Borates question

[silver02gt]

Probably a little silly, but does adding Borax alone, no acid, add borates to your pool? I have put some Borax in my pool, but no acid. Well I've put in stabilizer which I guess is an acid. But I think someone probably understands what I'm getting at. lol, hopefully!!!

Thanks, David

 

[svenpup]

Yes, but to add a meaningful amount (50ppm) without acid your pH would go ^{through the roof}

 

[svenpup]

FYI, CYA is a weak acid so it really doesn't have much effect on pH.

 

[chem geek]

You can use the "Effects of adding chemicals" section at the bottom of The Pool Calculator to estimate how much you are increasing your borates by using Borax to raise the pH. As noted, it isn't very much but if you are using Borax a lot over time it can build up. However, if your pH tends to fall (which is unusual if using chlorinating liquid or bleach or Cal-Hypo) then you could raise your Total Alkalinity (TA) level which should help balance the pH and keep it more stable since a higher TA causes the pH to rise thus balancing out the fall in pH you are seeing.

 

[silver02gt]

Thank you guys for all that info!!!