If the Ph is too high in my pool what do I add?

Question

If the Ph is too high in my pool what do I add?

Answer 1

To lower the Ph of your pool add muriatic acid which should be available at the local grocery store or pool supply store.

You should understand what Ph is and means.  The Ph of a pool (or anything) is a measure of the acid or base level.  The scale goes from one (1) to 13 and is a measure of two related substances, hydrogen (H) and hydroxide (OH).  If there is too much free H, the environment (your pool) is acidic and is a number below 7 on the Ph scale.  If your pool is too basic (soap is actually a base), you've too much free hydroxide (OH) and the number is above 7 on the Ph scale.  The farther you get from 7, the stronger the acid or base.  Bases can be as damaging to an organism as are acids.  

You've likely heard of Drano drain cleaner (and others like it) ... they all use incredibly strong bases (sodium HYDROXIDE or NaOH) to eat through organic things that plug your pipes.

In your pool, if you allow the Ph of your pool to drop too much (become too acidic), the acid will eat away at your pool and its pipes.  If you allow the Ph to become too high, minerals will form in the pipes and clog them.  

In addition, if the Ph of the pool is screwed up, the chlorine will not work properly.

Thus, it is important to keep the Ph balanced.

Your eyes and most of your body are slightly acidic (6.8 - 6.9).  You keep your pool at 7.2 - 7.4.  Thus, it is your pool water Ph that irritates your eyes, not the chlorine.  However, the type of chlorine you use can affect the Ph.  

So, the moral of this story is to keep the Ph of your pool balanced (7.2 - 7.4).

Just a fun little side note -- if you take equal amounts of an equal strength acid and a base and combine them, the free H and free OH will combine to make HOH which is ... water (H20) which has a Ph of 7.0 on the scale.