Hot tubs can be a great investment, hence the need for proper hot tub water care. Otherwise, you will experience unbalanced alkaline levels that cause the water to be cloudy and create environments for bacterial growth.

How To Add Muriatic Acid To Pool
How To Lower Alkalinity In A Hot Tub Without Chemicals ...
How Much Muriatic Acid To Lower Alkalinity
How Much Muriatic Acid To Lower Ph In Hot Tub
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How Much Muriatic Acid To Add

This article will help you understand hot tub alkalinity and how to keep your hot tub’s water balanced.

How To Add Muriatic Acid To Pool

What is Total Alkalinity?

To lower the alkalinity by 10ppm, you may need 1.6 lbs sodium bisulfate or 1.23 liters of muriatic acid for every 10,000 gallons of water. Sometimes, when lowering alkalinity, the pH level decreases drastically. So, to increase the pH of the water without increasing the TA, you need to use the process of Aeration.
Dry Acid Dosage Charts (Note: ≈ 2.5 pounds of dry acid equals 1 quart of muriatic acid) Lowering pH These are very general guidelines. However, DO NOT add any more than indicated in any single application. Dry Acid for POOLS Gallons in Pool pH 120,000 60,000 30,000 15,000 10,000 7.6-7.8 11.2 lbs 5.6 lbs 2.8 lbs 1.4 lbs 15 oz.

Contents

Dry Acid Dosage Charts (Note: ≈ 2.5 pounds of dry acid equals 1 quart of muriatic acid) Lowering pH These are very general guidelines. However, DO NOT add any more than indicated in any single application. Dry Acid for POOLS Gallons in Pool pH 120,000 60,000 30,000 15,000 10,000 7.6-7.8 11.2 lbs 5.6 lbs 2.8 lbs 1.4 lbs 15 oz. The effective yet harmless muriatic acid water solution has a ratio of 10:1 (one part of acid with ten parts of water). So, if you are adding a quart of muriatic acid to the pool, mix it with the 10 quarts of water, gently stir it, and then pour it in the pool. You don’t have to shell out a fortune for fancy additives to manage your pool’s unruly alkalinity level. Good ol’ muriatic acid readily does the trick.

The first thing you want to do when balancing your hot tub water is balancing its total alkalinity first. Total alkalinity, often called a buffer, helps in balancing the pH levels. Hence, you should aim to balance the total alkalinity before you start looking at the pH levels or add any chemicals into the hot tub.

When the alkaline levels in your hot tub are unbalanced, it can have a cascade of effects on your tub’s appearance. You will also be prone to the skin to skin infection and damage.

How Much Muriatic Acid To Lower Alkalinity In Hot Tub

A low total alkalinity can cause a rapid change in the pH and can be damaging to your hot tub. It can corrode metal parts and leave stains on the surface. When the pH level drops, the hot tub water becomes more acidic, resulting in burning eyes and itchy dry skin.

Another problem can result when the hot tub alkalinity is too high. High alkalinity level of the water will also cause the pH level in the hot tub to soar high, which can be difficult to lower. Such an environment can raise the calcium levels in the water, making it cloudy.

This can also result to formation of a hard, crusty mineral build-up (scale). Additionally, high alkaline water can result in green water. This is because it minimizes the effects of chlorine that help to keep algae under control.

How to Lower Alkalinity in Hot Tub

Wondering how to lower alkalinity in hot tub and stabilize the pH? Basically, the correct total alkalinity should range between 80 and 120 parts per million (ppm). A spa volume calculator can help you calculate the right range for your hot tub.

You, therefore, do not want anything above this range; otherwise, you will experience scale formation, skin and eye irritation, cloudy water, and hard to change pH.

In order to lower high alkalinity, you need to add a pH decreaser. Some of the known pH decreaser products include sodium bisulfate (dry acid) and muriatic acid. Note it is important to turn off the jets and the pump when adding the acid in order to lower alkalinity. And when you add a dry acid, place it in the middle of the tub such that the water is not circulating.

This will bring both the total alkalinity and pH levels down. We highly recommend that you retest the water after adding the pH decreaser to check if it has returned to its normal range.

How To Raise Low Alkalinity in Hot Tub

As seen above, too low alkalinity can lead to rapid changes in pH, as well as skin and eye irritation. It also causes the water to be corrosive, which affects the metal fittings in your hot tub, and this can result in discoloration of the water.

You should, therefore, aim to keep the total alkalinity readings above 80 PPM. How to increase alkalinity in hot tub? You can either use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or alkalinity increaser. We recommend using an alkalinity increaser that contains sodium bicarbonate which helps to raise the pH. Let the hot tub sit for 6 hours before you retest.

Conclusion

It is crucial to maintain a balanced water in your hot tub. This will keep you from problems such as water corrosion, burning eyes, itchy skin, and other serious issues. A sure way to maintain balanced water is to do frequent testing using a water test kit and then make the necessary adjustments. You can also take the water sample to a test station for results of your hot tub alkalinity level.

This way, you will enjoy your hot tub with peace of mind.

Owning a tub is a great luxury, and spending time submerged in the hot water and bubbles is the perfect way to unwind, relax and forget all the stresses of your day. However, as any hot tub owner will tell you, they also require a fair amount of maintenance.

One of the biggest jobs you have to take care of is monitoring the water to ensure its chemical composition stays just right. Part of this involves keeping the correct balance of alkalinity – so here’s a guide to how to lower alkalinity in a hot tub for when it gets too high.

If you want a preview of some of the stuff we’re going to be talking about, you can check out this video before reading on.

Why is high alkalinity bad?

Why exactly is it so important to maintain the correct balance of alkalinity in your hot tub?

If the alkalinity of your water is too high, it can lead to an imbalance in the pH value of the water (we’ll be talking more about the difference between pH and alkalinity in a moment).

This can result in high levels of calcium in the water, which in turn can lead to scaling, cloudy water and clogged filters. It also decreases the effectiveness of water sanitizers like chlorine or bromine and can even cause itchy skin for anyone using the tub.

So as you can see, it’s something you want to avoid.

What about low alkalinity?

If high alkalinity is so bad, why not just try to keep it as low as possible? Well, unfortunately, that won’t work either since low alkalinity is also not desirable.

If the alkalinity is too low, the water in your tub will become corrosive and will start attacking any metal surfaces it is exposed to. If you have water with low alkalinity, over time it will cause serious damage to your tub.

How To Lower Alkalinity In A Hot Tub Without Chemicals ...

So again, this is something to avoid. This is why you need to monitor your tub water carefully to ensure the alkalinity – you need to make sure it is not too high and not too low.

Back to school – acids and bases

Before we talk about how to lower the alkalinity of your hot tub, we need to understand something about the basics of what we are doing, and that’s going to mean talking a bit about some science stuff – but we’ll try to keep things as simple and easy to understand as possible.

How Much Muriatic Acid To Lower Alkalinity In Hot Tub