Pool guy here and I love that you talk about pool stores selling things people don't necessarily need!! They are in business to sell products. I tell all my customers to never step foot in a store unless they tell me first! haha Baking soda and Borax are my go to!!
@@gereneschendel6145 Aluminum is what product? Baking soda? It's sodium bicarbonate, a fixed chemical. There's no aluminum. You could be thinking about baking powder which has leavening agents added that could contain a salt of aluminum.
People who own pools have known this for quite a while. I have used this for a few years now and you can be sure that it is the reason why baking soda prices have more than doubled in the last year
Nice clip”👍🏽 So I thank you my man , I’m a new home owner & my own pool guy. I was cloudy for weeks, seen your video got two bags of soda & now we’re pool ready again 💯 ( thank you )🙏🏽
Great video. We've had our 15 x 30 above ground pool for 28 years. Our NW season is June -thru- mid September. We keep it heated at 86F. Use a RayPak 155,00 BTU htr and my special designed solar heating system. Replaced liner twice . .1 1/2HP Hayward pump once. Use sand filter. Best thing we ever invested in.
Thanks for reminding me about the Baking Soda - I used this in the past and I still have one of those unopened ~ 12-lb bag. The heat has really made it harder to keeping the swimming pool tip-top-shape!
@@dogsarefun2 Thanks, we were on the threshold of a drought declaration, but lately we have a lot of rain that I cannot keep the swimming pool clear. Besides the rain the heat and humidity envelopes you as soon as you step outside.
Well, I looked at swimming pool and the water was yellowish/greenish - most likely the dead algae. We have had a lot of rain and when it isn't raining it is HOT and HUMID! I might have to try vacuum the swimming pool again, but that is a real challenge because I do not have skimmer vacuum plate - I just shoved the hose down the pipe. I did my first vacuum in nearly 5 years a couple of weeks ago. I removed the equipment that has been stowed in the cedar chest for a couple of years. The suction head may be salvageable if I can get replacement wheels and bearings, but that will be a pain. The swimming pool vacuum hoses are mostly intact, the swimming pool vacuum cannister - Wesson - appeared intact and without any cracks in the plastic housing. I used a suction head that is basically a triangular brush with maybe 30-feet of good vacuum hose line. I had a successful first vacuum with old equipment that I pieced together. Early this evening I did my usual swimming pool cleaning method: Step 0; Rinse the pool deck free of debris Step 1; Checked and emptied the skimmer basket free of debris and leaves Step 2; Brushed the floor and walls of the swimming pool Step 3; Checked the Chlorinating Tablet Floater it has tablets Step 4; Performed a full cycle cleaning of the swimming pool plumbing system; backwash, rinse and return to filtration Step 5; Added water to the swimming pool to account for the backwash and evaporation Usually I am just adding shock and liquid chlorine at different times on different days. In the past when the pool has gotten to this condition it usually tested to add approximately 20lbs to 35lbs of calcium Step 6; Added eight ounces-(8-oz) of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda to balance the swimming pool ie., clear up the water by lowering the alkalinity or raising the ph - I am eyeballing it because I have not tested the swimming pool in months!
@@PappyNet01 get test strips, get alkalinity correct.... not knowing size of your pool... I use a floater chorine dispenser and keep it full with the hockey puck size tablets.... Clorox Pool & Spa Green Algae Eliminator2 to keep it clear free of algae... the copper in this product kills any algae and will prevent it from starting.
I am a Florida State Pool Service Contractor. What this guy knows about pool service you could put in a thimble and have room left over for an elephant. So many things wrong I don't know where to start other than you research the Dunning/Kruger effect in psychology.
I’m am a pool store to just so you know! Do not try to balance alk until the water is around 70 degrees as well it changes as it warms up! Having more acidic water with slightly aggressive chlorine will flip water in 2 days open cold too that way it’s clear running the pump is cheeper then buying all the chemicals
doing that too often if you have a pool heater is gonna cost you a new heat exchanger, or a new heater. if the ph is to low for to long at shock levels to clear stubborn algae. not worth it. only took once to learn that lesson.
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Real quick. Baking soda is food grade sodium bicarb. The stuff you buy at the pool store is possibly food grade, but more likely, less than food grade. The "evil pool store" isn't trying to sell you anything other than sodium bicarb but at cheaper prices than what (in this case) Arm & Hammer wants to sell you. The amazon link in the description is $16 for about a 12lb bag. The stuff the "evil pool store" carries is going to be about $20 for a 30lb bucket. Don't be fooled by video creators in sunglasses, they often don't know much more than FUD.
Thank you. Will this work with well water. I have a well pump and I'm terrified to purchase my swimming pool because I have no idea how to clear up the cloudy and muggy mess the well pump is going to dump in my pool.
