I have a 16,000 gallon gunite pool and I need to raise the alkalinity. I understand it is best to use a multi-step process. What I have not found is any descriptions of how much baking soda to use in each step. One box, one pound, five pounds, I have no idea. Can someone tell me what quantity of baking soda to use? Many thanks.
Raising alkalinity with Baking Soda
- Thread starter Nfotx
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 59,666
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Either get the TFP PoolMath app for your phone, or use the classic web version found at the bottom of this page.
Thank you. I had the pool app on my phone but had forgotten about it. 111 ounces of baking soda is what is said. Thanks.
Thanks for the response. The pool app got the problem solved. Many thanks.
My TA was at 50. I had been watching it fall from 110 over the past few weeks.
That would take quite a bit of acid to drop 60 ppm over the course of a few weeks. Have you been having trouble with your pH?
In 2018 I had the pool resurfaced. In Nov. of 2019 I drained the pool and refilled. Winter came with the rains and I let the pool just sit. Now I am bringing it back for swimming weather. My pH was off the charts so I have been adding about one quart of acid every other day. Over the weeks the pH has almost hit it's range, 7.5 yesterday. All the while the TA has been dropping. When it hit 50 ppm, I posted the question. Last night I added five pound of baking soda. Pool Math says I need more but I want to see what the 5 pounds does first. I'm almost at perfect pool numbers. Thanks for your interest.
Perfect pool numbers? The perfect TA is the one where your pH is stable. If your pH was stable then your TA was perfect.
My only interest was to prevent an all too common mistake of aiming for arbitrary numbers without understanding that they are causing an endless loop of needless chemical additions. If my interest was misguided, then I apologize. Best of luck with your water.
My only interest was to prevent an all too common mistake of aiming for arbitrary numbers without understanding that they are causing an endless loop of needless chemical additions. If my interest was misguided, then I apologize. Best of luck with your water.
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