How much baking soda to raise alkalinity in a 10,000 gallon pool?
Raising total alkalinity from 60 to 90 ppm in a 10,000 gallon pool takes about 4.2 lb of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). pH will rise only a little, to about 7.5.
How to work it out
- In short: each bit of baking soda adds a fixed amount of alkalinity, so the dose is the rise you want times your pool’s size.
- Rise: 90 − 60 = 30 ppm (as calcium carbonate)
- 30 ppm ÷ 50,044 mg per equivalent × 37,854 L = 22.69 mol of bicarbonate
- × 84 g per mole = 4.2 lb (pH 7.4 → about 7.5)
Sixty ppm is the bottom of the Model Aquatic Health Code range and a common reading in pools that use trichlor tablets or get a lot of rain. Bringing it up to 90 gives pH a sturdier buffer for the rest of the season.
Adjust for your project
More options: pH · CYA · Temp
- pH afterwards (estimate)
- 7.5
- Baking soda per 10 ppm in this pool
- 1.4 lb (22.4 oz)
- At the label’s 1.5 lb per 10 ppm per 10,000 gal
- 4.5 lb (72 oz)
- Grocery baking soda and pool “alkalinity increaser” are the same chemical (sodium bicarbonate). Compare price per pound.
10,000 gallons from 60 ppm, by target alkalinity
| Target TA | Baking soda to add | pH afterwards (estimate) | At the label’s 1.5 lb per 10 ppm per 10,000 gal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70 ppm | 1.4 lb | 7.4 | 1.5 lb (24 oz) |
| 80 ppm | 2.8 lb | 7.5 | 3 lb (48 oz) |
| 90 ppm | 4.2 lb | 7.5 | 4.5 lb (72 oz) |
| 100 ppm | 5.6 lb | 7.6 | 6 lb (96 oz) |
| 110 ppm | 7 lb | 7.6 | 7.5 lb (120 oz) |
| 120 ppm | 8.41 lb | 7.6 | 9 lb (144 oz) |
About four pounds — or one box and a bit
Every 10 ppm in 10,000 gallons is 1.4 lb of baking soda, so 30 ppm is about 4.2 lb. The pool-store label rate (1.5 lb per 10 ppm) gives 4.5 lb; the difference is within one step of a drop test, so either is fine.
- Do it in two goes. Broadcast half over the deep end with the pump on, wait several hours, retest, then add the rest. Alkalinity tests read in 10 ppm steps, so stop when you hit the target.
- pH barely moves. Expect a tenth or so. If pH is also low after the alkalinity is fixed, use how much soda ash to raise pH in a 10,000 gallon pool.
- Why it was low. Tablets and dichlor are acidic and eat alkalinity steadily; heavy rain dilutes it. If TA keeps falling, the chlorine source is the usual suspect.
- Overshot? Too much alkalinity makes pH climb. How much muriatic acid to lower alkalinity in a 10,000 gallon pool shows how slow it is to undo — so err low.
In a hot tub the same rise takes ounces, not pounds — see how much baking soda to raise alkalinity in a hot tub.
Different size? Use the full Baking Soda Calculator (Raise Alkalinity).
What you’ll need
- Alkalinity increaser (sodium bicarbonate)Budget price
Raises total alkalinity with little change in pH. Pool-labelled bicarbonate and grocery baking soda are the same compound — compare price per pound.
See options on Amazon (opens in a new tab) - Digital scale (to 5 kg / 11 lb)Budget price
Weighs granular chemicals to the ounce. Use a dedicated scale — never the one you cook with.
See options on Amazon (opens in a new tab) - FAS-DPD drop test kit (chlorine, pH, TA, CH, CYA)Mid-range price
A drop-count kit reads free chlorine to 0.5 ppm (or 0.2 ppm), plus pH, alkalinity, calcium and stabilizer. Every dose on this site starts from a test, so this is the one thing worth buying first.
See options on Amazon (opens in a new tab)
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Links to products are affiliate links — they cost you nothing extra and help keep these calculators free.
Frequently asked questions
How much baking soda to raise alkalinity 40 ppm in 10,000 gallons?
About 5.6 lb (from 50 to 90 ppm).
How much baking soda to raise alkalinity in a 20,000 gallon pool from 60 to 90?
About 8.41 lb of baking soda.
How much baking soda to raise alkalinity in a 1,000 gallon pool by 30 ppm?
About 6.72 oz — measure it on a scale.
Other common sizes
Sources
- Leslie’s — Alkalinity Up (sodium bicarbonate) label (opens in a new tab) — 100% sodium bicarbonate; 1-1/2 lb per 10,000 gallons raises total alkalinity about 10 ppm.
- CDC — Model Aquatic Health Code, 5th edition (2024), code (opens in a new tab) — Free chlorine minimum 1.0 ppm (2.0 with CYA, 3.0 in spas); pH 7.0–7.8; CYA at or below 90 ppm; CYA:FC above 45:1 is an imminent hazard; TA 60–180 ppm; turnover tables.
- CDC — Model Aquatic Health Code, 5th edition (2024), annex (opens in a new tab) — CYA reduces chlorine’s effectiveness; correcting total alkalinity for CYA by subtracting CYA ÷ 3.
- USGS — Alkalinity calculator: methods (opens in a new tab) — Temperature-dependent equilibrium constants for water and carbonic acid (after Stumm & Morgan), with activity corrections.
- CDC Healthy Swimming — Home pool and hot tub water treatment and testing (opens in a new tab) — pH 7.0–7.8; free chlorine at least 1 ppm in pools (2 ppm with cyanuric acid) and 3 ppm in hot tubs; no CYA in hot tubs; test twice a day.
- CDC — Pool chemical injuries press release (2014) (opens in a new tab) — Never mix pool chemicals, especially chlorine products with acid; add chemical to water, never water to chemical.