JackVa1 Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 My Caldera dealer told me that these will run together. I have PH up and PH down suppliments, but my PH reads fine on the strip test. My Acidity is low. What's this all about? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strannik Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Not too sure what you and your builder mean, but it goes like that: You have a pH scale from 0 to 14 with 7.0 being center point. If it's below 7.0 the liquid is considered acidic, hence acidity is high. If it's above - it's considered basic, hence alkalinity(basicity) is high. If your acidity is low it means that pH is above 7.0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Hot Tub Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 My Caldera dealer told me that these will run together. I have PH up and PH down suppliments, but my PH reads fine on the strip test. My Acidity is low. What's this all about? Thanks If your PH reads fine on the test strip, this is your acidity. Where are you getting a low reading for acid? The PH part of the test strip tests for the level...6.2-8.4 on most test strips. Low PH would be reading below 7.2, high PH would be reading above 7.8, ok is in the middle. Are you reading the Alkalinity for the low? If this is the case, you alkalinity is low. Alkalinity helps buffer the PH, keeping it from jumping around as much. They have alkalinity increaser also (pure baking soda is the household version) to raise this. Bear in mind, raising the alkalinity will also raise your PH. Its a fun game... To raise my alkalinity when my PH is ok, I have to lower the PH with PH down, then add alkalinity increaser to raise both PH and alkalinity. If your PH is good and you have no other water chemistry issues, no irritation I would leave it be untill you are more comfortable with the water chemistry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackVa1 Posted March 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Duh! alkalinity not acidity!! OK, I will start over- my PH is consistantly perfect but my alkalinity is consistantly low. I have owned the spa for two weeks. Should I add baking soda? How much? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strannik Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Duh! alkalinity not acidity!! OK, I will start over- my PH is consistantly perfect but my alkalinity is consistantly low. I have owned the spa for two weeks. Should I add baking soda? How much? Thanks! With a spa, i wouldn't worry. As long as your pH is ok. With a pool if your alkalinity is low, the water might start leeching minerals from the plaster and corroding the plaster, however there is no such problem in spa, or fiberglass pools for that matter. So if everything else is ok i wouldn't worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackVa1 Posted March 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Duh! alkalinity not acidity!! OK, I will start over- my PH is consistantly perfect but my alkalinity is consistantly low. I have owned the spa for two weeks. Should I add baking soda? How much? Thanks! With a spa, i wouldn't worry. As long as your pH is ok. With a pool if your alkalinity is low, the water might start leeching minerals from the plaster and corroding the plaster, however there is no such problem in spa, or fiberglass pools for that matter. So if everything else is ok i wouldn't worry about it. Thanks for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Spa Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 When you say "low", HOW low. It would help to know the number. BTW, your pH up is probably baking soda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Hot Tub Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 When you say "low", HOW low. It would help to know the number. BTW, your pH up is probably baking soda. PH Increaser= Sodium Carbonate....Alkalinity Increaser = Sodium hydrogen carbonate, they are different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Spa Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Arm and Hammer baking soda .... 100% Sodium Bicarbonate Leisure Time Spa Up ...... ACTIVE INGREDIENT: Sodium Bicarbonate … 100% Sodium hydrogen carbonate = Sodium Bicarbonate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Hot Tub Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Arm and Hammer baking soda .... 100% Sodium Bicarbonate Leisure Time Spa Up ...... ACTIVE INGREDIENT: Sodium Bicarbonate … 100% Sodium hydrogen carbonate = Sodium Bicarbonate My brands that I carry are PH UP= sodium carbonate, and the alkalinity ups are sodium hydrogen carbonate or sodium bi carbonate, this is on 3 different brands, so leads me to beleive that baking soda is alkalinity up, not PH up. Borax super washing soda, or something like that is PH up. Several previous threads on this by chem geek and others. They do affect the water chemistry differently, not trying to cause an issue, but don't want all confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted June 5, 2008 Report Share Posted June 5, 2008 Im new to this forum, I have a 600 gallon outdoor in ground fiberglass hot tub. I read through this thread to learn more about chemistry since this is all new to me. So basically, if I keep my ph levels and chlorine levels ok, i shouldnt need to worry too much about alkalinity and bromine levels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whoneedsavacation Posted June 5, 2008 Report Share Posted June 5, 2008 My routine got a lot simpler when I started worrying more about pH than total Alkalinity (TA). The main reason for keeping TA up is to buffer pH so it is more stable. Prior to someone suggesting I not worry about keeping TA perfectly in range unless I was having trouble maintaining the pH, I was constantly pouring in tons of baking soda to bring the TA up and then adding acid to try and get the pH back down and then adding more baking soda... now I mostly have to occasionally add a little baking soda and all is well. Kyle, if you are using chlorine to sanitize the water, you can ignore the bromine readings on a strip that is usable for both. If you are using bromine, you should ignore the chlorine readings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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