Muriatic Acid scares the bejeezes out of me.

[Deb04]

I also use the lower strength stuff. I know it’s more expensive and I don’t care. I am usually all about saving money and saving plastic, but not here. I go through about a gallon a year so the difference in cost is not going to break me. On the other hand, the full strength stuff scares me too. Used it once. Never again. I live in an area of the country where wind can and does change direction at a moments notice. I breathed some in and my asthmatic lungs complained vigorously.

I‘ll just add my voice to “no glass at the pool.“

 

[dblko]

Before u open the jug be sure u are not downwind (so the wind blows the fumes away from u)
I also hold my breath because it just doesn’t really take that long to add & MA is stinky.
* hold the bottle over the pool close to the surface of the water (if the jug is full u can “float” the jug on the water so it’s not so heavy)
* open the jug
* tip to pour the desired amount into the stream of a running return
* re cap the jug
* rinse the jug with pool water incase some ma got on the outside of the jug & place it on the pool deck
* brush the area where u poured the MA for good measure
If u must use another vessel to measure amounts use a plastic measuring cup & do the whole process over the water, pouring the ma into the cup, pour that into the pool, rinse the cup well & set it aside, cap the bottle and rinse it.
Doing everything over the pool close to the water means if u spill / drop u can rinse quickly & the possibility of splashing is reduced.

I use the same method. Holding breath and positioning yourself upwind, wearing goggles and gloves. Hold and dip the bottle into the pool so that it’s top is already pretty much at water level and let the acid just flow out directly into the pool by tilting the bottle without creating splashed. Just to be prepared I leave a water hose already open and running next to me to be able to quickly wash away any potential spills. In my case, didn’t really bother measuring exactly, just pure a rough amount as an estimated proportion of the full bottle.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

I was thinking about this as I get ready for work ... I have a few shirts that have discolored spots on them from the splash of adding bleach when the liquid came out too fast and glugged into the pool even though it was an inch or two above the surface!

 

[Katodude]

So going back to @Leebo question. How often do you have to add acid?

So first, I agree with all the advice given here. Like most I just add to the pool. I have borates so I add a lot when I add.

Now, back to part one. Getting a digital pH meter helped me realize I used to add acid too frequently to my pool. Mine is plumbed into the system so I can constantly check pH. Before that the pink on the color chart at 7.9 looked well over 8 to me. So I would quickly add acid to get it down. I learned eventually that my pool will sit at 7.9 for weeks on end (which I could not tell until I got the pH meter). My CSI is usually pretty close to 0 so I dont sweat it. Once you get your TA more in line life becomes much easier (and cheaper now that acid is so expensive).

 

[dblko]

I typically go through a bottle or two of acid over a summer season, just getting the box with 2 bottles from the pool shop, adding something probably once every 2 weeks when noticing the ph is too far out of range. Usually I add quite a bit and overshoot the other way. Haven't had any problems.

 

[Cindypantz]

What is the best method for adding Muriatic Acid to the pool? After reading all the warnings on the label and adding it today, I'm wary of doing it again. We used a glass measuring cup and added it in front of a return line. When the liquid hit the pool water, there was a few seconds of "steam" or gas coming off the pool water. The label specifically says not to breathe in the fumes but how do you avoid it? Did we do something wrong in the process? I don't want to be afraid to take care of my pool but I'm kinda spooked by the chemicals. Tips and suggestions most welcome.

I just pour it straight in from the bottle and then stir it around with the pool stick. Turn you head slightly if you need to breathe a bit. The warnings are valid, but MA isn't that dangerous as long as you treat it with some care and don't splash it everywhere.

 

[mgtfp]

Getting it on your skin isn't a big thing you just want to rinse it off and not let it sit there for a length of time

Just as well we're always right next to a big tub of water when using MA

Fully agree. I always wear goggles, but if I get a splash on the hand, I just rinse it off in the pool. No big deal.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

I went to Home Depot yesterday and picked up 2 gallons of MA. I thought about goggles but figured I really don't need them. A lot of people here use MA safety so I need to get over my "fear" of it. As a matter of fact the person who rang me out at HD commented on I must have a pool with a SWG and said MA is the way to go!

 

[thefloatqueen]

I have nothing of value to add, but I am following this thread as I am also afraid of muriatic acid. I use dry acid (pH down or whatever you wanna call it), but it is much more expensive than MA and not recommended on this site. Since my fill water has super high alkalinity and pH, I will begin using MA next season!

 

[Stoopalini]

I have one of these I use for the pool. I fill it with the amount of MA I need, then take it to the pool (holding it downwind as I walk), and when I add it to the pool, I kneel down and slowly sink the pitcher into the water, letting pool water fill the rest of the pitcher up, until the whole pitcher is underwater. Then I tip the pitcher over slowly, pouring the contents out under the water's surface. This prevents fumes from escaping when I'm adding.

Afterward, I scoop a few pitchers of pool water up and pour it on the surface of the pool to rinse out the pitcher, and also mix up the location where I added it.

I also turn my waterfall on when I add MA, and do the addition right in front of the waterfall to encourage faster mixing.

I have borates in my pool though, so I'm adding quite a bit of MA each time.

 

[proavia]

I have one of these I use for the pool. I fill it with the amount of MA I need, then take it to the pool (holding it downwind as I walk), and when I add it to the pool, I kneel down and slowly sink the pitcher into the water, letting pool water fill the rest of the pitcher up, until the whole pitcher is underwater. Then I tip the pitcher over slowly, pouring the contents out under the water's surface. This prevents fumes from escaping when I'm adding.