@@felicagary5432 you will have to filter out the iron and minerals out of your well water. When you put chlorine in it will turn yellow to brown at first until the iron is filtered out. There’s videos showing how to filter it out
Technically people just are not using the right amount chlorine to keep a steadily high enough level for a long enough time to kill the algae and oxidize burn off the combined chlorine levels. when chlorine level drops below the shock level within hours, and they wait till night time to add more chlorine is prolonging the process. Technically there is a sweet spot where chlorine is at peek effectiveness, One can still clear a green pool with those two things out of range. Now high cya/ stabilizer you will not be clearing that green pool .
I just saw your video - thanks for the tip about the Baking Soda!! I have a 330 gallon beautiful water fountain in my yard that has brand new tile. How can I know how much baking soda I need to add? This is the 4th time we replace the tile because of the hard water boil up. THANK YOU!!!
ChatGPT - pH and alkalinity are related but distinct concepts in chemistry and water quality. pH: This measures the acidity or basicity of a solution on a scale from 0 to 14, where 7 is neutral. A pH below 7 indicates acidity, while a pH above 7 indicates alkalinity. The pH scale is logarithmic, meaning each whole pH value below 7 is 10 times more acidic than the next higher value, and each whole pH value above 7 is 10 times more alkaline than the next lower value. For example, a pH of 5 is ten times more acidic than a pH of 6. Alkalinity: This refers to the ability of a solution to neutralize acids. It is a measure of the buffering capacity of water, indicating its resistance to changes in pH when acids or bases are added. Alkalinity is usually expressed in terms of its carbonate concentration or equivalent, often measured in units of ppm (parts per million) or mg/L (milligrams per liter) of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Higher alkalinity means that more acid is required to lower the pH of the solution. In summary, pH tells you how acidic or alkaline a solution is, while alkalinity tells you the water's ability to resist changes in pH by neutralizing acids. High alkalinity can help stabilize pH levels in water systems, such as in aquariums or swimming pools, by preventing rapid pH swings.
Yes, I look at alkalinity as the lock for the PH. If alkalinity is high, it allows PH to climb also. I do find that once I lock the alkalinity in place, I rarely ever have to mess with the alkalinity or PH again, even through multiple pool seasons, unless I or nature add large amounts of water to the pool again. If it's high, Muriatic Acid is your friend. Also, if you decrease PH too much, but alkalinity is good, just aerate to bring just the PH up by turning the return eye up until the flow breaks the surface.
Great advice! What if you already have signs of algae on the bottom of the pool and yellow/green water? Do I clean the filter then start your recommendation?
Yes, you need to get some algicide in the water and vacuum the bottom. My tips are for keeping clearing up cloudy or green water and keeping it that way. Good luck!
I got 1 more pro tip. Don't waste your money on algacide. Just get a small bucket 1 gallon. Fill it with your pool water. Add about 1/4 cups or less (depending on the size of your pool) of dawn platinum. Mix thoroughly. Add the mic to you pool about 1/3 gallons at a time. As to assure you didn't add too much dawn that it will foam.
my pool is down going to do repairs the skimmer, pipes to pump filter also down...can i still do the process just to keep some of the algae problem at bay
Miriadic acid will fix both. CT sells it. I use a sand filter and been using baking soda for 2 years but if I top up with well water not bought water the only thing to regulate ph and Alk is miriadic acid …I sold hot tubes for 10 years and dealt with a lot of acreage/farm people too
Its very important to understand the difference between "total alkalinity" and just "alkalinity". People who dont know what acid/base is will get easily confused.
Listen up if you want clean water. Get a DELL AOP Ozone system with a UV sanitizer light. All you need to add is chlorine . You and your family will be swimming in bottled water. I have a Rainbow chlorine injection tube. Just add 10 3” tablets and that’s it. Let your suction cleaner run and that’s it. Sweep every once in awhile. The AOP keeps your pool PH neutral.
moss? like actual plant material? sounds like you need to physically remove that first. Baking soda is one of the items used in creating balanced water to prevent issues.
He’s not right 🤷🏼♂️. When a pool is green shock works better in an acidic state. You get it clean first with shock then you fix your ph. He doesn’t even realize chlorine and shock are the same thing. Shock is a higher concentration.
Yeah, there's really only two things you need to keep your pool nice and clear. Chlorine and backing soda.... But, if you have really hard water, you have to drain and replace your water.
Thanks for you video, but I have a salt water pool and it is usually to high in Ph and I need to lower it. I've been using muriatic pool acid from Home Depot or Lowe's. Any other tips for that?
Unfortunately I do not know much about salt water pools. Technically I have never had to lower anything in my pool but muriatic acid is the advice I was given.
