Parent: Pool Maintenance
Procedure
- Fill: Fill the test vial with pool water to the 44 mL line at the top.
- Drops: Drop 5 drops of red R-0014 reagent (phenol red).
- Cap and shake: Cap and shake for a couple seconds to mix.
- Compare: Compare the vial color to the color blocks on the comparator. Hold it up against a white background if you can. The closest match is your pH.
Test steps
- 1Fill
sample water into the comparator vial.
- 2Drops
red R-0014 reagent dropper held over the vial.
- 3Cap and shake
cap going on the comparator with sample and reagent inside.
- 4Compare
comparator held up against the 7.0–8.0 color scale.
Additional reference photos
Reading the result
Scale runs 7.0 (yellow) → 8.0 (deep pink). Target range is 7.4–7.6.
This vial is reading 7.8 — too high, needs acid:
pH adjustments
The pH is usually too high, it ALWAYS floats up over time. It has never gone down on its own. To adjust it down we add muriatic acid. The muriatic acid is in the pool deck box (more in barn).
| pH reading | Muriatic acid to add |
|---|---|
| 8.0 or higher | 1 gallon |
| 7.8 | ¾ gallon |
| 7.6 | ½ gallon |
Adding muriatic acid
- Find It — find it in the pool deck box; more is in the barn.
- Pouring — in the “deep end” slow enough not to splash. Slower is better.
- Amount — doesn’t have to be perfect.
- Mix — use the pool brush to stir like mixing sugar into iced tea. Doesn’t need much; a little stirring and brushing the bottom helps it mix.
- Skin contact — wash off with pool water or tap water.