Baking Soda to raise PH and alkalinity

[Mshepels]

Hi all

I used chlorine tablets in my pool this summer. Now my PH and Alkaline are very low, 6.9 and 20. I added 2lb of baking soda and don’t see PH going up. Any help to raise it please? Thank you very much. I have a 10,000 gal above ground pool.

 

[ajw22]

2lbs of baking soda will raise your TA by 14ppm and have 0 effect on your pH.

You need to get your TA to 80-100 and then your pH will rise. That will require about 8lbs of baking soda.

 

[wireform]

You can raise the TA with baking soda and for the extra raise of the pH you can aerate.

 

[Mshepels]

I’ve read other threads that say baking soda can make water cloudy. The guy at Leslie’s wanted to sell me 30lb of alkalinity up for $70. When I asked him about baking soda he said it’ll work but could make the pool cloudy. What do you think?

Thank you very much

 

[Lake Placid]

I’ve read other threads that say baking soda can make water cloudy. The guy at Leslie’s wanted to sell me 30lb of alkalinity up for $70. When I asked him about baking soda he said it’ll work but could make the pool cloudy. What do you think?

Thank you very much

Uhh he’s just trying to make the sale. It’s the same thing. Follow this link and look at the ingredients….100% Sodium Bicarbonate…aka baking soda

https://lesliespool.com/leslies-alkalinity-up-increaser/5b6748af-8bf2-4789-a9df-1a0708060560.html?srsltid=AfmBOor9YU3Ufrb-gjAVfuqu_RDbYrQpoKc_VysqSmBXrhmaXOP6oTBc

 

[Donldson]

The guy at Leslie’s wanted to sell me 30lb of alkalinity up for $70. When I asked him about baking soda he said it’ll work but could make the pool cloudy.

Wow, those salespeople really have no shame. There's a reason we tell people to stay far away from pool stores.

Alkalinity Up is 100% sodium bicarbonate. Arm and Hammer is 100% sodium bicarbonate. It's exactly the same thing.

 

[Mshepels]

Thank you very much. I’ll add 6lb more of regular A&H baking soda from supermarket.

 

[JamesW]

I used chlorine tablets in my pool this summer.

What is the CYA level?

What test kit do you have?

Pool Care Basics

Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

SLAM Process

PoolMath

FC/CYA Levels

Test Kits Compared

 

[Mshepels]

What is the CYA level?

What test kit do you have?

Pool Care Basics

Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

SLAM Process

PoolMath

FC/CYA Levels

Test Kits Compared

CYA is 80 this was measured by Leslie’s. I normally use the Taylor kit which shows the results slightly higher than Leslie’s.

 

[JamesW]

CYA is 80

That is the top level for any pool and you should stop the use of tabs.

It also affects the TA, which is usually not relevant, but it can matter for high CYA and low TA.

Maybe switch over to SWG.

 

[Mshepels]

What is the CYA level?

What test kit do you have?

Pool Care Basics

Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

SLAM Process

PoolMath

FC/CYA Levels

Test Kits Compared

CYA is 80, it was measured by Leslie’s. I use a Taylor kit but did not measure CYA. Leslie’s measurements are a bit lower then mine using the Taylor kit.

 

[Mshepels]

That is the top level for any pool and you should stop the use of tabs.

It also affects the TA, which is usually not relevant, but it can matter for high CYA and low TA.

Maybe switch over to SWG.

Yes I already stopped using tablets. At this point I just want to raise PH and Alk and close the pool for the winter. Thank you very much for your help.