(Newswire.net — May 31, 2019) — If you have a swimming pool, you’ve probably had to deal with cloudiness from time to time. Sometimes a cloudy pool can ruin your day because it’s best not to swim in it. Cloudy pool water means there are pathogens and bacteria in the water that could have harmful effects such as eye irritation, stomach upset, and urinary tract issues. Cloudy water also usually contains huge amounts of dirt, sweat, body oil, and more. With this in mind, you may be tempted to skip the typical pool chemicals and use something else instead. One common household item you may be tempted to use is ordinary baking soda. So, will baking soda clear up a cloudy pool? First, let’s investigate what baking soda is.
Will Baking Soda Clear Up a Cloudy Pool
What is Baking Soda?
Baking soda is a chemical compound known as sodium bicarbonate. It is used in toothpaste, for cooking, and for cleaning purposes. In its natural form, sodium bicarbonate is a crystal. To make it better for use in baking or absorbing odors, it is ground to a fine powder. Baking soda can also be used as an alkaline compound. The compound is most commonly mixed with a natural acid when used in baking. Many professional cleaners use baking soda when cleaning because it has a granular texture that makes cleaning easy and the material is fine enough that it won’t scratch surfaces such as stoves. But, in its simplest form, baking soda is a chemical base.
Baking Soda is a Base
There may be a place to use baking soda when it comes to balancing the pH in your pool. But, baking soda won’t be helpful if its the only thing you are using to clear the water. The substance is actually a base. Bases raise pH levels, which will make the water cloudy. Although baking soda should never be considered a reliable pool chemical, it could be used in a pinch to bring down alkaline levels when they’re extremely high. Baking soda is great for cleaning pool tile.
High Alkaline Levels can Cause Cloudy Pool Water
One of the many reasons pool water can become cloudy is because of high alkaline levels. That is why many people believe tossing some baking soda into the water will make it crystal clear. The problem is if high alkaline levels aren’t why your pool water is cloudy, throwing it in the water won’t clear it up. Instead, it will actually make it much worse. In fact, there are much better ways to clear up cloudy water that is proven to work and don’t require you to guess what’s happening.
Test Pool Water Regularly
If you want to take care of your pool yourself, you can do it. Even though we’ve already told you baking soda won’t clear up a cloudy pool, you can still take care of it on your own. Invest in an inexpensive water tester. This tiny tester allows you to analyze the contents of pool water. When you know why the water is out of whack, it will be easy to choose the right pool chemicals to clear up the cloudiness.
The better you understand your backyard pool and the bacteria, algae, and pH levels that affect it, the more pool days you can enjoy. So hopefully you now know the answer to will baking soda clear up a cloudy pool.