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The Ultimate Guide to pH Balancing for Swimming Pools
There’s a lot that goes into making your pool shine every day. However, being able to enjoy a beautiful, clean swimming pool at your leisure makes the upkeep worthwhile!
One of the most important things when it comes to maintenance is swimming pool chemicals. Everybody knows how important chlorine is, but experienced pool owners rightly pay equal attention to another critical factor, the pH.
On the surface, balancing your pool’s pH levels is a simple enough task. However, many new pool owners are surprised when they discover just how many factors can influence this important number.
In this guide, we’re taking a look at what pH means and its effects on your water. We also look at how you can test and influence your pH level to ensure your pool remains happy and healthy!
pH is a scientific term, which can mean either ‘potential of hydrogen’ or ‘power of hydrogen’. Put simply, pH is a scale used to measure the acidity or basicity of things.
In the pH sense, basicity refers to base substances, a scientific term denoting chemicals that release hydroxide ions, amongst other characteristics.
The pH scale goes from 0 – the highest acidity – to 14 – the highest basicity. Seven and eight are referred to as neutral.
While synonymous with swimming pools, almost everything can be placed on a pH scale. Items with high acidity and, as a result, low pH, include vinegar, lemon juice and battery acid. On the high end of the pH scale, soap, bleach and other cleaners have high basicity.
When people are talking about swimming pool pH levels, they often use the terms acidity and alkalinity. For many, alkalinity and basicity are interchangeable, but this isn’t strictly true.
Alkalinity refers to water’s ability to resist becoming acidic. In this sense, higher alkalinity does mean a reduced acidity, which is why it is often used in place of basicity by pool owners. However, technically, the high end of a pH scale refers to water’s basicity and not its alkalinity, which is a separate (but closely-aligned) measure.
Chemicals play a massive role in keeping our swimming pools clean and enjoyable all year round. Ultimately, it’s those that separate a pool from a pond! Different chemicals play different roles, so making sure you use all of those that are necessary is equally essential.
The problem with chemicals, as you’ll probably remember from school, is that they tend to react to each other. While it’s unlikely to explode or catch fire, the chemicals in your water, if not properly maintained, can cause damage to the pool and, potentially, swimmers.
pH is all about maintaining the neutrality of your pool water, despite the many different chemicals that are usually present. By maintaining a good balance, all chemicals will be able to work effectively while avoiding any nasty reactions.
As a general rule, you want to make sure your pool’s pH is 7.4-7.6. Keeping it around this level will ensure your pH stays neutral, which will stop the chemicals from causing problems for you or your pool.
The easiest way to test the chemicals in your pool is by using testing strips. These are relatively cheap and will give a quick reading for your pool’s pH, amongst other chemicals. There are other options, including tablets and liquid solutions, but there’s little difference in terms of reliability.
During the summer season or while the pool is being used, you should be testing the pH level daily. Thankfully, the process is relatively straightforward.
Many pool owners will attest to pH being one of the most challenging aspects of chemical maintenance. This difficulty is because, compared to chlorine, pH can be influenced by a myriad of factors.
First of all, the type of chlorine you use can influence your pool’s pH level. Stable chlorine, such as tablets, has a naturally low pH, while liquid chlorine or saltwater alternatives have a high pH level.
Rainfall and debris, such as mud and leaves, can cause your pool’s pH to lower. Certain pool finishes can also contribute to pH changes.
As explained by the science above, pretty much everything that goes into your pool will impact its pH level, which is why you need to monitor it frequently.
Unlike some other chemicals, so long as the variation isn’t too severe, there are no major concerns if your pool’s pH level fluctuates. However, if not remedied quickly, it can still cause significant problems.
Water is naturally neutral, so when its pH becomes too high, it tries to shake off some of its excesses. As a result, water with a high pH will often lose its shine and eventually turn cloudy. You may also notice scaling in your pool, particularly at the waterline.
More importantly, a high pH level can impact the effectiveness of your chlorine, which will lead to algae growth.
As opposed to above, water with a low pH will often try to find the chemicals it needs to return to a neutral level. As a result, nearly all erosion in swimming pools happens when the pH has dropped.
From plaster and vinyl on the walls to metal stairs and light fixtures, the water will begin drying everything it touches, turning them brittle. A low pH is often the cause of discomfort and dry skin for swimmers for the same reason – the water is seeking chemicals to boost its levels back to neutral.
To increase your pool’s pH, you’ll want to purchase Soda Ash. This chemical is the go-to when it comes to increasing pH levels and is relatively straightforward to add.
Whether increasing or decreasing your pool’s pH, you will need to wait a few hours before retesting, to ensure the chemicals can take effect. After testing, you may need to make more changes, depending on the result.
The most common form of pH reducer is known as Dry Acid. As with Soda Ash, this is simple to administer and follows a similar pattern to the process above.
Always read the label of the product you purchase to ensure proper care and use of pool chemicals. If you’re unsure, get in contact with our team who can advise.
As mentioned at the beginning of this guide, alkalinity is a separate measure, yet is closely aligned to pH.
Put simply, the higher you water’s alkalinity, the less likely it is to change the pH level. While this is useful when your pH is right, it can make changing your pH particularly tricky. On the other hand, low alkalinity can cause your pH to fluctuate dramatically, which makes managing its level nearly impossible.
If your pH is unbalanced but doesn’t seem to change when you add chemicals, it might be because your alkalinity is high. Dry acid can lower alkalinity, which can prove useful when rebalancing.
If your pH level fluctuates often, you may need to increase your pool’s alkalinity. Baking soda is a common alkalinity increaser that you should consider in this circumstance.
As you may have noticed, raising or lowering your alkalinity will often have an identical influence on your pH. This alignment can make it challenging if the alkalinity needs to reduce, but the pH needs to increase, for example. Be patient with your chemicals to return them to equilibrium. Then, ensure you check your chemical readings regularly to avoid these situations as much as possible!
We hope this guide will help you understand the importance of balancing your pool water. If you need any supplies, check out our extensive range here at 1st Direct Pools. If you have more questions, feel free to explore our blog or contact our experienced team who will be happy to help.