I have a salt water pool & you're right. We mainly deal with high ph and alkalinity. When you add fresh water to the pool, it makes both levels go up. In this TX heat, I have to add water once a week or more(if the kids are in it) & all I deal with is high ph and alkalinity. I never need to make my alkalinity go up.
@@tinapruitt5648 Muriatic acid, liquid chlorine, and ph down with bring the ph down. To raise alkalinity: baking soda, chlorine based shock. Borax is a ph buffer as well as alkalinity.
This only tells some of the story. Strips, for one, are not always accurate. They are easy though, so people like them. A test kit is not difficult to learn and will give better results. But what you don't really talk about is CYA (cyanuric acid). This is one of the MOST important readings that many overlook and becomes a problem as the tabs that most people use can raise this level. If you CYA is too low, your chlorine will just be burned off by the sun. If it's too high, your chlorine will stay in the pool but will be rendered ineffective. It just won't do anything. You cannot lower your CYA level, so if it raises too high, in large part from usage of chlorine tabs, your only recourse is to empty a large amount of water and scrub down your walls thoroughly and then refill and rebalance. If you have been in the stores or online and have seen them selling Stabilizer or Conditioner, those are used to raise your CYA levels if too low. Again, have to be careful as you can raise it too high. I bring this up, because if your CYA is out of proper range (30ppm to 50ppm on a standard chlorine pool, but higher on a salt water pool), your pool can easily turn green as your chlorine is either being burned up or not working and sanitizing. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION to your CYA everyone. You will either end up spending a lot more in chlorine if its too low, or a lot of work and potentially money on water from emptying your pool, scrubbing and refilling
Let's look at a bag of Baking Soda and a bag of PH Up. Check the ingredients. Strictly speaking, baking soda is Sodium BIcarbonate. The PH Up bags available thru Amazon, Home Depot ect. are made of Sodium Carbonate. The singular Carbon molecule allows for more effective results and minimal powder refuse on the bottom. But yes, Arm And Hammer will do the job.
I have a 330 gallon beautiful water fountain in my yard that has brand new tile. How can I know how much baking soda I need to add? This is the 4th time we replace the tile because of the hard water boil up. THANK YOU!!!
@@TheLeoGuido i would ask did you get it tested it to get the ph number and mineral content? May be there's more of a problem there than just baking soda can rectify.
It actually comes in both if yiu read the ingredients. Sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. Look closely Both of ours is in the laundry isle at Walmart
I’m in Abington, Ma From the button on my heart and the family, THANK YOU. A MILLION TIMES, THANK YOU. This is the info that EVERY pool owner should know but aren’t told so pool place people. Much love, stay bless.
So how much do you use? Do replace shock with baking soda or still use shock? Pools are a ROYAL pain in the ass to keep clean for longer than a day! I have no luck at all with pools! Bout to hire a pool guy I guess
If you have a saltwater pool…this is not needed. You just need to check your salt levels…and add more salt. I found the balance sweet spot of 3500 ppm of salt which keeps the water easy to maintain. Mostly just need to check stabilizer and chlorine levels. And twice a year I check for phosphates.
You might want to keep an eye on your hardness too because if your water is to "scaling" it will shorten the lifespan of your electrode. Hardness/Alkalinity to low it will erode the pool surface, basically trying to find neutral by extracting the calcium from the pools surface. (This is all referencing concrete pools)
Your the only one who explained this so well. I saw the pool guy use the same bag of Baking soda as you and I bought it too. I only had to use one bag per swim season. And never needed the pool guy but this season, it has been a headache with algea, cloudy water and this expensive pool shock never seemed to do the job! Thank you!!
And that's why you need a pool guy. Or good knowledge of pools and chemistry. You can't do too much of one chemical. I always run into this with DIYers
I'm sorry to say this man does not nobody's talking about your pH has nothing to do with your chlorine or your shock he's not telling the truth I've had a pool in ground for over the past 65 years I use HTH chlorine every night I mix it up in a 5 gallon bucket I dilute it and I walk around my pool and pour it in slowly all the way around and my pool is crystal clear and you can see that if it's a heads or tails of a dime sitting in the 8-foot part of my pool I can see it don't believe propaganda it's not true HTH is salvation for Pool owners
Speaking with 40 years experience I’ll say that ph and alkalinity are critical to proper sanitation of a pool. Baking soda will indeed work to raise total alkalinity. That said, it’s simply not true that pool store alkalinity increaser is exactly the same as baking soda. It’s purified so you’re not adding minerals and metals to the water that will interfere with the sanitation process (household baking soda is not) and when at high enough levels will cause staining plus it’s hydrogenated so it will give more impact per pound. I’ll add you need to test water at least once a year for water hardness or calcium levels, phosphorus, copper and iron especially if it’s present in your source water. $.02
that is not true. I ended up having to dump half a pool only using stabilized tablets because the cya/ STABILIZER was to high and locked up the chlorine. went to a salt chlorine generator, no more excessive cya. Don’t add baking soda either. just acid to lower PH. I can go weeks on vacation and not worry about a green pool even with a high ph and low alkalinity.
