Having trouble balancing

[Sjde]

If I had to choose , what’s more important in a hot tub -pH or alkalinity ? I know they’re both important for the health of your plumbing and for your skin and for bacterial growth in the tub , but I’m always having a problem with this. I’ve learned to be OK with alkalinity at 40 because I can’t get it higher than that without the pH being way too high. But sometimes to get the pH right, the alkalinity is only 30.
I have a bromine tub. What I do is use baking soda to get both values up and then use Spa down to get the pH down without (hopefully) lowering the alkalinity too much, but it’s not always working well.

 

[RDspaguy]

What ph do you consider to be "way too high"?

 

[Sjde]

Above 7.8. And especially above 8.0

 

[RDspaguy]

7.8 is fine. Alkalinity below 50 can cause ph fluctuations. As I always say: a gnat-fart will change your ph if your alk is less than 50. Balance is what you are after, which is the relationship between alk, ph, calcium, and temperature.
I don't know the link, but am sure there is a detailed description in the TFP library. Perhaps @mknauss or @Jimrahbe could help with that.

 

[Sjde]

Exactly. 7.8 is the highest I like to see pH . And it's hard to get the alk above 40.

 

[orion6192]

How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?

If you have a question about any information within this Sticky, please start a new thread for yourself where you will receive very quick responses to your specific questions. Thank you! Introduction There are two main things to consider when maintaining your hot tub water, Water Balance and...

www.troublefreepool.com

Have you read through this?

 

[Sjde]

I use a Taylor K – 2106 test kit & sometimes the TF – 100.

 

[Sjde]

How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?

If you have a question about any information within this Sticky, please start a new thread for yourself where you will receive very quick responses to your specific questions. Thank you! Introduction There are two main things to consider when maintaining your hot tub water, Water Balance and...

www.troublefreepool.com

Have you read through this?

Uh , no. I’ll take a look but I thought it just apply to CorinnI’ll take a look but I thought it just applied to chlorine.

 

[Sjde]

It says-
the lower your TA, the higher your pH needs to be to have balanced water.”

Does that mean with alK of 30-40 , I could go to a pH of 8?

I know it says alk shouldn’t be below 50.
So I guess I’ll just keep adding more baking soda to get alkalinity to 70+ , then add Spa down to bring pH down to 7.8 and hopefully alk won’t have dropped below 50.

 

[mknauss]

Exactly. 7.8 is the highest I like to see pH . And it's hard to get the alk above 40.

pH does not really effect much on the high side. Except the potential for scale. If your water prefers to sit at 8. let it.

 

[Sjde]

pH does not really effect much on the high side. Except the potential for scale. If your water prefers to sit at 8. let it.

Thanks. Good to know.