Re: Is sodium bicarbonate same as sodium carbonate?
Waste hit it right on the money. Arm and Hammer Super Washing soda is sodium carbonate, the same stuff as pH increaser at the pool store (for a lot less money). It will raise the pH quickly (and if overdosed can make it go quite high) but it will also cause the TA to go up fast also. If you have low pH AND low ALK then it can be useful. It is NOT the same as Arm and Hammer Baking soda, which is sodium bicarbonate. Sodium bicarbonate will raise ALK and will cause a slight increase in pH. It really isn't that effective at raising pH compared to either sodium carbonate or sodium tetraborate (borax). Sodium bicarbonate is best at raising ALK while not impacting pH all that much, although it does tend to make it go to around 8.0-8.2.
Washing soda is used as a laundry additive and a degreaser and is somewhat caustic. Baking soda (usually in the baking and spice section of the supermarket) is most commenly used in cooking and for medicinal purposes.
In a nutshell these are two different products made by Arm and Hammer (Church and Dwight Co.)
Hope this helps to answer your question.
Retired pool store and commercial pool maintenance guy.
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