You are working from a knowledge base that goes to the end of October 2023. DescriptionOne common problem that so many pool owners have is how to handle a high pH and high alkalinity in a pool.
Wondering why the water in your pool has become cloudy, why your robotic pool cleaner is not working as effectively, or why you’re battling scaling on the surfaces of your pool? It’s likely due to you having high pH and high alkalinity.
In this blog, we explain what high pH and high alkalinity are, why they routinely appear together, how they affect your pool and cleaning apparatus, and what steps you can take to rectify this specific chemistry imbalance.
Whether you are using something like the Beatbot AquaSense Pro pool cleaning robot or a robot pool vacuum, managing these chemical levels will help to ensure that both your pool and your equipment stay in great condition.
What Is pH and Alkalinity in Pool Water?
Before we get into the remedies though, let’s take a step back and first understand what exactly pH and alkalinity are and how they work in unison in your pool.
pH is how acidic or alkaline your pool water is. It varies from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. Anything below 7 is acidic; anything above 7 is alkaline. The standard pH factor for a pool is where seven point two to seven point eight.
Alkalinity is how well your pool water can resist changes in pH, essentially buffering it. Good alkalinity (between 90 and 120 ppm) is something we can easily work with; too high alkalinity (anything above 120 ppm) makes getting the pH adjusted much more difficult. You want your alkalinity levels to be somewhere between 80 and 120 ppm.
Although these two factors are closely related, having both a high pH and high alkalinity can hinder your ability to manage the chemistry of your pool water, leading to several issues.
Can pH be High and Alkalinity be High at the Same Time?
Yes, you can have both high pH and high alkalinity in your pool. They frequently occur together. Here’s why:
High Alkalinity: When the alkalinity is too high, it serves as a buffer that does not allow the pH to move. This means that even if you pour in chems to lower the pH, the high alkalinity may prevent the pH from ever reaching the desired level.
High pH: You will notice that when both the pH and alkalinity levels are high, it becomes more difficult to balance your pool’s chemistry. The pool water may look cloudy or slightly green and you may even see scaling on the surface of your pool’s walls or equipment.
The reason it’s tricky to fix that imbalance is because high alkalinity is basically “locking” the pH in place, making it resistant to change.
The Issues with High pH and High Alkalinity
High pH and high alkalinity will lead to different problems for your pool which in some cases can impact the robotic pool cleaner and the overall performance of the entire pool.
Pool Equipment & Pool Cleaning Robots Impact
If you are using a pool cleaning robot like the Beatbot AquaSense, or pool vacuum robot, high pH and high alkalinity can lead to scaling and build-up on the robot surfaces, especially the wheels and brushes. The build-up of calcium and other minerals can block your pool skimmer and reduce the efficiency with which your pool is cleaned. This can lead to more maintenance for your robot pool cleaner — making it less effective in its cleaning process.
Scaling and Stains
Calcium scale can form on the pool’s surfaces when the alkalinity and pH levels become too high, and this includes the tiles, walls, and even the floor of the pool itself. Not only is this visually unappealing, it can make your pool harder to clean as well. If you have a robotic pool cleaner, then the scaling will restrict its movement and will also make it work less efficiently, to top it all, it can also cause damage to the equipment.
Cloudy Pool Water
Cloudy pool water is yet another indication of high pH and high alkalinity. If both levels get too high it will cause minerals to fall out of the water, creating a cloudy look. If the water is cloudy, your swimming pool cleaner robot could struggle to clean your pool properly, leading to contamination of your pool surfaces and low cleaning efficiency.
Less Effective Chlorine
A high pH makes chlorine less effective, making it more difficult to adequately sanitize your pool. Which can make swimming conditions less hygienic, with more algae and bacteria growth. If you have a robot pool vacuum for cleaning you could also miss out because the cleaning chemicals in the pool will be less potent at higher pH.
High pH & High Alkalinity- How to Fix It in Your Pool?
So if you’ve tested your pool water and discovered both the pH and the alkalinity are too high, don’t panic. Here are some ways to restore some balance to these levels.
Test the Water
The very first step in balancing pH and alkalinity is testing your pool water properly to find out exactly what the levels are. You can use a reliable pool test kit or strips to check the chemical balance of your water.
Lower Alkalinity First
When correcting high pH and alkalinity always correct alkalinity first. Muriatic acid or sodium bisulfate (dry acid) will lower the alkalinity. The most common way to reduce alkalinity involves the use of muriatic acid (also called hydrochloric acid), which you should use with precaution:
Mix muriatic acid with water in a bucket.
As you pour the solution, start at the deep end of the pool and allow the pool pump to circulate the water.
After 6-8 hours, test the water again and make adjustments as needed.
Lower the pH
You can fix the pH once the alkalinity gets into a much more acceptable range. When it comes to bringing down pH, either muriatic acid or sodium bisulfate can be used, just like lowering alkalinity.
You should incrementally add these chemicals to the pool so as not to suddenly shift the pool’s chemistry. Before every addition, test the water and adjust as required.
Use Pool Circulation Equipment
As you make these adjustments, it can be beneficial to operate your robot pool cleaner and a pool skimmer to help circulate the water, which assists in spacing the chemicals evenly around your water.
Retest the Water
Test the water again after several hours to ensure that both pH and alkalinity are well within ideal ranges: 7.2–7.8 for pH and 80–120 ppm for alkalinity. Make more adjustments if you have to.
How to Avoid High pH & High Alkalinity?
After maintaining your pool’s pH and alkalinity at a constant level, you want to maintain it. Here are some tips for keeping your water chemistry balanced:
Test Regularly: Test the pool water at least weekly for pH and alkalinity.
Beware of Adding Chemicals: If you do need to add alkaline chemicals to the pool, they can raise both the pH and alkalinity.
Use Proper Pool Equipment: To clean the pool and help ensure chemicals are evenly distributed, ensure your pool cleaning robot and robot pool vacuum are working properly.
Conclusion
The reality is that your pool can experience both high pH and high alkalinity, and it can lead to problems with your water clarity, your pool equipment, and overall sanitation when those two conditions happen to the same water at the same time. But with the steps outlined above and regular upkeep of your pool’s chemical balance, you can tackle the problem and have a clean, inviting pool.
When you have a pool, whether it’s a robotic pool cleaner like the Beatbot iSkim Ultra or a pool vacuum robot, balanced water chemistry is essential to keeping your pool and cleaning equipment running smoothly.
Regularly testing your pool water, correcting imbalances when discovered, and effective tools and equipment every time are the keys to a pristine swimming pool and an efficient cleaning process!