Are you tired of using chemicals every now and then? Now you are thinking of how to lower pH in your hot tub naturally without chemicals. You don’t always need chemicals to reduce the pH of your spa.
You can lower the pH of your hot tub naturally by refilling it with fresh water or by using natural compounds like vinegar, lemon, etc.
Some said that they use Epsom salt to lower the pH of their spa water. That method is not recommendable at all because it can damage your hot tub. To learn more about Epsom salt and how you can use it in your spa, check ‘Can You Put Epsom Salt In a Hot Tub?‘
For vinegar, I wouldn’t recommend it because it is not as active as the popular pH reducers we know. According to the article ‘Can I Use Vinegar In A Hot Tub?’, you don’t need to use vinegar in your hot tub to lower pH unless you have limited budget to work with.
Another method to lower pH naturally is to drain some of the water and refill it with fresh water. By doing so, you don’t have to add any chemicals. But if you drain it completely, you would need to balance the water after refilling and that requires a lot of work. This method is usually hard because once the alkalinity is off the range it will be difficult to balance the pH.
So, the best natural means is to use vinegar. Though it is not as active as muriatic acid and sodium bisulfate, vinegar can actively lower the pH of your hot tub. Moreover, it can also help to sanitize and clean the tub.
But it is important to note that some vinegar solutions can make the water smelly and colored. The best solution for this purpose is the white vinegar – an acetic acid made from natural grain and water. Just follow the steps below to lower your hot tub pH with vinegar;
- First, test the water with test strips or kits to know the pH level.
- Add about 4 cups of the white vinegar solution at the middle of the hot tub to enable proper circulation.
- Turn on your hot tub pump and filter immediately. Ensure they are running properly.
- Allow it to circulate for about 2-3 hours to ensure consistency.
- With your test strips or kits, test for the pH level at different spots of the hot tub. This will help you to know if the solution is consistently circulated across the tub. If the result is not consistent, give it more time to circulate properly.
- Then test again. If the pH is still high, add little more vinegar and repeat the whole process until you get to the desire pH range which is between 7.2 and 7.8.
However, it is better to prevent your pH from getting high than struggling to reduce it when it has already gone up. To achieve that, we need to know what is responsible for the increase in the pH level of your hot tub.
Why is the pH so high in my hot tub?
There are different factors that could be responsible for the increase of pH levels in your hot tub. What comes to our mind when the pH rises is that we have added excess chemicals, probably when we were trying to balance the water chemistry.
Well, that is true, but not always the case. There are other things that can alter the pH of your spa water. The major ones include
- Excess amount of pH Increaser
- Algae
- Water source
- Serbia and organic matters
It is possible that you might have added an excessive amount of the pH Plus you use which resulted in the abnormal increase in pH levels.
But if you have adjusted the pH levels recently, then the problem could be from your local water supplier. Try to test the pH and alkalinity of the water you are using in your hot tub. There are chances that they are high.
If that’s not the case, then it’s time you start thinking of how to clean up your hot tub, whether by draining or without draining. The presence of algae could be responsible for the increase in pH.
That’s right, algae can alter the level of your spa water pH when it consumes the carbon dioxide in it. As the carbon dioxide depletes, the water becomes more alkaline resulting in an increased pH level.
Can you go in a hot tub if the pH is high?
No, you should not go in your hot tub if the pH is high because it’s not safe for you. Having high pH levels in your hot tub water can cause itchy skin and burning eyes. For more information on this topic, check Can You Go In A Hot Tub With High pH?
Your hot tub pH shouldn’t rise above 7.8. If it does, then you should do everything possible to correct it before use. With such a pH level, your spa water could easily be invaded by microbes.
It’s true that microbes don’t thrive in a high pH environment, but don’t forget that some could be resistant to such high pH. In fact, some Alkaliphiles thrive in high pH environments.
So, such bacteria can breed in the water. This will expose the bather to some of the microbes that could cause diseases. The best thing to do is never to use the hot tub until the pH is adjusted.
What happens if the pH is too high in a hot tub?
A high pH level in your hot tub is what you should avoid by all means. If left for a long time, it can damage your spa equipment.
Scale build-ups easily form when the pH of the hot tub is high. And when this happens, the scales can clog the pipes, filters, and plug which can build up pressure on the components.
Such occurrences are not safe for your spa. Moreover, you would need to spend extra money on maintenance and repair.
More so, high pH can make the spa water unhealthy for the bather. Yes, this is possible because high pH leads to high consumption of the hot tub sanitizer.
Once the sanitizer starts depleting faster, the water is no longer safe because some bacteria can easily invade the water. Also, you would need to spend more to maintain the sanitizer level.
Will baking soda lower hot tub pH?
This can be confusing a lot, especially when it comes to reducing and increasing pH or alkalinity. To make it easier to understand, we need to know that baking soda is an alkaline compound.
Being alkaline means that it can only increase the pH of hot tub water. To lower the pH of hot tub water, we need to use an acidic compound. So, baking soda cannot lower your hot tub pH. To learn more you need to read this topic – Will Baking Soda Lower pH In Hot Tub?
Does chlorine lower pH?
It is possible for chlorine to alter the pH of hot tub water because it is an acid substance. However, the effect of the acid is always neutralized by sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in the water.
But to use chlorine as a pH reducer is not safe. You would need to add an excessive amount of it before it can effectively lower the hot tub pH. And this is not good for the father and also for the hot tub equipment. You can learn more from this Does – Does Chlorine Raise Or Lower pH In Hot Tub?
So, the best practice is to use the right pH reducers, acids, or natural methods as discussed above.
Does bromine lower pH?
Like we discussed above, using chlorine or bromine as your pH reducer is not safe. They are only used as a sanitizer to protect the hot tub against disease-causing microbes.
Generally, they don’t alter the pH of the hot tub unless they are added in excessive amounts. And doing so can only harm the hot tub components and the bather as well.
So, avoid these substances unless you are using them as your hot tub sanitizer.
Will lemon juice lower pH in water?
Some people said they have tried it and worked for them. However, it is not advisable to use lemon juice to lower hot tub pH. You can use it in other areas but not for your hot tub.
Moreover, it could end up leaving debris behind making the water cloudy. So, it is better not to try it at all.
Does Epsom salt lower pH in water?
Yes, Epsom salt can lower the pH in water but it should not be used in a hot tub that already had chlorine in it.
You can only use Epsom salt with plain water for your own health and the safety of the spa components.
Using Epsom salt can lead to the build-up of Total Dissolved Substances (TDS) which is not safe for your hot tub.
Does vinegar lower hot tub pH?
Vinegar, being a natural compound, is one of the best natural means one can use to lower pH in a hot tub. A lot of people are using it because it’s readily available as a household item and it is more cost effective. More so, it is a natural compound and safe for use.
However, we don’t recommend the use of vinegar for your hot tub. It is safer to follow the standard and the products recommended by the manufacturers. This will help to keep the product warranty valid.
From our research, no manufacturer has recommended vinegar, at the time this article was written. Thus, it is not safe to use it as a pH-reducing agent.
Moreover, it is not as effective as the usual pH-reducing chemicals like muriatic acid and dry acid (sodium bisulfate). This means that for it to be effective you need to add a high amount of it in your hot tub.
But it doesn’t mean that vinegar can’t be used in your hot tub. In fact, vinegar is one of the best cleaning items you can use to clean your hot tub.
In addition to that, it can serve as a disinfectant in the cleaning process. That makes it a highly effective hot tub cleaner.
