Hi all,
We’re in Canada and we’ve just moved in to a new house and I’m planning to open the existing ~16x32 (~19000 gallons/ ~72000 liters) winterized concrete pool. I haven’t bought a the recommended test kit yet but I have used a test strip as to get a general idea of the current water chemistry.
Chlorine values are zero since I haven’t added anything to the pool yet but the two values that I’m wondering about, that are completely off, are the total alkalinity and the pH. The total alkalinity is near zero and the PH is high...over 8.4.
From what I’ve read I should be adjusting the alkalinity and then the pH before SLAMing the pool. I believe adding baking soda will raise the total alkalinity...any idea how much I will need to buy to raise the total alkalinity so much?
Also, will adding baking soda increase the pH even more? Is that ok for the pool? Then when I lower the pH, will the total alkalinity just go down again right away? I’m worried I’ll add in a lot of baking soda only to reverse its effects by lowering the pH right after.
Any insight would be appreciated!
We’re in Canada and we’ve just moved in to a new house and I’m planning to open the existing ~16x32 (~19000 gallons/ ~72000 liters) winterized concrete pool. I haven’t bought a the recommended test kit yet but I have used a test strip as to get a general idea of the current water chemistry.
Chlorine values are zero since I haven’t added anything to the pool yet but the two values that I’m wondering about, that are completely off, are the total alkalinity and the pH. The total alkalinity is near zero and the PH is high...over 8.4.
From what I’ve read I should be adjusting the alkalinity and then the pH before SLAMing the pool. I believe adding baking soda will raise the total alkalinity...any idea how much I will need to buy to raise the total alkalinity so much?
Also, will adding baking soda increase the pH even more? Is that ok for the pool? Then when I lower the pH, will the total alkalinity just go down again right away? I’m worried I’ll add in a lot of baking soda only to reverse its effects by lowering the pH right after.
Any insight would be appreciated!