Where does all the muriatic acid go?

[Trifive]

I filled my new pool earlier this year in February. Since then I have added gallons and gallons of muriatic acid to bring down the PH as it rises naturally. So my question is: Where does all the acid go? Does it break down in the pool? It can't be like CYA and stay in there and increase otherwise people would turn into skeletons when swimming! Can any Chemistry Nerds help? Purely curious...thank you!

 

[Catanzaro]

From what I believe, MA is a gas in its natural state, turned into a liquid form, just like bleach. The MA probably burns off in a pretty short period of time. If not, your PH would never rise. Just like bleach, if the MA was in the pool and accumulated, there would be health concerns. CYA can accumulate over time and leaves your pool, under normal circumstances in longer periods of time.

 

[mknauss]

I copied this from an old thread by JasonLion --

Muriatic acid is hydrogen and chlorine. When added to the water it forms H3O+ and Cl−. Essentially it increases the hydrogen ion level and adds chloride ions. In the very long run that usually ends up as hydrogen gas and salt, depending on what else is added to the water.

 

[Trifive]

Intersting...thanks guys