Muriatic Acid Questions

A few querstions on Muriatic Acid and Dry Acid
1) Is it me or does anyone else in the Northeast - specifically NJ - have a problem finding Muriatic Acid in stores? I looked in a few Home Depots and they said they no longer carried it. Any suggestions where to look?

2) It seems most people pour it in their pool rather than the skimmer. What is the benefit, and is it dangerous to pour it in the skimmer?

I've been using dry acid for Pools (bought at HD). I usually fill a container with pool water, mix in the dry acid and pour in the skimmer.

thanks

Most any hardware store will carry it. Some don't have it out front, but I've bought it at Ace, True Value, Lowe's, Home Depot and Menard's.

You don't want to pour straight muriatic in the skimmer. It will eat concrete in its undiluted state. :eek: I fill a bucket with pool water and add about a cup of acid to that, then pour the bucket in the pool.

Acid should not be poured into the skimmer.:eek: The low pH can damage filter cartridges, pumps, heaters, etc. It is better to pour it into the stream of a return inlet so the moving water mixes it into the pool or by 'broadcasting' it across the water (carefully tossing the dilute mixture across the water surface from the bucket). Brushing after adding it will help mix it. This goes for both muriatic acid and dry acid.

Ace Hardware carries muriatic acid in N. Fl. They might carry it in NJ (I am originally from Millburn!)

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Originally Posted by donfranko

Is it me or does anyone else in the Northeast - specifically NJ - have a problem finding Muriatic Acid in stores? I looked in a few Home Depots and they said they no longer carried it. Any suggestions where to look?

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Our Home Depot said that they no longer carry it either.

thanks, I'll try Lowes or the local hardware store. Which Department, Paint?

Our Home Depot didn't have it either, but Lowes did.

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Originally Posted by donfranko

thanks, I'll try Lowes or the local hardware store. Which Department, Paint?

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Probably paint. Primary use is cleaning concrete prior to painting.

I got some at Lowe's but had to ask for it - it was in the back. They didn't know where it was supposed to go!

In my area (Northern CA) both Lowes and Home Depots sells Chlorine and Muriatic acid (as well as hoses, nets and other chems). In these stores near me, it is outside and next to the garden shop.

Maybe unique to my local stores?

Niether of the Home Depots near me carry it.

Lowe's had it in the paint section.

My Lowes carries it in the Paint Department.

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Originally Posted by Lenny

Niether of the Home Depots near me carry it.

Lowe's had it in the paint section.

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Seems to be a pattern! I'm in Northern Virginia and Home Depot did not have it, yet Lowes did in the paint section...

In my area, Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) has it near outdoor accessories - welcome mats, bird feeders, flags, doggie doors, etc. Sometimes the boxes are leaky so I go to Leslie's.

For me, the pool store in the same shopping center as HD charges $1/gal less. A carton with 4 gallon jugs is ~$12 compared to 2 gallons for ~$8 at HD. Maybe the pool store does enough volume to get lower pricing and it's not a specialty item like at the home improvement/hardware stores.

I have been buying muriatic acid at Meijer for two summers now. My Meijer store keeps it towards the very back of the store with the paint supplies. It comes in gallon jugs for $5. Last year it always had a plastic wrapper around the gallon jug (which made it very hard to see what it actually was, unless you knew) this year they do not have the wrapper on them.

Check the concentration of that Lowes Muriatic acid. I bought a gallon once, but it was much lower than the concentration of the pool store acid for nearly the same cost. I believe the concentration is given in deg Baume, which is actually the specific gravity, but it's not a one-to-one correlation to % HCL.

All I know is the pool store HCL fumes when opened (hold your breath!) and I need very little to make a difference. The lowes stuff didn't fume and it took a lot more to move my ph.