My pool akalinity is very low barely readable what should i do and is it safe to swim?

Question

My pool akalinity is very low barely readable what should i do and is it safe to swim?

Answer 1

Hello.  I have been a certified Pool Operator for many years.

The alkalinity of your pool water will not affect anything short-term, and certainly will not affect the health of swimmers.

The total alkalinity (TA) is a measure of how much of the alkaline substances there are in the water. In the swimming pool water, we measure bicarbonate alkalinity, which should ideally be between 80 ppm (parts per million) and 120 ppm.

In most areas of the country (USA) the water you get delivered to your home is fairly 'hard' and likely is close to that range already.  Unless you've used 'soft water'.  You might first check and be sure the reagents in your test kit are not expired, and if they are still good, re-do the test anyway.  It is fairly easy to mess up while doing these tests which usually involve titrating and counting the drops, etc.  If you are not in practice it is pretty easy to make an error.

The most important thing that having TA of 80-120 does for you is that it helps stabilize the pH of your pool water, helping it to avoid wide swings either high or low.  It acts as a buffer.

If the TA is pretty low, Gunnite, cement and plaster pool walls may become etched, metals corrode, pool's walls and floor stain, etc.  It can be hard on the physical components of your pool but not directly affect the health of swimmers.

If the TA is too high, the pH is difficult to adjust, the water can become cloudy, and it may affect test-kit measurements making them unreliable (especially the acid demand test).  However, even with high TA, if the pool water keeps a crystal clear appearance it's probably not worth messing with.  Check for deposits inside pipes and pumps from time to time.  Unless deposits are forming or the pool water goes cloudy or discolors it isn't as big a deal as Pool Supply Store salesmen will make it out to be.

Answer 2

Contrary to what's been previously posted, low alkalinity IS an issue and you ought to deal with it quickly. It's not so much an issue with swimmers ( although some people will feel "itchy" and develop sore eyes) but for your pool and equipment, it's not good. A low TA is an aggressive water situation. It can easily and VERY quickly strip copper from expensive heat exchangers in pool heaters, damage even stainless steel fittings like ladders, strip copper from light niches, discolour metal fixtures, stain the pool surfaces ( the metals it dissolved), etch concrete pools surfaces and if this is a vinyl pool liner, permanently wrinkle the liner around the main drain in a nice neat circle. I've seen all of that from a low TA and I've also seen it happen in under two days. Not to mention, with your TA being low, you are also experiencing what's called pH bounce. Your pH is going to go up and down like a yo yo and your sanitizers aren't going to work as well as they ought to either.

I'm shocked that a pool operator would consider a low TA nothing to worry about. TA is the FIRST thing to consider in swimming pools.

Here's a few sources to back up my assertions.

http://www.rogerspools.com/Balance.htm

http://www.askalanaquestion.com/langelie...

http://www.aqua-shine.com/Index/Chemistr...

and here is actually a rather good article in a down loadable .pdf on water chemistry on the whole with a decent guide on TA

http://www.pested.msu.edu/Resources/bull...

To bring your TA up, you can purchase any product that advertises it's function to raise TA.  Products like Aqualtrol, TA boost or what have you, that contain baking soda as an active ingredient ( NaHCO3). It only takes a moment to broadcast the powder and it's effect takes place pretty quickly. There's no reason NOT to deal with this ASAP. Why take the chance?