How to Quickly LOWER pH in Your POOL

Swim University makes pool and hot tub care easy for millions of homeowners. Each year, we continue to help more people with water chemistry, cleaning, and troubleshooting. We know taking care of a swimming pool or spa can be difficult. And it’s hard to find a trusted source of information. This is the reason we created Swim University.

Is the pH in your pool too high? High pH can irritate eyes and skin, reduce your chlorine’s effectiveness and even damage your pool equipment. But two simple chemicals can help lower the pH in your pool: pH decreaser (or sodium bisulfate) and muriatic acid. So here’s a quick guide on how to use each one to lower your pH.

⏰ Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction to How to Lower pH in a Pool
00:40 - How Does pH Work in a Pool?
01:19 - How Do pH and Alkalinity Work Together?
01:47 - How to Lower pH with pH Decreaser
03:24 - How to Lower pH with Muriatic Acid
05:29 - What if pH and Alkalinity Won't Balance?
05:51 - How to Raise pH without Raising Alkalinity

[jessicaannes]

Interesting timing! I JUST added Muriatic acid to my pool an hour ago, sat down to watch some YouTube and this video popped up on my feed. I have a saltwater pool and wanted to note that our ProLogic Manual says NOT to use sodium bisulfate (dry acid) as it may cause a buildup of by-products that can damage the salt cell!

[HP_Quinn]

What about the alkalinity being okay but pH too high? 😅

[crystalray]

Thank you so much for this info !! I was struggling trying to balance the water.

[asanti]

Is sodium bisulfate ok to use in vinyl pools?

[tylerthayne]

I have a problem with PH levels staying high even when adding 3-5 gallons of Muriatic acid a week. What could be the problem!?

[tsendjavtumnee]

Very informative and helpful. Thank you.

[Charly-jjuc]

Hello excellents videos, I have a question if I have a Ph 7.45 and ORP 680 why I have a alarm say .41 Corrosive ? Intellichem and salt water pool!! thanks

[susanlauder]

my pool guy gets upset when i dont buy his chemicals.. sometimes i cant get ahold of him so i go to Canadian Tire store

[PewPew]

My pool keeps getting low alkalinity and high PH. I’m assuming bring alkalinity into range then use muriatic acid to bring the PH down. As the alkalinity falls too low again add baking soda to bring it back. Repeat until both are in range? Feel like this is happening too often.

Las Vegas
Plaster pool 18k gal
3 water features

[listingvideosdrg]

Why can’t I find a video for us beginners on the PH seems to always be too high and Alkaline is always too low. OR PH is too high and even if I get it within range, then the Alkaline is now way too low. What the H E double hockey sticks am I doing wrong? All these videos almost feel backwards. *am I really that stupid? Please don’t answer that, but just my question. We still swim and our skin hasnt’ fallen off yet, but we are new pool owners and this is a massive learning curve. PS, my blonde dog is starting to get green fur. *Central Florida, vinyl lined pool and now August.

[LostDepot]

I have added 2 gallons of muriatic acid and it has barely lowered my alkalinity. My pool is 6, 000 gallons is it normal to add that much.

[jennbruley]

How long does it take after adding pH- to notice a decrease in pH? I put some in an hour ago and no change. Wait longer or add more?

[vitoriasacha]

is it bad if my hot tub jets shoots so much water when I turn it on?

[danam]

Can I use dry acid in a fiberglass pool And if so how do I add it?

[empress_angelikka]

Thanks a lot for having a free tutorial 👍👍👍..all the way from the Philippines

[muhammadsheraz]

My swimming pool have a low ph level how to increase ph level and cl level no water becomes light green please advised how this problem solved

[paulcostinett]

15, 000 gallon salt pool. What if my alkalinity stays in range but my pH continuously rises above 7.8 each week? I can drop in enough muriatic per the book's dosage charts to reduce pH, and a week later my pH is now over 8.0. That's with no load (no swimmers, no rain) on the pool. FC is 3.0. TC is 3.0. CYA is stable. Thoughts?

[MrEtrans]

So what if the pH is a totally different color than what is on the test strips? Is that too high? Is that too low?

[SlashtaCross]

what does it mean if my ph was 8.2 and I added 8 ounces of muriatic acid into my 4, 000gal saltwater pool and after 24 hours tested the water and my ph was 7.9? Do I need to buy ph decreaser so I can focus on bringing down my ph only bc now my alkalinity is right in a good spot via the test strips.

[revid]

My ph in my hottub is 7.4 but my alkaline is 120, how do I lower just the alkaline?