Swimming Pool pH Level Question
by Ada
I have an Intex Pool (15 feet, about 3,800 gallon of water). I haven't been using it for 3 months since the weather is cold even though I live in a tropical country. I still keep the pool filter running everyday as well as using swimming pool chlorine. The pool pH level is 6.8ppm only which I think I need to raise it to 7.4 or higher. I have contacted one of the pool suppliers. He said I could put one litre of "bleach" into the pool to raise the pH Level of the pool. Could you please tell me if this will work? If yes, is it safe to do so - I mean is it safe to the health as well as safe for the above-ground pool material? Also, if I take the chlorine out of the pool, will the PH Level increase as I found that the chlorine level seems slightly over 3.5 at the moment. One last question, it rains a lot here. On a rainy day, should I take the Chlorine out of the pool and should I add chlorine due to the rain? Thank you so much! Best regards Ada Thanks for your questions Ada I will assume you didn't winterize your pool so let's start there. Keeping the filter running and the chemicals balanced is a good thing, even in the Winter months, although you'll use less due to the colder temperatures during the day and night. First, you can use Clorox bleach as a sanitizer for your pool because it contains the same sanitizing agent, sodium hypochlorite, as normal pool chlorine. It's just less concentrated than chlorine. People seems a bit uneasy in using bleach but it will work in keeping your pool sanitized. Granular chlorine, Calcium Hypochlorite, will raise your pH level because it has its own pH of 12. Bleach is just as safe to use as swimming pool chlorine, but you may want to dilute it first in a bucket of pool water before you add it to you pool. Bleach is heavier than water and it will sink to the bottom and may cause staining to your liner. It should not be used to raise the pH level. Sodium Bicarbonate, baking soda, is the easiest and safest way to raise your pool pH level. I don't know why you would want to take the chlorine out of the pool unless you added too much in the first place. You can either drain 1/3 of the water then refill or use a chemical called Thiosulphate which reduces the chlorine. Having your chlorine at 3.5ppm is fine. I will assume your rain is acidic which may cause the pH, alkalinity, and chlorine to go down due to the diluting factor of the rain water. Test these and make the proper adjustments when needed. You can find the info. you need on how and when to adjust your chlorine, pH, alkalinity, calcium, and cyanuric acid levels on this site. Get a good Taylor Reagent K-2006 test kit and keep an eye on your cyanuric acid. This is the stabilizer for the chlorine and a K-2006 kit will come with a cyanuric acid (CYA) test and instructions on how to take the test. Your CYA should be between 30 - 50ppm. CYA is sometimes overlooked by pool owners who keep wondering why they have to keep adding chlorine to their pools. After a good rain you should test your chlorine and if you find it a bit low, say 1.0ppm or below, it might be a good time to top it off as well. I hope this answers your questions and please feel free to leave any feedback. I always love hearing from my readers. Best of luck and happy swimming Robert
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