Alternative to Muriatic Acid To Lower PH

[tpirovol]

Hi Everyone,

Is there an alternative to muriatic acid to lower ph in a pool with a salt generator. I will be honest MA freaks me out and I would prefer to use something else.

Regards
T

 

[mknauss]

You can use CO2 injection. It will not lower TA but will manage pH. You would need to install the system for injection of the carbon dioxide and then get replacement tanks.

Muriatic acid is not very dangerous. Wear eye protection as that is the most concerning thing. Getting it on your skin is not a big issue, just wash it off. The fumes are unpleasant but just learn to pour it with the wind blowing away from you.

 

[DeanP66]

When I get ready to pour my MA I always take a deep breath and hold it before I open the MA lid and then if I need a breath, I turn away from the bottle with my back to it and take a slow breath. The fumes can catch you by surprise for sure so just be aware of them.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I’m glad you’re freaked out, that’s normal. Everyone should take chemical handling seriously, it’s important. The thing to understand about muriatic acid is that it’s bark is worse than it’s bite. As @mknauss alluded to, the only immediate danger MA poses is to your eyes from a dangerous splash back. Just wear a pair of ventilated safety glasses (the kind you can find in any Home Depot) and always minimize transfer - pour directly from the bottle into the pool. You can eyeball/ballpark your MA additions - pH changes slowly so the difference between adding 12oz or 16oz or 9oz is really not super critical. I tend to not follow my own advice and measure my MA into a secondary container but I am very comfortable around chemical handling (it was my “job” for many, many years).

There’s really no good alternative to MA just like there is no good alternative to liquid chlorine. The best you could do if you were willing to pay the markup is to use diluted MA (sometimes labeled “non fuming”) but your paying a lot for a weaker product.