How to Raise pH in a Hot Tub
Hey, everyone, and welcome to hot tubs 101 by Swim University, where we help you keep your hot tub clean and clear all year. My name is Matt, the founder of swimuniversity.com. On this episode, we're talking about how to raise pH in a hot tub. So let's jump in. Real quick, if you want more help taking care of your hot tub, be sure to grab our free hot tub cheat sheet at swimu.com slash spa sheet.
Matt Giovanisci:So the easiest way to raise just the pH in your hot tub or swim spa is to use a pH increaser. This is a chemical that's designed specifically for hot tubs, and it comes in a small bottle, and its active ingredient is sodium carbonate. That's it's also known as soda ash. Now sodium carbonate has a brother, we'll call him, and that's sodium bicarbonate, and that is alkalinity increaser or baking soda. So they're very so they're not very different, they are different.
Matt Giovanisci:Alright? Now sodium carbonate is the same active ingredient ingredient found in washing soda, which you can find in your laundry aisle. But personally, I recommend just buying pH increaser because washing soda is some is sold in large quantities, and it's way more than you're ever gonna need for your hot tub. Now, that's just to raise your hot tub's pH level, but it won't balance the water chemistry in your hot tub completely. You need to understand the whole picture, which is relatively easy.
Matt Giovanisci:So stick with me and I promise you'll understand how to raise the pH in your hot tub and achieve perfect water balance with ease. So what is pH and why is it important for your hot tub? Well, pH is simply the measurement of how acidic your water is. The lower the pH, the more like it the more it's like soaking in acidic water. Pretty obvious.
Matt Giovanisci:The higher, the drier the water will feel. So that's one way to look at it. Now when you open your eyes underwater and it burns, that's because you have low or sometimes high pH, not chlorine or bromine as you may expect. But you probably shouldn't open your eyes underwater without goggles anyway. So if your pH is low, right, it means your water is acidic, and that means it's gonna eat away at your hot tubs, parts, and plumbing.
Matt Giovanisci:A vat of acid tends to do something like that. Right? So chlorine and bromine also don't perform well in water with low pH and high pH. So keeping your water balanced makes the water feel pleasant on your skin and makes your sanitizer, like chlorine or bromine, more effective, thus saving you money. But what does perfectly balanced water mean?
Matt Giovanisci:And you can't see me right now, but I'm doing air quotes. What does perfectly balanced water means? What does it mean and how do you do it? Okay? So understanding the ideal pH range for a hot tub.
Matt Giovanisci:The pH, which stands for potential of hydrogen, by the way, the pH scale is numbered from 0 to 14. 0 is battery acid. Okay? And 14 is drain cleaner, both of which would be extremely dangerous to soak in. The middle of that scale is 7, which is perfectly balanced pH.
Matt Giovanisci:Now human tears have a pH between like 6.57.5, but we like to say human tears have a pH of 7, which is why your eyes don't burst into flames when you cry, unless you're wearing makeup, of course. They don't burn. So the pH of your hot tub should be a little bit more on the basic side. It should be 7.4 to 7.6, which is slightly higher than 7. And the best way to do this, the best way to find this out is by using a test drip.
Matt Giovanisci:Now we recommend test strips, personally. I recommend test strips because they're easier to use than a liquid test kit. Alright? Now you might be thinking, well, okay, 7, 7.4, 7.6, these are minor increments. Like, who cares?
Matt Giovanisci:Right? Well, it actually does matter because we're only talking about a scale from 0 to 14. So every decimal point matters, and I've talked about this in other episodes. But every decimal point is about 10 times higher than the previous decimal point. So going from 7.0 to 7.4 is 40 times the amount.
Matt Giovanisci:Okay? So, yes, the decimal point is important here. 7.407.6, somewhere right between there, 7.5 is obviously ideal, but if you can stick there, that's fine. If you go to 7.2, you're okay. 7.8, you're a little high, but you're okay.
Matt Giovanisci:But you wanna stay kind of in that range. Right? And, yes, again, I'd recommend using test strips because, look, you dip it, you read it, it takes 15 seconds, it's easy. Is it as accurate as a liquid test kit or a digital test kit? No.
Matt Giovanisci:It's not. But we're not going for extreme accuracy here. We're trying to get into the ballpark because at the end of the day, you just wanna get in the hot tub and you don't wanna be a chemist. Right? Now, we can't talk about pH without talking about alkalinity.
Matt Giovanisci:And here's where every hot tub owner gets confused. When it comes to balancing your hot tub chemistry, 2 readings actually matter and we're talking about balancing, we're not talking about sanitizing. Okay? Balancing. It's pH and total alkalinity.
Matt Giovanisci:Those are the two readings. And you gotta think of alkalinity like pH's bodyguard. If you have no alkalinity in your water, but your pH is perfect, between 7.47.6, the minute you get in or the minute that you add chemicals or if you open the cover, your pH level will be thrown off. So having alkalinity in your water protects your pH. It takes the hit to keep your pH balanced for longer.
