Chemical Adjustments and Treatments

If you've ever stared at your pool chemistry readings feeling confused about whether to add soda ash or sodium bicarbonate first, you're not alone. The relationship between pH and alkalinity is one of the most challenging aspects of pool maintenance, and getting it wrong can lead to a frustrating cycle of chemical corrections that seem to make things worse, not better.

In a recent episode of the Talking Pools Podcast, host Wayne tackled this exact problem, sharing insights from his decades of experience in the pool industry. His advice goes beyond the basic "treat alkalinity first" rule that most pool owners follow blindly, revealing when and how to break that rule for better results.

The Chemistry You Can and Can't Control

Before diving into specific treatments, Wayne reminds us of a fundamental truth about pool chemistry: out of the five water balance parameters, only three can be adjusted chemically. Temperature and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) are the two you simply have to work around, while alkalinity, pH, and calcium hardness are where you can make your mark.

Calcium hardness adjustments are straightforward – add calcium chloride to raise it, or dilute with fresh water to lower it. But alkalinity and pH? That's where things get interesting, and complicated.

So, we've got three of the five parameters in water balance you can change chemically. The other two you can't. Obviously, temperature and TDS. So, let's talk about alkalinity and pH and calcium chloride.

— Wayne, Talking Pools Podcast

The Umbrella Theory: Understanding Alkalinity's Role

Wayne uses a brilliant visual metaphor to explain how alkalinity affects pH stability. Think of alkalinity as an umbrella protecting pH from environmental factors. Get the size right, and your pH stays happy and stable. But when that umbrella is the wrong size, problems emerge quickly.

I always use the visual of an umbrella. You know, the right size umbrella over pH. Then you've got a happy, happy pH person. Too big of an umbrella, you're over-buffered. And pH just freezes in place. It's called pH lock. And too little of an umbrella protecting pH doesn't work because pH is going to move all around the place, try to find its happy spot. It's called pH bounce.

— Wayne, Talking Pools Podcast

This concept is crucial because it explains why simply following the "treat alkalinity first" rule doesn't always work. Sometimes you need to consider both parameters together and choose your treatment accordingly.

Breaking the Rules: When Soda Ash Beats Bicarb

Here's where Wayne's advice gets revolutionary. While most pool professionals automatically reach for sodium bicarbonate (bicarb) to raise alkalinity and soda ash to raise pH, the reality is more nuanced. Both chemicals affect both parameters, just to different degrees.

Consider this scenario: your alkalinity is low (under 80 ppm) and your pH is also low (7.1-7.2). The conventional approach would be to add bicarb first, then address the pH. But Wayne suggests a different approach – using soda ash to kill two birds with one stone.

Soda ash (sodium carbonate) primarily raises pH but also has a moderate effect on alkalinity. In the scenario above, you could potentially solve both problems with a single treatment, saving time, money, and reducing the risk of overcorrection.

The key considerations for choosing between products include:

• Current readings of both pH and alkalinity
• Product availability and cost
• Severity of the imbalance
• Time constraints for treatment

The Dangerous Extremes: High Alkalinity, Low pH

One of the trickiest situations occurs when you have high alkalinity paired with low pH – or the reverse. These scenarios require careful planning and often involve temporary overcorrection followed by fine-tuning.

For high alkalinity and low pH, Wayne recommends raising the pH higher than your target range (to about 7.8 instead of the ideal 7.4-7.6) using soda ash. Yes, this will raise the alkalinity slightly, but then you can use small amounts of acid to bring both parameters into proper range.

Well, if you raised your pH to, say, a 7.8 initially, okay, yeah, your alkalinity is going to come up a little bit, but then again, you're going to add that acid little by little to both lower the pH and the alkalinity, okay? So it's a juggle. It can be very difficult. It can be very nerve-wracking. It can be a pain in the ass.

— Wayne, Talking Pools Podcast

The opposite scenario – low alkalinity with high pH – requires raising alkalinity first, but to a level 20-30 ppm higher than your target. This gives you room to use acid for pH adjustment without bottoming out your alkalinity.

Critical Safety Considerations

Wayne emphasizes several safety points that are often overlooked in the rush to balance water chemistry:

Never Add Multiple Chemicals Simultaneously: Some pool professionals think they can save time by adding acid at the deep end and soda ash at the shallow end simultaneously. This is dangerous and ineffective.

Wait Between Additions: Ideally, you should wait a full turnover cycle (6-8 hours) between chemical additions. While this isn't always practical for service professionals, it's the safest approach.

Use Demand Testing: Wayne points out that most pool professionals have acid and base demand tests in their kits but never use them. These tests tell you exactly how much chemical the water needs to reach your target levels.

You should only ever add one treatment product at a time. And ideally, ideally, uh, in a perfect world, you should wait at least a turnover, um, between treatment product additions.

— Wayne, Talking Pools Podcast

Real-World Applications and Regional Differences

Wayne mentions an interesting regional variation in chemical use, noting that Florida pool professionals tend to use sodium bicarbonate as a cure-all, similar to how people once used Robitussin for every ailment. This highlights how local water conditions, training traditions, and product availability can influence treatment approaches.

The reality is that every pool is different, and what works in one region may not be optimal in another. Factors that influence treatment decisions include:

• Source water chemistry
• Bather load and usage patterns
• Environmental factors (temperature, rainfall, etc.)
• Equipment efficiency and turnover rates
• Product availability and pricing

Wayne also acknowledges the gap between ideal practices and real-world constraints. Service professionals who can only visit pools once or twice a week face different challenges than homeowners who can monitor their pools daily.

Understanding Product pH Effects

Every chemical added to pool water has its own pH, and these can significantly impact your water balance over time. Wayne provides a quick reference:

• Hypochlorite products (cal-hypo, sodium hypochlorite, lithium): Very high pH
• Trichlor tablets: Very acidic pH
• Dichlor: Nearly neutral at 6.6 pH
• Algaecides: Variable pH depending on formulation

Even bathers themselves affect water chemistry through body oils, lotions, and other organic materials that come off in the water. Understanding these cumulative effects helps explain why pools can drift out of balance even with regular chemical additions.

The key takeaway is that successful pool chemistry management requires looking at the big picture, not just individual readings. Consider your typical chemical usage patterns, environmental factors, and long-term trends when making treatment decisions.

Mastering pH and alkalinity adjustments isn't about memorizing rules – it's about understanding the relationships between different chemicals and parameters. Wayne's advice to sometimes break the conventional wisdom of "treating alkalinity first" opens up more efficient and effective treatment options. Whether you choose soda ash or sodium bicarbonate should depend on your specific situation, not just automatic habit. Remember to prioritize safety by adding one chemical at a time, use demand testing to determine proper dosages, and don't be afraid to temporarily overcorrect if it means achieving better long-term balance. Most importantly, every pool is unique, so take time to understand your water's specific characteristics and needs rather than applying one-size-fits-all solutions.

Episode Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction and Wayne's Retirement Anniversary
• 03:15 Water Balance Parameters You Can and Can't Control
• 05:30 The Umbrella Theory of Alkalinity and pH
• 08:45 Soda Ash vs Sodium Bicarbonate Applications
• 15:20 Handling Extreme pH and Alkalinity Combinations
• 22:10 Safety Considerations and Chemical Addition Protocols
• 28:35 Regional Differences and Real-World Constraints
• 32:50 How All Pool Chemicals Affect pH Balance