installation.
The antioxidant properties (hydroxyl ions) of alkaline ionized water will dissipate in 18-24 hours, the higher pH properties will come back to a neutral pH level of 7 within 1-2 weeks, and the smaller molecule cluster size will last approximately 1-3 months.
There are a couple of ways you can lower pH in water. If you're drinking a glass of water, add a few drops of lemon juice. The acidity will lower the pH naturally. You could also install an acid injection system to your water supply to lower the pH of your drinking water.
Once you've determined that the pH level is too high, you should now work to restore the balance. There are two main products for lowering the pH. These are sodium bisulfate (also known as dry acid) and muriatic acid.
When chlorine levels are too high, the water's pH will start to decrease, which can eventually lead to corrosion. However, liquid chlorine has a pH of 13 and can cause the water's pH to increase.
Rainfall dilutes pool chemistry levels and lowers the readings for pH, alkalinity, hardness, stabilizer, and chlorine. Rainfall does not contain chlorine. As well, rainfall brings with it small amounts of contaminants that are washed into the pool.
Shocking the pool will lower the pH, whether you use chlorine-based shock (calcium hypochlorite), or the non-chlorine kind (potassium peroxymonosulfate).
Just as you can raise the pH with baking soda, you can lower pool pH with vinegar. It is not, however, the most effective additive for this purpose. You'd have to add so much vinegar, in fact, that it would raise the sugar level of the pool and become food for microbes.
You can decrease pH without lowering the Total Alkalinity using Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) injection for pH control. Still, this does not lessen one without an effect on the other. When CO₂ is injected into water, it forms carbonic acid (H₂CO₃), which will reduce the pH.
There are two ways to lower total alkalinity: using muriatic acid or using a pH reducer, a.k.a. sodium bisulfate. Keep in mind that whichever method you use will also lower your pH levels. And check out our guide on how to lower pH in a pool for more information.
After adding pH increaser or decreaser you'll want to wait about two to four hours, although some chemical manufacturers suggest a full turnover cycle, before retesting. The smaller the increments you need to adjust for pH, the less time you'll need to wait for the results to become stable.
The fluctuation of the pH of the pool water can have many causes, including: Sunlight accelerates the dissolution of chlorine, increasing the pH. Wind favours the evaporation of the water, which also increases the pH.
On the other end of the spectrum, once your pH level reaches the high scale, your pool chlorine is rendered basically ineffective and you'll end up with a lot of chloramines in your pool. Finally, we have the ideal level of pH 7.4, which places our pool chlorine effectivity at slightly above 50%.
Most Algae Grows in High-pH Environments
Most types of algae typically enjoy higher pH levels, ranging from 8.2 to 8.7. Once algae starts growing, it can further raise the pH level in your pool and cause more algae growth.
How Do I Adjust Pool Water pH? The basics of adjusting pool pH are: If your pool water pH is above 7.8, add an acid such as muriatic acid or sodium bisulfate. If the pH level is below 7.2, add an alkaline base such as sodium carbonate (soda ash) or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)