My pool chemical levels are showing a high ph. How can I change this?

We always check alkalinity and adjust that first, and then deal with the ph. The muratic acid (highly caustic, don’t splash on you or the pool surface, make sure to add directly to the water) will adjust both of these. Don’t be surprised if you see the alkalinity drop and then the ph change oddly. It happens.

When adding chemicals do ½ of the recommended change, it’s easier to add more than to redo something that you did that made significant changes. If you add ½ gal of muratic acid and wait a couple hours, then you could use test strips to see if the level has lowered itself, and add some more. The ph being high will affect swimmer comfort, and some may experience itchy skin etc. if the level remains that high.

Salt: On an chlorine generator salt system if your light is going between green/yellow I would add one more bag of salt. If it continues to fluctuate, it might need to be cleaned, which would mean taking the salt cell itself out of the plumbing and running a solution of muratic acid and water through it while it’s in a bucket. Add a bag and see if this continues, then the cleaning might be in order.

Party: If you are going to have a large number of swimmers in the water, it’s a good idea to shock it (turn cl2 production up to 100%) the day before and then the day after the party.