If you’re wondering how to raise alkalinity in a pool, naturally, you’ve come to the right place. In a step-by-step approach, discover how to tackle low pool alkalinity without using a pool guy!
Low alkalinity relates to a high level of acidity. This acidic environment can become corrosive and unsafe for both your swimming pool and the people swimming. If left untreated for weeks on end, you’ll be left with an un-swimmable pool on your hands, and not to mention an expensive tab to pay in order to fix it.
In short, you can successfully lower the alkalinity in your pool by adding baking soda, soda ash, or alkalinity up/alkalinity increaser, pH Up products. Follow along to learn more about how these products are used, added, and tested to successfully raise your pool’s alkalinity with ease.
Article Contents
What is Alkalinity in a Pool?
Alkalinity in a pool is a measurement of the water’s ability to neutralize or resist an acid to maintain a stable pH. Alkalinity is closely related to pH in that when one goes down, the other follows close behind. This is why low alkalinity is associated with a low or acidic pH (below 7.0).
As alkalinity drops, the water pH is no longer stable. This can result in large fluctuations of the pH with only minor changes in the pool’s chemistry.
What Causes Low Alkalinity in Pool?
It’s very normal to experience a drop in alkalinity levels in your pool over the season. For the most part, this is due to natural causes such as evaporation or agitation of your water. Throughout the hot summer season, your pool will release dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2) in a process known as ‘water degassing’. This directly impacts total alkalinity, causing it to fall below 80 ppm if left untreated.
Other causes of low alkalinity include:
- overuse of alkalinity lowering products (i.e. muriatic acid)
- using too many chlorine tablets with low pH
- excessive rainwater diluting the pool
- draining or backwashing pool water
Effects of Low Alkalinity in Pool
Low alkalinity can be quite damaging to your pool. The acidic pool water can corrode the pool walls and surfaces leading to etching and cracking. Metal surfaces are likely to discolour and eventually dissolve over time.
Along with the damage to your pool surfaces, low alkalinity will also interfere with the sanitizing activity of chlorine. Without a good disinfectant, your pool will turn into a breeding ground for microorganisms in no time.
Fortunately, these issues are 100% curable so long as you know what to do!
What Level Should Pool Alkalinity Be?
Your pool’s alkalinity should stay within a range of 80-120 parts per million (ppm). Within this range, it’s unlikely you will experience any fluctuations in your pool’s chemistry. At this alkalinity, you should also maintain a pH range between 7.2-7.6 to avoid damage from acidity.
Related Reading: How to Raise Alkalinity In Pool Without Raising pH
How to Raise Alkalinity in a Pool Naturally – Step by Step
When your pool’s alkalinity drops below 80 ppm, you need a safe and effective product to help raise the alkalinity. Let’s take a look at how to adjust alkalinity using 3 natural products.
Step 1: Pick a product
Product #1: Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate)
- Increases alkalinity & increases plus stabilizers pH
- Works in pools & spas (compatible with bromine, chlorine & salt systems)
- Cheaper than pool store alternatives
Sodium bicarbonate, better known as your household baking soda, is an effective product used to raise the alkalinity in your pool.
The main purpose of baking soda is to raise alkalinity while only slightly raising pH.
For example, in a 10,000 gallon pool with a pH reading below 7.2, you would require 21 lbs of baking soda to reach optimal pH ranges of 7.2-7.6. However, this amount of product would increase total alkalinity by 150 ppm! It’s important to keep this in mind when using baking soda.
Product #2: Soda Ash (Sodium Carbonate)
- Natural and non-toxic
- Increases pool pH levels
- Can be used as a water softener
Soda Ash is another pool product that works opposite to baking soda. Soda Ash helps raise the pH in your pool while only slightly raising its alkalinity.
For example, if your swimming pool needed to raise its pH by 0.5, you would only need 12 ounces of soda ash to do so. At this measurement, it would only increase alkalinity by about 8-10 ppm.
Product #3: Alkalinity Up or Alkalinity Increaser
- Increases total alkalinity in pools and spas
- Granulated powder/fast dissolving
- Sodium carbonate
The majority of the ‘Alkalinity Up’ or ‘Alkalinity Increaser’ products contain close to or 100% baking soda in them. Although specialized for pools and hot tubs, regular baking soda is just as effective and often cheaper.
Step 2: Adding the product
Product #1: Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)
The general rule of thumb when adding sodium bicarbonate to your pool is that it takes roughly 1.5 lb to raise alkalinity by 10 ppm in a 10,000 gallon pool. Check out the table below to determine how much baking soda to raise alkalinity in your pool.
Amount of Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) to Raise Alkalinity
| Pool Volume (gal) | >120 ppm Alkalinity | 80-120 ppm Alkalinity | 70 ppm Alkalinity | 60 ppm Alkalinity | 50 ppm Alkalinity |
| 1,000 | Add Muriatic Acid | Ideal | 2.4 oz | 4.8 oz | 9.6 oz |
| 5,000 | Add Muriatic Acid | Ideal | 16 oz | 24 oz | 23 oz |
| 10,000 | Add Muriatic Acid | Ideal | 1.5 lb | 3 lb | 6 lb |
| 20,000 | Add Muriatic Acid | Ideal | 3 lb | 6 lb | 9 lb |
| 50,000 | Add Muriatic Acid | Ideal | 15 lb | 30 lb | 60 lb |
- After determining the amount of baking soda to add to your pool based on the size and current alkalinity level of your pool, start by adding only ½ or ¾ of that amount.