Just to say ty… im 71 yr old lady….have lived alone over 30 yrs….your the first one to break this down so it’s understandable!! This yr this heatwave is unbelievable (i am in Maine)! My pool is sparkling clear and im not spending my pool time cleaning!!! God bless you! 0
Thanks for the tip!! We bought a house that already had a inground pool!! So much to learn!! Pool stores some of them- only want to sell me more chemicals:( New sub here too)
You're right, they don't have to come fix what you thought was supposed to be the dosage because they sold you stuff you had no idea what it's purpose was. I'm a pool pro and balanced is your key word and keeping it that way.
Additional tip to save even more, check the price of the baking soda at the cleaning stuff isle vs the baking soda labeled “pool” in the pool isle. What I’ve found (at say Walmart) that the big box of Arm and Hammer baking soda in the cleaning isle was cheaper per pound than the Arm and Hammer baking soda in the pool isle.
You need to learn how to communicate effectively and economically. I don't care about your editorials on pool supply stores, or lawn advice. You drove me crazy with your constant remarks about pool stores!! Just get to the point man. I had to FF through a lot out of aggravation. Get focused and your video will be of greater help.
Thank you for the explanation…. I’ve had a pool for 20 years and I still can’t get it to stay clear and balance right….. I’m gonna try your tip and I’ll report back on how it done…. Pool places only want your money and I’m not throwing money away on nonsense bull crap chemicals that I don’t need…. Single mom life = very tight budget. Thank you again for the tip… I’ll post as soon as i try this and see what it does for me 😊
@@BOSSwky keep a eye on your Ph it’s not a special trick . It’s one of the things you want to keep balanced. Alkaline, sodium bicarbonate,/( baking soda )
Wow, this is some great advice. Thank you so much for sharing. Had a pool years ago and was thinking of getting another one so this is really great information.
Well done but don't add granular shock around your pool like baking soda, you'll slowly be bleaching the crease or your liner down below. Mix it in water first if you can't put a pound at a time in a skimmer.
what if they don’t have a pool brush? Or time to brush the pool. Or just visually want to make sure no granular chlorine is sitting on an expensive liner. mixing it is the safest way.
The internet is a place where anyone can slander an entire industry by saying “I feel like” pool places are always trying to sell what you don’t need. You NEED calcium hardness to protect the life of your liner, pump seals, etc.
The pool store looked at me funny when I said I was using the big bag baking soda. He quickly started talking about my phosphate levels. Although I was using phos free plus once a week. 🤷🏼♀️
Good job of telling him , I have funny feeling he did try & Store pool too see if it works also try Mr.Clean white sponge in your water intake big skimmer takes all your algae alway helps your pool
We have our customers go buy a 50lb bag of Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda) from the farm store every year. very cheap. All of the competing pool stores are furious at us and even put out that baking soda is not for pools, while the state only allows commercial to use it instead of other chemicals.
Absolutely Dead On! For years I disregarded alkalinity, then studied and found ph will never stabilize without correct alkalinity. If alkalinity is correct and ph is low (very rare) , then soda ash (sodium carbonate) is used.
I have an inground salt generated pool. My pool supplier doesn't hide anything from me. I know I need bags of salt , acid, and ocasionally stain remover on hand and some other stuff once in a while. Why would you say that this one chemical (baking soda) will correctly make a pool Crystal clear? Putting baking soda in your pool doesn't cover all the potential the needs of people's pools. WTF?
You forgot to discuss cyanuric acid aka stability aka stabilizer. It acts as a sunscreen for your chlorine to keep it from burning off by the sun. It should be 30-50ppm There are also 3 types chlorine/shock. Dichlor and Trichlor have stabilizer, calcium hypochlorite doesn’t . Cyanuric acid affects the alkalinity; make sure it doesn’t get too high or your water will get chlorine locked and unable to hold chlorine. At 100ppm chlorine becomes useless and you need to dilute the water by either draining or backwashes as the only way to remove or lower it is by physically removing water.
Nice 👌 I feel lucky my water management has been easy always easy just using clear balance with chlorine...im always looking for more advice great video...
I've been using this exact bag of baking soda in my pool for the past 3 years, I usually dissolve it in a bucket of water and just throw it in the pool from the deck You won't be sorry, it's inexpensive and works great! I never buy anything from the pool stores
@@nighthawk_predator1877 Out of work pool guy I’m guessing? I only use outlet store bleach and baking soda. Pool is consistently testing just right too.
