Use of Vinegar to Lower PH Water Levels
- 1). Measure the amount of water you're dealing with, as well as its current pH. Litmus-paper pH tests are cheap, but when dealing with the kind of gradual pH adjustments we're going to make here, you may want an electronic meter and probe.
- 2). Add 1 mL of vinegar per gallon of water. Ideally, you'd add it to a sump; if you don't have one, try to add it to an area of high flow and as far as possible from any plants or animals. This should decrease pH by around 0.3, although the more alkaline a body of water, the more slowly the pH will drop.
- 3). Let the vinegar disperse throughout the environment, then test the water again to check for a pH drop.
- 4). Continue to add vinegar in 1 mL bursts, repeating steps 2 and 3, until you've achieved your desired pH. It may be tempting to pour in a lot of vinegar all at the same time, but this isn't advisable---the more slowly you take this, the more controlled the drop will be.