Matt Giovanisci:So along with perfect p along with the perfect pH level in your hot tub, you also want your alkalinity level to be correct. Alkalinity is measured on a different scale. It's measured in parts per million, not 0 to 14. In fact, it can go from as low as 0 to 500 plus parts per million. However, for us, the ideal range is between 100 and a 150 parts per million.
Matt Giovanisci:Now you can go as low as 80 parts per million and you can go as, you know, middle of the road, which we like, a 120 parts per million. That's perfect for us. And and we like to go more on the 125 to a 150 parts per million to give you some more room. Alright? So, here's the secret to raising the pH in your hot tub.
Matt Giovanisci:Now that you know that alkalinity is essential to protect your pH, you might be surprised to learn that it gets even simpler because raising your alkalinity also will increase the pH. And if you raise the alkalinity in your water, you can raise it with baking soda. We mentioned that earlier. Baking soda is a little bit different than washing soda. K?
Matt Giovanisci:Similar but different. Right? Washing soda, sodium carbonate. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, b I, carbonate. Okay?
Matt Giovanisci:So those are the difference, but here's the thing. Baking soda comes in small containers, and you can buy it at the store. You just gotta make sure that when you buy it, you're buying pure baking soda with no additives. So look for the active ingredient, sodium bicarbonate. It should it should say that.
Matt Giovanisci:And, you know, even the Arm and Hammer, that's your standard baking soda. Everyone knows what I'm talking about. It'll say on the package if you can use it in a pool. And if you can use it in a pool, then you can use it in your hot tub. Just make sure that it's not baking powder.
Matt Giovanisci:Don't do that. That's not the same thing. Baking soda is what you want. Alright? So usually, when your alkalinity is low, your pH is also low and vice versa.
Matt Giovanisci:So you may only need to add baking soda to bring up your alkalinity between a 100 and a 100 and a 150 parts million. And when you do that, your pH reading should go up too. But here's the here's the distinction. If your pH doesn't reach the ideal range of 7.4 to 7.6 after you've added your alkalinity and you got that in range and your pH is still a little bit low, then you can use specifically pH increaser for hot tubs, which is sodium carbonate, to give it that little extra nudge up. Alright?
Matt Giovanisci:So I like to think of alkalinity as the big tuners. You know, you you turn up the dial and then you just wanna fine tune the treble a little bit. Right? So you just add a little bit of pH d increaser, and you're good to go. Alright?
Matt Giovanisci:I also mentioned decreasers. There's also pH decreaser. We're talking about how to raise the pH. Alright? So how do you do that?
Matt Giovanisci:1, you need to know how many gallons are in your hot tub. That's first and foremost. You need to test the water with test strips or a liquid test kit, whatever you prefer. Just dip the strip, though, wait 15 seconds, read it, match the colors up on the back. You should be good to go.
Matt Giovanisci:Then you wanna increase the alkalinity first because, again, you might that's might that might be the only thing you need to do. Right? So you just need to add a little bit of alkalinity increaser or sorry. So you can use what's called alkalinity increase. You can buy it for hot tubs.
Matt Giovanisci:It's essentially the same thing as baking soda. It might be a little coarser in the grind, but other than that, it's it's the same thing, sodium bicarbonate. Right? Or you can just use baking soda, whichever is easier for you to get, whichever is if you care about affordability, you know, baking soda probably would be more affordable. And then you can obviously use it for your kitchen if you want to or other things for cleaning.
Matt Giovanisci:So it it has you know, it can do several things. Right? And then all you have to do is when you add it to the water, make sure your hot tub cover is off, make sure that your jets are running on low, and make sure you have your air valves turned off. And then you just wanna sprinkle, or we call it broadcasting, you wanna broadcast your alkalinity increaser into the water, and I would wait about 5 to 15 minutes. Right?
Matt Giovanisci:It usually doesn't take long for it to to circulate and mix in. Then test the water again with test strips. And then from there, if you still need to add more alkalinity increase, do that. If you need to add if your alkalinity is good but your pH is still low, then add a little bit of pH increaser. And then you should be good to go.
Matt Giovanisci:And that's it. Now, a little bit little quick disclaimer about chemical safety. Yes. Baking soda, you know, not a big deal. Sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, not a big deal.
Matt Giovanisci:I still recommend you use gloves and goggles. You get that stuff on your hands. Yeah. It's not gonna really feel like anything, but it it can dry your skin. Right?
Matt Giovanisci:It strips the natural oils and it leaves your skin dry and itchy. But when we talk about chemistry, we always wanna wear gloves and goggles. Alright? So that's pretty much it. Alright?
Matt Giovanisci:Remember, if you need more help with hot tub maintenance, grab our free hot tub cheatsheet@swimu.com/ spasheet. And if you found this episode helpful, subscribe for more hot tub maintenance tips on your favorite podcasting app. And when you do, please leave us a review because your support will help more hot tub owners just like you find this show. That's it. Thanks again, and happy soaking.
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