Yes both cyanuric acid and muriatic acid are both acids but they serve different purposes for the pool owner. Cyanuric acid has the chemical formula CNOH, whereas muriatic acid is a diluted form of hydrochloric acid, HCI.
In the pool industry, Cyanuric Acid is known as chlorine stabilizer or pool conditioner. Cyanuric Acid (CYA) is a pool balancing product used to help chlorine last longer. Chlorine, in its natural form, is unstabilized—which means it degrades when exposed to sunlight.
Cyanuric acid is raised by adding chlorine stabilizer containing cyanuric acid. The only way to lower cyanuric acid is by replacing water.
Most experts agree that muriatic acid is the best option to lower the pH and alkalinity levels of your pool water. You can also use it to clean tiles, remove stains, dissolve calcium deposits, and kill any mold and algae leftover in your pool at the end of the year.
A level of less than 25 ppm combined with a pH level of less than 7.0 can cause the liner to form wrinkles. Avoid using hydrochloric (muriatic) acid for pH adjustment because it will chemically attack the liner's print pattern.
Most commonly, pool owners will use hydrochloric acid (also known as muriatic acid). These are usually sold in gallon containers and come in liquid form. Most hardware and pool supply stores carry these.
Muriatic acid is one of the names for hydrochloric acid, a corrosive strong acid. It is also known as spirits of salt or acidum salis. "Muriatic" means "pertaining to brine or salt". The chemical formula for muriatic acid is HCl.
Try muriatic acid.
It won't actually reduce the water's calcium hardness, but it will raise the saturation level, which can help bring the water back into balance.
Dichlor and trichlor contain both chlorine and cyanuric acid so it is not necessary to add cyanuric acid to the pool water. Stabilizer (aka cyanuric acid) is also sold at most pool supply stores. Cal-hypo and liquid chlorine do not contain stabilizer.
2. Dichloroisocyanuric Acid: Also known as “dichlor,” this is another type of chlorine shock. Dichlor contains both chlorine and cyanuric acid and will, over time, raise your cyanuric acid levels.
The problem with low cyanuric acid is chlorine degrades quickly in the presence of sunlight. Chlorine is rendered completely ineffective within a few hours of sun exposure. If you didn't have cyanuric acid in your pool or it was low, you'll find that you need to add a lot more chlorine to have effective sanitization.
No, cyanuric acid and baking soda work in very different ways in your pool. Baking soda raises the total alkalinity in your pool. But baking soda does not protect or stabilize your chlorine, like CYA.
Baking soda is the best way to raise total alkalinity with minimal effect to pH and cyanuric acid.
Clorox has absolutely NO Cyanuric Acid (CYA) in it nor does it increase CYA at all when you use it. You should show them. It's mostly water, then sodium hypochlorite (i.e. chlorine), and sodium chloride salt, and then a small amount of sodium hydroxide and a very small amount of sodium polyacrylate.
Cyanuric acid (CYA), also called stabilizer or conditioner, is used in pools and spas exposed to the sun to reduce the rate of decomposition of available chlorine by ultraviolet rays in sunlight. Stabilized forms of chlorine, such as dichlor and trichlor, contain CYA in their formulas.
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.
Using Muriatic Acid as a pH Reducer
First things first: You need to know how much muriatic acid to use. For an average-sized pool (think 15,000 to 20,000 gallons), you'll need about a quart of muriatic acid. If your pool is much larger or much smaller than average, you should check with your pool professional.
Perhaps most important note of all, never add chlorine and muriatic acid together in the pool. This creates a dangerous toxic gas that can have severe health consequences if inhaled.
When vinegar is mixed with salt, the acetic acid in the vinegar reacts with the sodium chloride or salt to produce sodium acetate and hydrochloric acid. The hydrochloric acid is a strong acid.
MURIATIC ACID (Aqueous Hydrochloric Acid)
Muriatic acid and sulfuric acid are very different chemical compounds. Muriatic acid has the formula HCl, while sulfuric acid has the formula H2SO4. What this means is that sulfuric acid molecules have two hydrogens, one sulfur and four oxygens, while muriatic acid molecules have one hydrogen and one chlorine atom.
Hydrochloric acid [H+(aq) Cl−(aq) or H3O+ Cl−], also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride (chemical formula: HCl).
There are three very common types of acid that can be used in water, which include muriatic acid, hydrochloric acid, and sulfuric acid. Both muriatic acid and hydrochloric acid are highly similar in composition. In general, muriatic acid is a less pure form of hydrochloric acid.
Muriatic acid is a form of hydrochloric acid, which has a pH of about 1 to 2. The only differences between hydrochloric acid and muriatic acid are purity—muriatic acid is diluted to somewhere between 14.5 and 29 percent, and often contains impurities like iron.