didn't wanna jack the other recent one.
we have our grandkids here with us a LOT as it gets em out of hell (austin) and and gives my sick daughter a rest. so, we splurged and built a small swimming pool. when the PH level gets outta whack my wife runs out and pours in a gallon bottle of acid the pool builder sells us, at $6 a whack. someone told us that clorox bleach is the same thing and we can get it for $1 at the dollar store. is this true? anyone have experience with this? we can use the huge tablets but supposedly they are not as precise (?). thanks

For what it's worth:

Bleach is a dilute solution of Sodium Hypochlorite, and is not acidic. In its neat form, NaClO has a pH of 7.5, which is slightly alkaline.

So, no, it won't do the same thing. Muriatic acid might, but the trick is always figuring out how much to add, and when.

To be safe for your family I say stick to the recommended chemicals.

For the record, I only dabble in chemistry, but have owned both pool and hot tub. Once you get everyting in balance, maintenance is pretty simple; if you get out of whack, take a water sample to your local pool place and get their advice. Might actually save you some $

muratic acid is what he is advising and what we r putting in

i have just been informed that she is putting in chlorine and muriatic acid. she thinks bleach can replace the chlorine, NOT the acid. my bad. so...?

quote:

Originally posted by john c.:
i have just been informed that she is putting in chlorine and muriatic acid. she thinks bleach can replace the chlorine, NOT the acid. my bad. so...?

Muriatic acid, also known as hydrochloric acid, HCL is pretty caustic stuff, never heard of putting it in a swimming pool ? Good for cleaning rust off metal.

Grizz

quote:

Originally posted by john c.:
i have just been informed that she is putting in chlorine and muriatic acid. she thinks bleach can replace the chlorine, NOT the acid. my bad. so...?

Ok, that makes sense. Only thing about household bleach is it is Relatively low concentration, so you might use more.

You can use muriatic acid, but it may take a bit of finagling to get the correct pH. Go slow, adding bit at a time, until your pH is good. Always allow a few hours for mixing. When adding acid, always add the acid to the water- never the other way around.

Good luck!

I use acid in my business. Muriatic is a 28% baume of Hydrochloric acid. It will also do great things with removing any calcification in your toilet for example. Dullooth you are VERY RIGHT. ALWAYs add acid to water + never water to acid. It will explode. Really! In muriatic you shouldn't have to worry as it is already a dilution. However, when I use Nitric or sulphuric it can be a real issue. You don't even want to consider what acid blowing up in your face will cause. Acid displaces water + as we all know that the human body is largely 80% water.

quote:

Originally posted by Dulltool17:

quote:

Originally posted by john c.:
i have just been informed that she is putting in chlorine and muriatic acid. she thinks bleach can replace the chlorine, NOT the acid. my bad. so...?

Ok, that makes sense. Only thing about household bleach is it is Relatively low concentration, so you might use more.

You can use muriatic acid, but it may take a bit of finagling to get the correct pH. Go slow, adding bit at a time, until your pH is good. Always allow a few hours for mixing. When adding acid, always add the acid to the water- never the other way around.

Good luck!

she said she adds muratic acid (one gallon) when the PH goes above 7.4 (this is as per the pool guy. then we wait 2 hours b4 getting in. she has mud boots on and long pants and walks around pool pouring it in little at a time.
she puts in chlorine when it shows below the 2-4 range. again, one gallon. this all good?

Here, they recommend to hold pH between 7,1 to 7,5.

To increase pH, commercial stuff with fancy names is just Sodium carbonate, Na2CO3.

To lower pH, commercial stuff is just Sodium bisulfate, NaHSO4

For algae elimination and crystal clear water, the best results are with copper sulfate, CuSO4, "bluestone".

It is cheap, works best and it is not as unhealthy as "chlorine stuff", with right dosage!

I can ask colleague for proper dosage, he tuned and studied this because of small kids.

Jiri

John- the approach you describe seems both reasonable and safe.

Normanconquest- also very sound advice.

Jiri- Those Sodium salts sound very familiar to me. It's been 8 years since I had a pool, so I'd forgoften about them. I'd be curious as to what you colleague comes up with.

other than muratic acid acid, is there another way to control the PH?