is Borax the same as Pool Conditioner

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denisrenepl

0
Aug 20, 2012
32
U.S.A. - California
[Mod (linen) edit: Poll removed, since it was confusing with the thread title:

The questions was:
Do you use substitutes products for your pool like clorox and borax?
Click to expand...
There were 10 votes yes and 1 vote no at time of removal.]

Hi. this is my second Post.
I have a Summer Scape pool (specs on the bottom) The little pump that comes with the pool just died. So I got myself a SanPro 50.
After having the pool completely green! and infested with algae (since I went without filter for like 5 days) I ran the new sand filter the whole night and the algae was gone. I add a whole gallon of chlorine and brush the bottom of the pool. the Algae is dead! Thank God!
BEFORE
[attachment=2:2so0i0j6]green.png[/attachment:2so0i0j6]
AFTER
on this fist photo you can see a little bit of green at the bottom I will brush that too.
[attachment=1:2so0i0j6]photo 1-1.jpeg[/attachment:2so0i0j6]
[attachment=0:2so0i0j6]photo 2.jpeg[/attachment:2so0i0j6]


So, I know that for now on I have to keep the levels of Chlorine in check and run the pump.

MY REAL QUESTION IS
I took an example of my water to the local pool store. The guy said "you chlorine is a little bit to high, you need conditioner"
I have BORAX. Does Borax has the same effect as conditioner? I read at POOL SCHOOL that BORAX is like "water conditioner"
He recommended 2 pounds of that stuff. So, All I need is 2 pounds of BOREX?

I am so sorry that I dont have a testing kit, but after buying the pool, filling with the water and installing the MANDATORY fence, the sand filter, and all the chemicals, I dont want to spend more for a while.

Thank you for reading!.
 

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As far as I know - there is no accepted generic definition of what "pool conditioner" is - I think they just wanted to sell you something.

As for the testing - a minimal test from Wally World (6 way) is better than nothing.
 
Do NOT add the whole bottle until you know what your current CYA level is (as PAGirl asked ... have you used any solid chlorine?).

Once your CYA is too high, the only way to lower it is by replacing water.

So you know, 1 lb of the granule CYA will raise your CYA by ~20ppm (use poolcalculator.com to make these calculations) ... do not just dump it in the pool as the bottle may say, put it in a sock hung in front of a return.
 

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If you have some FC in the pool, and the water is clear and you do not have high CC ... you are free to use the pool.

That Clearview is dichlor so it added CYA ... how much did you use so that you can estimate how much CYA you should now have?

Just know that if the CYA is very low, the sun is going to break down the FC quickly. You could add the CYA in a sock and go swimming and give it a squeeze every time you swim by to help it dissolve.

EDIT: Just want to point out that some of us use our phones to access the forum (using Tapatalk), when I do that, I can not see people's signatures without opening your profile. Might explain the previous questions.
 
jblizzle said:
If you have some FC in the pool, and the water is clear and you do not have high CC ... you are free to use the pool.

That Clearview is dichlor so it added CYA ... how much did you use so that you can estimate how much CYA you should now have?

Just know that if the CYA is very low, the sun is going to break down the FC quickly. You could add the CYA in a sock and go swimming and give it a squeeze every time you swim by to help it dissolve.

EDIT: Just want to point out that some of us use our phones to access the forum (using Tapatalk), when I do that, I can not see people's signatures without opening your profile. Might explain the previous questions.
Click to expand...

I added the whole bag from the link I posted before. The guy from the store told me my chlorine was a little high.
I do not want to add the CYA until I get a a test kit.
The cya helps the FC to NOT break,right? so I think I will just add chlorine at the end of the day.
What is CC level?? O_O
 
Read:
ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals

Using poolcalculator ... 1 lb of dichlor add 12ppm FC and 11ppm CYA. Note that the CYA test only goes down to 20ppm.

I would recommend adding a pound of the granule CYA which should put you around 30ppm and actually be measurable when you get your kit. It will also greatly reduce the amount of FC you have to add each day as you will loose less to the sun.
 
I feel the need to give my opinion on the poll's wording. When I think of substitute - it makes me think alternative, meaning similar... it works the same, but it's different than the original. Sodium hypochlorite (salt-water-chlorine mixture) is the exact same liquid whether it's labeled Clorox (6%), "Pool Shock" at 12.5% or Pool Sanitizer (10%). Many other chemicals are the same, look at active ingredients and you will find what the pool store sells is the exact same stuff, with additives thrown in (which means extra chemicals you likely don't need!).

The only chemicals I've used this year are:
sodium hypochlorite (currently using 12.5% labeled "pool shock")
muriatic acid (liquid form, but the exact same active ingredient found in pH minus or Alkalinity minus)

and possibly before the season is over, a bit of sodium bicarbonate to raise alkalinity. Commonly known as baking soda and sold by the pool store as Alkalinity Plus for 13-20x the price of Arm & Hammer)
 
Speedo said:
I feel the need to give my opinion on the poll's wording. When I think of substitute - it makes me think alternative, meaning similar... it works the same, but it's different than the original. Sodium hypochlorite (salt-water-chlorine mixture) is the exact same liquid whether it's labeled Clorox (6%), "Pool Shock" at 12.5% or Pool Sanitizer (10%). Many other chemicals are the same, look at active ingredients and you will find what the pool store sells is the exact same stuff, with additives thrown in (which means extra chemicals you likely don't need!).

The only chemicals I've used this year are:
sodium hypochlorite (currently using 12.5% labeled "pool shock")
muriatic acid (liquid form, but the exact same active ingredient found in pH minus or Alkalinity minus)

and possibly before the season is over, a bit of sodium bicarbonate to raise alkalinity. Commonly known as baking soda and sold by the pool store as Alkalinity Plus for 13-20x the price of Arm & Hammer)
Click to expand...

I am sorry I failed to see the point on your response... maybe I am missing something. :hammer:
 

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