This video is a lifesaver I wish you had more likes and more subscribers because it has helped me tremendously and I always come back to your lesson if I forget it. Thanks for posting
So glad it was helpful. And thank you for your kind encouragement. You can help my subscribers grow by sharing my channel with all your pool owning friends and family. And don't forget to check out my new membership DIY pool maintenance website poolschooler.com for a ton more tools to help you save money by servicing your pool yourself.
Hi Kenny! I'm new to your site. Thank you for your great videos! I live in the Phoenix area. In March of this year, I refilled my pool with fresh water(14K Gallons and Pebble) based on your start-up video. Excellent video. My pool water looks great and all tests have been in a proper range, except, for the alkalinity and pH levels!!! Every week I have to increase the alkalinity level (from around 75 ppm) and lower pH (from 7.9 or 8)!! I have difficulty maintaining alkalinity and pH balanced (my goal: keeping alkalinity around 100 ppm and pH at 7.6). When I raise the alkalinity (using baking soda) to around 100 ppm, my pH goes high (to 8) and when I lower the pH (using Muriatic acid), the alkalinity level drops below 80 ppm. Every week, first I raise the alkalinity to around 100 ppm, and 6-8 hours later I add sufficient muriatic acid in several shots to lower the pH gradually. However, I have not yet been able to maintain the alkalinity around 100 ppm and pH around 7.6. Twice a week, I test the water using AquaChek strips and also check them occasionally at a major pool store chain (frankly, I don't have a lot of confidence in their tests.) However, this has been a relentless problem to maintain/balance alkalinity and pH. What am I not doing right? PLEASE HELP!
Two things: #1. Don't get too overly concerned about getting the pH and Alkalinity perfect. As long as you get somewhat close to the ideal ranges you'll be fine. Remember, there are a lot of factors that can contribute to the need or lack of need for chemicals. You don't have to have it precise. That said #2. One of those factors could be the chemical's used in the pebble tech. (ie: the bonding chemicals, etc). All of the chemicals used in the pebble tech can have a huge impact on your pool water chemistry (and I've experienced this ANY time I've deal with a re-surfaced pool of any type). Those chemicals will affect the pool chemistry and may take some time to balance out. So I would't sweat this too much. Get as close as you can and enjoy your pool. I think as the pebble tech chemicals dissipate and evaporate over time you'll be better able to get those in better balance.
@@PoolSchooler Hi Kenny, Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your time. You could be right about the Pebble tech bonding, though our pool Pebble tech is 5 years old. Does the percentage of Hydrogen Chloride in Muriatic acid play a key role in reducing pH? Several Muriatic acid brands have Hydrogen Chloride ranging from 14.5% to 20% and 31.4%. The higher percentage usually is more expensive. Do you have a preference and which one do you recommend?
@@myalakee7329 I really wish I had an answer for you, but like I said, in many of my videos I am not a chemist by any means. It shouldn’t take from special form of muriatic acid to bring your pH down. Just whatever you can get at the pool supply store should do it. You might want to also test your source water to see if the ph in the tap water that fills your pool has a high ph.
Hello! We are new at owning a pool - we have an aboveground 24'. Right now, the alkalinity is high, so as you mentioned, we wanted to use dry pool acid to lower it. Our local pool store recommended the muriatic acid as it is easier to use and cheaper. I felt conflicted there. Also, in this video, you recommended the dry pool acid, but in a different one, it sounded like dry acid may be bad to use with a vinyl liner. Please advise. Thank you.
@@PoolSchooler So, you recommend the dry acid if high alkalinity is the issue? Also, are Ph - down products the same as dry acid, sodium bicarbonate? Thank you.
@@karenrevelt8841 You'd have to read the label to see. Best way to lower ph is to use liquid muriatic acid. Bicarbonate of Soda is for raising the alkalinity.
