When owners go about keeping their pool healthy and clean, adjusting the pH, and alkalinity levels, is a regular part of pool care. These two elements are imperative for maintaining balanced water in your pool and preventing your robotic pool cleaner from working at its best. But if you have issues with both high or low pH and alkalinity, you may be asking yourself: do I fix alkalinity first or pH?
In this blog, we walk you through the steps you can take to balance pH and alkalinity, the order in which you should do it, and how doing it right can help ensure the ongoing performance of your pool cleaning robots, like Beatbot AquaSense or Beatbot iSkim Ultra.Knowing how to balance the water chemistry of your swimming area is key to proper cleaning whether you are using a robot pool cleaner, pool cleaning robot, or pool vacuum robot.
What Are pH and Alkalinity and Why Do They Matter?
Before we get into the details of whether to deal with one or the other first, we should define what pH and alkalinity are, and how these affect your pool.
pH indicates how acidic or alkaline your pool water is. It should be between 7.2 to 7.8, which gives you the best pH levels for pool water. If the pH is too low (acidic), the water may be corrosive working away at your pool surfaces and equipment and causing robot pool cleaners to become ineffective. If the pH is too high (alkaline) it can result in scaling and cloudy water.
Alkalinity refers to the pool water’s capacity to resist pH changes. In turn, this one acts as a buffer and regulates the pH levels. An optimum alkalinity range for a safe swimming experience is considered to be 80 to 120 ppm. High alkalinity may inhibit pH lowering and low alkalinity is generally associated with higher pH fluctuations.
These two factors are interdependent, so make sure that you’re adjusting them in the right order and that you don’t worsen the imbalance in either direction.
Why Does the Order Matter?
Alkalinity influences pH, but not the other way round; hence the need to adjust in the right sequence. A strong buffer prevents a pH change when alkalinity is high. This means the high alkalinity in water will not allow the pH to go down even if you put a pH-reducing chemical.
If you notice that your pH is high and alkalinity is low, it’s far easier to lower the pH before lowering the alkalinity.
Why pH or Alkalinity Fix First?
If You Fix Alkalinity First
Adjusting alkalinity first allows you to more easily bring the pH into balance afterward. By reducing the alkalinity, you eliminate the buffer that’s stopping the pH from changing. After alkalinity matters are adjusted, it is easy to get the pH back into the sweet spot of 7.2-7.8.
For instance, if your pool’s pH is high, and the alkalinity is high, you will have to lower the alkalinity with a pool acid, such as muriatic acid. Then, you can add a chemical to lower the pH.
If You Fix pH First
If you treat pH before alkalinity you may get a temporary solution. Lowering the pH may provide a remedy to your pool’s water balance in the short term, but, because the alkalinity is so low, it may also induce further fluctuations. The pH of your tank stabilizes super fast in this case, and you find yourself having to adjust both parameters repeatedly.
You can then correct the pH first using a pH decreaser (sodium bisulfate or muriatic acid) if your pool’s pH is high, but the alkalinity is normal or low. After the pH is in the proper range, you should then correct the alkalinity, if needed.
How to Balance Alkalinity and pH in the Correct Order
So now that, know-how adjustments are done in order, let’s walk through the steps to lowering alkalinity and pH in your pool:
Step 1: Test the Water
Use a reliable pool test kit to measure your pool’s alkalinity and pH levels before making any adjustments. This should help you determine what adjustments are necessary.
Step 2: Balance Your Alkalinity First
Add muriatic acid to reduce alkalinity, or dry acid (sodium bisulfate). Here’s how to do it:
If using concentrated HI, dilute the acid in a bucket of water.
With the pool pump running, slowly pour the acid into the pool, ideally near the deep end.
Let the acid circulate for 4 hours minimum before you retest the water.
You can increase your alkalinity by adding baking soda or sodium bicarbonate to water. Based on the pool size, follow the instructions and add accordingly.
Step 3: Moving pH After Alkalinity
You should adjust your pH once your alkalinity is corrected (80–120 ppm). A high pH can be lowered with either muriatic acid or sodium bisulfate (dry acid), just follow the same procedure as alkalinity.
Slowly add the acid evenly throughout the pool.
Leave the pump on to aid the distribution of the acid through the pool.
Ensure the pH has stabilized then wait no less than 4 hours before retesting.
Step 4: Retest and Fine-Tune
After each of these adjustments, retest the pool water a few hours later to verify that both the pH (7.2-7.8) and alkalinity (80–120 ppm) remain in their ideal ranges. Repeat as needed until the water is balanced.
Step 5: Rock It Out with Your Pool Cleaning Bot
When the water chemistry is balanced, run your pool cleaning robot, for example, the Beatbot AquaSense Pro or Beatbot iSkim Ultra. This will allow your robot to function more efficiently and properly keep a sparkling pool.
How to Keep Your Pool Ph Levels Stable
Test Regularly: During pool season, check your pool’s pH and alkalinity at least weekly.
Do Not Use Too Many Chemicals: Using too many chemicals at a time makes it difficult to reach the desired balance. Always read the manufacturer’s instructions.
Run Pool: You want your pool pump to run to distribute chemicals evenly, so keep it running while adding chemicals and for a couple of hours afterward.
Keep Your Pool Cleaner: You must regularly clean your robot pool cleaner, pool skimmer, or other equipment from building up if the pool chemistry is out of balance.
Conclusion
When working with high or low pH and alkalinity, it’s best to adjust alkalinity first. Because alkalinity is a buffer, raising it first will help you balance your pH more efficiently. Regardless of how you’re removing dirt from your pool—using a robotic pool cleaner like the Beatbot AquaSense or a pool vacuum robot—balanced pool water is essential to keeping your pool clean, and your equipment functional.
Proper pH and alkalinity adjustment will make sure your pool is well-maintained and ready for action. Whether you’re swimming or a robot pool cleaner keeping the pool clean, and balanced water is the key to a healthy and attractive pool.
