Pool Chlorine Ph Alkalinity

Pool ph is always low.

Pool chlorine ph alkalinity. This is not surprising because ph and alkalinity are closely related and affect each other. However another measure total alkalinity is also critical to keeping your pool water balanced. For example urine typically has a ph of about 6. Pool ph and alkalinity faq pool ph is always high.

In effect cyanuric acid helps stabilize both chlorine and ph. The most common cause of high ph in a swimming pool or spa is the type of sanitizer or chlorine shock we use in the pool. Sodium hydroxide is produced with a ph of around 13. Many pool owners are confused about the difference between ph and alkalinity.

It binds with chlorine to prevent photolysis and it keeps ph elevated. Salt chlorine generators are fairly new to the pool market and they are extremely useful and innovative for pool owners. Typically this means maintaining effective chlorine levels and balancing ph. As long as you have enough chlorine in your pool around 3ppm for total chlorine and the ph level is balanced between 7 4 to 7 8 then a pool with high total alkalinity is still safe to swim in.

Putting pool chlorine in and everything looked fine except it showed lowest chlorine level 0 0. Before we discuss that let s take a look at what exactly ph and alkalinity are. You should however balance ta as soon as possible because it can lead to calcium scaling and cloudy water a breeding ground for bacteria. Calcium hypochlorite cal hypo or granular chlorine is a non stabilized chlorine that comes with high ph levels and if ph level is not monitored properly you will definitely have high ph issues in your pool and spa.

At first the ph was at 8 4 or higher alkalinity was at or above 240 ppm and free chlorine was at zero. The most common reason for a consistently high ph level in pools is using liquid chlorine or a saltwater system as the primary sanitizer. Chlorine solutions can also be acidic. The ideal ph level for your pool water is slightly alkaline at 7 4 to 7 6 to clarify i m talking about alkaline on the ph scale not total alkalinity this lean towards alkaline is intentional because it s where chlorine works best as well as being easy on your skin and your pool equipment.

Ph and alkalinity affect the chlorine chlorine affects the ph and alkalinity. Get and keep the ph and alkalinity balanced and the rest. Alkaline materials are an important presence in your pool water because many of the contaminants in pool water are acidic. New pool plaster or pebble finishes will also raise ph in pools for about a year.

I know the whole key to keeping a pool clean is balance. Free chlorine has a difficult time sanitizing contaminants as ph increases.