I would suggest someone who has a pool ( Ido, but I live in San Diego) take their water tester with Phenol to check the water PH. You can buy a kit at Home Depot for about 3 bucks. You scoop a small sample of water from each pool, add 5 drops of Phenol, and match the red or rose color of the sample with the color on the testing tube. That will give you the pH. If the water is the brightest red, you have a very high pH, which means the water has high alkalinity (approx. greater than 7.8). If the water is more orange or yellow, then the water has high acidity(approx less than 6.8).
If my pool is too alkaline, I increase acidity by adding muriatic acid ("Ph Down"
. If it's too acidic, I add soda ash or sodium bisulfate (Ph Up"
.
I don't advocate adding any chemicals at Deep Creek, but at least you can get an idea if the pH is in an extreme range. Both high acid and high alkalinity can cause rashes. It still would be good to test the water for bacteria as well.
