Non Aquarium, Chemical Qestion, GaryP, you out there?

[brewercm]

I was curious if there is a cheaper (alternative) method of bringing my PH up in my swimming pool rather than buying the stuff that comes in the bottle at a rediculous price.

The stuff is basically soda ash, but I didn't know if this is baking soda or what the equivalent would be in bulk.

I figured our local chemist would have the answer, or someone else who's dealt with this in the past.

Thanks

[akm]

My science teacher used to own a pool maintenance company and he said to bring pH down they would add HCL but to bring it up I think its a strong base. I dont know where you could get some, maybe go to a pool maintenance company and try to buy some of their stuff.

[brewercm]

Yeah, bringing it down is cheap with just muriatic acid.

Bringing it up is a soda ash that is sold by pool maintanance places but I have a suspician that it is just the same as possibly baking soda.

I told the wife and kids that if they don't use the thing I'm gonna stop chlorinating and let the algae go and stock with bass and catfish. They can find me fishing at the end of the day in the back yard. :P

[akm]

Baking soda is Sodium bicorbonate and soda ash is Sodium carbonate. So I guess they are a little different.

[brewercm]

Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking. I know GaryP has done tons of research on all of this stuff and probably knows where I can get 50 lb bags for next to nothing compared to $8 a 5 lb bottle. :angry

[GaryP]

Soda ash is in fact sodium carbonate that you can buy at HEB as Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda. Its on the clothes washing soap aisle. If you want a larger container I might be interested in splitting a 50# bag of it with you.

Be careful to not breathe the powder when adding it. Stand upwind of where you are pouring it into your pool. I would add it slowly near a nozzle where there is a lot of mixing, just as you would add buffer to an aquarium. If you had been to the meeting this weekend you would already know this. Sorry I couldn't resist. :)

How about $14 for a 50 lb. bag? Is that cheap enough?

[brewercm]

OK, OK. Didn't, make the meeting this weekend. That was a fair shot but we were still unpacking from the moving debacle this weekend. :P

If you know where to get a 50lb bag I'd certainly be willing to split it with you. Just PM me with the details and I'll swing by and get it from you. I need to get over to the NW side of town and deliver some other stuff anyways.

BTW all of my chems for the pool get added into areas where the wall nozzles spray. What's really great is I have pop up nozzles on the bottom that spray everything towards the filter inlet that are on timers.
These really help get the chems mixed well and completely disolved extremely fast. If anyone is looking at getting a pool put in those are well worth the addition.
BTW haven't had the pleasure of getting too close to the sodium carbonate powder cloud yet, but have gotten too close to a cloud that came up from the bottle of shock. :sick

[GaryP]

Cliff,

PM Sent.

[GaryP]

Just remember our tap water is around 300 ppm calcium. If you raise the alkalinity without good mixing with soda ash, you could have a "blizzard" just like an aquarium. Take it slow until you get a good feel for mixing.

[Polkster13]

I don't know Gary. Maybe he would like to have his pool bottom covered in "sand". :P :lol

[Sunhutch]

Would this work for a spa as well?

[brewercm]

I don't know Gary. Maybe he would like to have his pool bottom covered in "sand".

Yeah, my wife was wanting to get a sand box for my daughter and I put a quick stop on that. Just what I need, her dragging all the sand into the pool.

I guess once it got to about 4 to 6 inches deep I could add salt and have a DSB pool. :lol :lol :lol

[brewercm]

I haven't looked at the SPA chemicals for PH yet. I'm guessing they'd be the same but so far my SPA has been fine other than having to add the bromine tabs.

I'll check next time I'm at the store and see if the PH up product for spas is also just soda ash.

Gary,
I'll give them a call and swing by there one day and pick up a bag. I'll let you know once I got it.

[GaryP]

Would this work for a spa as well?

Yea, its all the same, just with a different label. The only thing more rediculous than what we pay for aquarium chemicals is what ya'll pay for pool/spa chemicals. None of it is gold plated. These kind of chemicals remind me of corn flakes, the box costs more than what is in the box/jar/jug/bag/etc. The rest is all marketing, transportation, and profit.

Dissolving soda ash in water before applying it would make it a lot easier and reduce your chance of having it cloud up your water because it will disperse more easily. Just stir some up in a 5 gal. bucket before you pour it in.