- Evenly distribute the powder across the entire pool using gloves and goggles for protection.
- Let the baking soda circulate and dissolve for 6 hours. Allow the filtration system to continue to run throughout this time.
- After 6 hours, you’re ready to move onto step #3 (retesting the water).
Product #2: Sodium Carbonate (Soda Ash)
The general rule of thumb when adding sodium carbonate to your pool is that it takes roughly 15-20 oz to raise alkalinity 10 ppm in a 10,000 gallon pool. Keep in mind that this will also raise your pH by about 0.5 units.
- After determining the amount of baking soda to add to your pool based on the size and current alkalinity and pH of your pool, start by adding only ½ or ¾ of that amount.
- Evenly distribute the powder throughout the entire pool.
- Let the soda ash circulate and dissolve for 6 hours. Allow the filtration system to continue to run throughout this time.
- After this is done, you’re ready to move onto step #3 (retesting the water).
Product #3: Alkalinity Up or Alkalinity Increaser
How to add alkalinity increaser to your pool?
Any ‘Alkalinity Up’ or ‘Alkalinity Increaser’ products should be used in the same way as baking soda. Refer to product #1: Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) for directions as to how to add these products to your pool.
Step 3: Test the alkalinity of your pool
After adding the product and waiting about 6 hours for it to disperse and dissolve in your swimming pool, it’s time to start testing. Make sure you have a reliable testing kit for both total alkalinity and pH.
You can use pool water testing strips or a liquid water testing kit.
| Image | Product | Features | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
| 9.7 | Check Price |
 |
| 9.5 | Check Price |
Begin to take readings after 6 hours, then 24 hours, then 48 hours to gauge if there are any small changes over this period and to ensure the chemicals are balanced. Make sure that both the total alkalinity and pH values are within optimal ranges. If so, your job is done!
Step 4: Repeat (if necessary)
If your alkalinity and pH values are slightly lower than expected, that’s ok! You’ll want to add the remaining amount of product that was put aside in the first round of application. Remember, it’s better to add smaller increments to not overshoot the alkalinity and pH in the first few attempts.
It’s important to note that testing for alkalinity first is far more useful. When the total alkalinity is back up to 80-120ppm it will help to buffer the pH, resulting in less frequent disruptions in pH.
Related Reading: What is Total Alkalinity in Pools | pH vs Alkalinity
Pool Alkalinity FAQ:
Is it safe to swim in a pool with low alkalinity?
As mentioned earlier, low alkalinity goes hand in hand with a low pH creating an acidic environment.
As a more dramatic example, you would never want to swim in a bath filled with lemon juice because the acidity would sting your eyes and irritate your skin! For this reason, swimming in a pool with low alkalinity is definitely not recommended.
How to raise alkalinity in a saltwater pool?
Adjusting the alkalinity in a saltwater pool is relatively similar to that in a chlorine pool. The difference is, saltwater pools are much more stable at an alkalinity of 70-80 ppm and a pH of 7.6. When your saltwater pool dips below 70 ppm, baking soda is a great option to assist in raising the alkalinity.
How to raise alkalinity in an above ground pool?
The process of raising alkalinity in an above ground pool is the same as that for an in-ground pool. The only difference is, well, it’s above ground. You can proceed with the same steps described above to adjust for alkalinity and pH.
Over to You
Raising your swimming pool’s alkalinity should be a stress-free and simple process. Since arriving at this article, you’ve already accomplished the first step in adjusting your alkalinity: learning how to do it right!
Using natural products can be a safe and effective way to ensure you reach optimal alkalinity and pH levels. Depending on your swimming pool’s chemistry, baking soda and alkalinity increasers are shown to be the most useful in raising alkalinity while soda ash works best to raise the pH.
We’d love to hear from you! Are there any other natural products that have worked well in raising the alkalinity in your swimming pool? If so, which ones do you recommend?
Related Reading: How to Raise Alkalinity in Hot Tub (Alkalinity is Low)
Recommended Products
Alkalinity Up or Alkalinity Increaser
Thank you for the article, however my PH is at 9ppm and the alkalinity is 75, how can I raise the alkalinity but not the ph.
I’ve tried the bucket method and a lot of other ways I’ve read. I only use baking soda and muriatic, no other products. The is CYA is fine. Would draining my salt water pool be the way to get the Alkalinity between 80-100ppm and PH at 7.4-7.6?
First things first, make sure you use an accurate test kit. A drop kit is best. Many pool owners have been tripped up by cheap kits or using inaccurate test strips.
Your alkalinity isn’t far off what it should be. Try adding some more backing soda to bring it up to 80-100. When the alkalinity has increased, bring the pH down with muriatic acid. Your chlorine won’t be working well when the pH is 9.
If you partially drain a pool and refill, you’ll just be diluting the chemicals in the water and will have to add more again. Stick with the above method.