calcs.homes
calcs.homes
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) raises total alkalinity — enter your current and target reading to find exactly how much to add.
Estimate only — add slowly with the pump running, and retest after a few hours.
We take the difference between your target and current alkalinity in ppm, divide pool volume by 10,000 gallons, and multiply by 0.15 lb — the dose of sodium bicarbonate it takes to raise alkalinity 1 ppm per 10,000 gallons. That works out to about 1.5 lb per 10,000 gallons for every 10 ppm you need to raise, which we also convert to a rough cup measurement using 2 cups per pound.
This dosing rate matches what's used across pool chemistry references and printed on pool-store "alkalinity increaser" packaging, because that product is sodium bicarbonate — plain baking soda — repackaged at a markup. Alkalinity acts as a buffer that keeps pH from swinging, so dosing by this formula and retesting a few hours later, rather than guessing, keeps both readings stable together instead of overcorrecting one at the other's expense.
Yes — it's the same sodium bicarbonate sold as pool alkalinity increaser, just without the pool-store markup. Buy it in bulk for the best price.
About 2 cups of baking soda weighs roughly 1 lb, useful if you're measuring from a box rather than weighing it.