Regular maintenance is a necessary job that you have to do once you have installed a swimming pool in your outdoor living space. Starting from daily to seasonal maintenance, you have to know what kind of jobs you have to do to make your swimming look and feel inviting all the time.
There are some types of maintenance programs that you can do all by yourself and one of them is raising the alkalinity of your pool water. The alkalinity includes substances like hydroxides, carbonates, and bicarbonates which work to sustain the pH level in the pool water. The ideal range of alkalinity actually depends on what types of chlorine that you use, but you can use the range from 80 to 120 ppm as the basic calculation.
Like other substances of the pool water, the level of alkalinity should be in the ideal range since it can affect the comfort and appearance of the pool itself. In other words, it’s so important to keep the level of alkalinity of the pool in balance level. You can either raise or lower it when you find that the alkalinity range is not balanced.
(You may also like: Maintain Your Pool with this How to Raise pH in Pool Tutorial with 6 Steps)
To help you to raise the alkalinity of your beloved swimming pool, here we share a simple tutorial on how to raise alkalinity in pool that you can easily try by yourself.
How to Raise Alkalinity in Pool
Raising the alkalinity of a swimming pool is actually simple maintenance that can be done with easily-available tools and materials. The main material that you’re going to use is baking soda for this tutorial.
Test the Alkalinity Level
The pool water test kit is a much a wiser choice when you want to test the alkalinity level of pool water. You can use test strips but the result may not be really accurate.
- Basically, you will have to add a small sample of the water to the tube of the test kit.
- Add several drops of reagents to the sample of pool water inside the tube.
- Wait until the reagent completely reacts with the sample water.
- Check the color of the kit, if the alkalinity is lower than the ideal level then you need to raise it.
(Recommended to read: 3 Easy Steps How to Add Baking Soda to Pool | Simple DIY Project)
Check Your Pool Capacity
Before we start using the main material, you have to know the capacity of your swimming pool which will determine the amount of baking soda that you have to use. You probably know if you build the swimming pool under your authorization, but if you buy a home with the installed pool without any knowledge of its capacity, you can calculate it manually.
- Open your browser, find the website that provides a pool capacity calculator.
- Follow the instruction, typically you will have to enter the dimension of your swimming pool.
Measure the Baking Soda
Here is the real deal, you’re going to use baking soda to raise the alkalinity of your pool water. It’s because baking soda or sodium bicarbonate contains substances that can raise alkaline of the water. Moreover, you can find baking soda easily without costing you a lot.
The basic calculation is 1.5 lbs of baking soda can raise 10 ppm of alkalinity of swimming pool with 10.000-gallon water. You can use this calculation to measure the baking soda that you need.
(Read also: 4 Simple Steps on How to Maintain a Saltwater Pool Affordably)
Dilute the Baking Soda
Do not directly pour the baking soda into the swimming pool, you have to dilute it with water. You can follow the diluting instruction on the package of baking soda or use your best judgment.
Pour the Baking Soda
Now, it’s time to add the baking soda into the pool water. You have to be careful when you pour it down since it can harm your eyes.
Remember to not pour the material at one spot all at once. You can pour it around the perimeter of the pool so it can spread properly.
Test the Water Again
The last step is retesting the pool water after you have poured the baking soda.
- Let the baking soda to completely dissolve in the water for about 6 hours.
- Use the pool tester kit to find out whether the alkalinity level is ideal enough.
Well, let”s maintain your own swimming pool now!