In my SoCal pool I fight low alkalinity and PH. I use Alkalinity Increaser and have been told to always add it to my skimmer in my vinyl lined built in 12k gallon pool...... thoughts on how to add the product correctly?
ThunderStruckCoach I agree with that method for vinyl lined pools. I’d suggest adding bicarbonate of soda to raise the Alkalinity and soda ash to raise the ph. No more than 1 lb of each at a time.
@@PoolSchooler I bought 50lbs of soda ash from Walmart and mixed 1lb in a 5gal bucket of pool water and deployed it all around the pool....... 13lbs and 20hrs later my 12K pool was perfect! No clouding and no granules on the bottom because I mixed it in water and waited about an hour (and over night) between doses. The previous home owner said "I will never have to buy an ounce of muriatic acid in my life" due to our water. Thanks for the reply and help, and keep up the great videos.... I have learned a ton from you.
@@PoolSchooler I bought 50lbs of soda ash from Walmart and mixed 1lb in a 5gal bucket of pool water and deployed it all around the pool....... 13lbs and 20hrs later my 12K pool was perfect! No clouding and no granules on the bottom because I mixed it in water and waited about an hour (and over night) between doses. The previous home owner said "I will never have to buy an ounce of muriatic acid in my life" due to our water. Thanks for the reply and help, and keep up the great videos.... I have learned a ton from you.
I’m in Phoenix as well, and just refilled my pool. After some initial chemicals, PH is 7.4, TA is 130, and CYA IS 30. If I add dry acid to lower my TA down to around 80, it wouldn’t affect my PH? I plan on adding borates using the borax method after my TA and PH is settled to the right values. 14k gallon PebbleTek
@@PoolSchooler but 100% sodium bicarbonate is just 100% sodium bicarbonate right? $15 for 5lbs in a pool labeled bag and $0.87/lb in the cooking aisle :)
@@PoolSchooler so to add to his question 🙋♀️, if the ph is high and the alkalinity is low. Do you balance ph first than alkalinity or vice versa and how soon after you balanced one of them can you bal the other one without messing with the one you just got balanced? An hr, 2hrs or longer, just wondering. Hope my question makes sense 😜😁
@@seascape0881 you get the alkalinity in place first because the alkalinity is like the tough brother to ph. Ph will jump around while alkalinity will stay strong close to where you balance it. Getting a season started for us the first time ever this year has lead us to figure out how to balance water. We have well water so it's full of iron. Steps for me 1. Get rust out of water via iron/mineral remover + poly-fill bucket filter. 2. Adjust alkalinity over anything else to start and 3. Balance everything else after that. Get your water tested for phosphates too. I went to the local pool shop and she told me not to worry about phosphates as I'm 900ppb when recommended is less than 100ppb. Either way do the alkalinity first bro. Then everything else. Your ph will naturally go to where your alkalinity is over time. Aeriate the water in your pool to raise pH. Adding oxygen to your pool by keeping the surface broken will help over a longer period of time.
Dry acid usually helps to lower the alkalinity with out having too much effect on the Ph. I mention that at 1:42 into the video. You'd want to use liquid muriatic acid to lower the Ph of your pool without having too much effect on the alkalinity.
No it is not. Use Dry acid to lower alkalinity, liquid muriatic acid to lower ph. For more great DIY pool owner stuff check out my website poolschooler.com
@@candyjosimpson1077 No worries. So, to lower your Ph and Alkalinity at the same time you can probably get away with using liquid Muriatic Acid. It may take several quarts to do so but don't add more than 2 quarts at a time with the pump running to mix the chemicals quicker, wait an hour and test the water. Repeat the process as needed. If the Alkalinity doesn't fall with the ph when you use the liquid muriatic acid, get the ph where you want it then switch to the dry acid (no more than 1 lb at a time with same pump running and time frame as with the muriatic acid). Regarding your CYA, 100 is not too high at all. The ideal range for CYA is between 30 and 100 so you're fine there.