Afterward, I scoop a few pitchers of pool water up and pour it on the surface of the pool to rinse out the pitcher, and also mix up the location where I added it.

I also turn my waterfall on when I add MA, and do the addition right in front of the waterfall to encourage faster mixing.

I have borates in my pool though, so I'm adding quite a bit of MA each time.

View attachment 450008

Always add acid to water. Never let water flow into a container that has acid in it.

Keep any breeze to your back to help mitigate any fumes from fining your nose/mouth.

Also, it is safer to carry a CLOSED acid container to the pool as the chance of spilling it on yourself, the deck, etc is greatly diminished.

For the technical details, maybe @JoyfulNoise will respond.

 

[Stoopalini]

Always add acid to water. Never let water flow into a container that has acid in it.

Keep any breeze to your back to help mitigate any fumes from fining your nose/mouth.

Also, it is safer to carry a CLOSED acid container to the pool as the chance of spilling it on yourself, the deck, etc is greatly diminished.

For the technical details, maybe @JoyfulNoise will respond.

Definitely good advice not to pour water into a container of acid. What I'm doing is tipping the pitcher over at the surface of the water, and when the tip makes contact with the water and acid starts to barely pour out, I slowly pushed the pitcher opening under the surface of the water so a layer of pool water covers the acid without any splashing at all. Since the acid is heavier, it stays on the bottom of te pitcher and gets a layer of pool water over the top stopping any fumes at that point. Then I continue to slowly submerge the pitcher into the pool until it is underwater. Then I tip it over the rest of the way and the acid pours out (again, since it's heavier). No fumes at all except for the walk to the pool.

I don't know of any reason why this is a bad idea, but I'm learning new stuff every day

This has worked really well for me over the past 2 years, and I can always pour the acid in front of my waterfall no matter which way the wind is blowing.

Also agree it's safer to carry a closed container. If someone is not comfortable carrying a 64oz pitcher with 20 or so oz of acid in it, then definitely do the pouring from the bottle at the pool. I just prefer to measure precisely, so I do it this way. Each person should make a decision on what they're comfortable with.

I'm also not walking across my sundeck coated pool deck either, where a drop or two could damage the top coating of the concrete. I'm walking across the grass and a flagstone patio. Although I've never spilled anything, if I did, it would be a non-issue.

I get people are scared of MA, I've just never had any issue working with it. Even getting it on my skin (like when opening the bottle's seal) has never cause me any issue. I've actually mixed it up in a spray bottle with a 80/20 mix for cleaning mortar off some stone work we had done where the mason did a horrible job of cleaning the mortar off the rock. Even spraying and scrubbing like this didn't cause any irritation to me or my wife's skin.

Definitely use caution and treat it accordingly though. I think folks who haven't worked with it tend to think it'll burn a hole in your skin, or if you breathe some fumes in it'll burn your lungs. It's definitely uncomfortable to breath in, but it would take more than getting an occasional wiff of it to do damage. Your body's reaction on that first wiff is usually enough to make you pull away and not breathe enough to cause damage.

 

[Poolbreh]

DE is just as dangerous or more so if you accidentally inhale it. Take caution handling/using.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

My suggestion is to always pour in front of fast moving return at the deep end and to not walk around with it. There is no benefit to adding acid to a pool by doing any kind of walking perimeter pour. It's simply unnecessary and risks getting acid in places you don't want it. Muriatic acid in highly miscible in water and, even though it has greater density, it will mix and disperse very rapidly especially if you do light brushing of the area when done. After that, the hydraulic mixing of the pool pump will take care of the rest and in under 30mins you should easily be able to test the pH change.

People make this process way more complicated than it needs to be. I've said this in other threads as well but it bears repeating here - the pool industry makes way too much fuss over pH and leads people into believing it's something that needs to be tightly controlled. That philosophy is nonsense when it comes to pool water. This is why TFP de-stresses the need to hit a specific pH target and states quite clearly that, as long as the pH is somewhere between 7.2 and 8.0, the pool is perfectly safe to swim in. There is no need to be more exact than adding MA by plus or minus a few ounces. The difference in pH change between adding 10oz, 12oz or 14oz of acid will be minimal in most pools that 10,000+ gallons and high alkalinity (60-80ppm). So there's really no need to labor the process of adding acid. I use a secondary container to measure acid out but it's a quart sized paint container that runs in increments of 4oz. I typically have to add 40-44oz of acid every 10 days or so. So I roughly measure out two 20oz doses and add it to the deep end return. I occasionally catch a whiff of fumes but, aside from a few quick coughs, it doesn't really bother me. I wear a cheap pair of plastic safety glasses from the hardware store simply as splash protection but they are open fitted so that vapors can't get trapped.

Other than that, it's really not a big deal.

 

[pjt]

Just pour directly from the bottle into the pool. The important concept is minimizing the handling of MA. Every time it's handled (measuring cup, diluting in a bucket, etc.), you increase the risk of spilling or splashing. The exact amount of MA isn't critical. You can always add more if needed.

Open the bottle over the water. Pour in front of a return with the pump running. The bottle opening should be just above the surface of the water (~1 inch). You can partially submerge the bottle and use its buoyancy to assist. Slowly pour (pencil stream). Keep the bottle over the water when replacing the cap. When the cap is snug, dunk the entire bottle under the water and slowly swish around to remove any MA that may have trickled down the outside of the bottle. When done pouring, use your pool brush to mix the area if desired.