Boric Acid v borax

[dbh369]

I found this link to 99.9% pure boric acid http://www.dudadiesel.com/search.php?qu ... 4AodPwcAmA and wonder if I can use that instead of borax. I've read reference to it in some posts, but nothing direct. I think I need about 10% less of boric acid. Plus there is the avoided effort and cost of adding muriatic acid. Can I just use this instead and titrate up to 50ppm?

PS, I have high pH and high TA already, this could help, right?

 

[NoFear95]

Yes you can use that. It doesn't require you to use Acid to counter the PH rise from using borax.

 

[dbh369]

Cool, what ratio of borax to boric acid?

 

[NoFear95]

http://www.poolcalculator.com/

 

[JasonLion]

Boric acid is only very mildly acidic. While it will lower the PH, it won't do so by much.

Also, to clarify for people reading along, boric acid is a great substitute for borax for use increasing your borate level. It is not useful as a substitute when using borax to raise PH, as it will lower the PH instead.

 

[dbh369]

http://www.poolcalculator.com/

Yeah, sorry about that, missed the drop down to select. Its a pretty strong ratio!

 

[chem geek]

We should probably add Duda Diesel to the list of boric acid sources in the Recommended Pool Chemicals Pool School article. Thank you for finding this source -- we've seen it before, but I'm glad you brought it up again.

 

[imwarren]

If I am not mistaken before you add borates you should make sure your TA is in range as once you add borates it is harder to adjust TA

 

[dbh369]

I think the chemistry is that boric acid ifs a weak acid and will form a buffer Or a salt in high pH water, but it should move the pH down.

 

[thehowheels]

I ordered my boric acid from Duda Diesel. It was recommended elsewhere to make sure to order the granular version, as opposed to the powdered version.

For 25 lbs, the price was just slightly more than the equivalent amount of 20 Team Mule Borax, and way cheaper if I added the amount of muriatic acid I would have needed to use the borax route instead of boric acid.

Also the process was very easy. I broadcast the boric acid across the pool, then swept with my brush, walking around the pool two times. By the second time around, the boric acid had completely dissolved. I checked with my test strip, and it looked to be right at 50 PPM.

In my case, pH dropped from 7.5 to 7.3 after adding the boric acid.

 

[hatawa]

I don't understand why everyone is saying that BORAX is the same price as Boric Acid. The DUDA Diesel site sells boric acid at $2.11/lb including postage and Amazon sells BORAX at $1.08/lb. Even when you add in the muriatic acid ($15 for three gallons), that is still quite a savings, given that a small pool takes a minumum of 50LB. We're talking over $100 for the boric acid vs $65 for the BORAX + acid. Is it because boric acid is easier to use and for some that may be worth the extra cost?

 

[chem geek]

Welcome to TFP!

It takes 1.54 times as much weight of 20 Mule Team Borax as boric acid to get to the same amount of borates in the water. So the Borax is really $1.08*1.54 = $1.66 on an equivalent basis. 50 pounds of Borax would be 50 ppm borates in a 13,500 gallon pool. You would only need 50/1.54 = 32.5 pounds of boric acid to get the same borates amount.

So for this 13,500 gallon pool example, this is 50*$1.08 + $15 = $69 for the Borax plus acid
while for boric acid it is 32.5*$2.11 = $69 for the boric acid

So it turns out to be the same price. In general, the Borax + acid is somewhat less expensive, but the boric acid is more convenient not needing to be pH balanced very much -- it generally drops the pH from 7.5 to 7.2 at usual TA levels.

 

[missourian]

Thanks Chem geek & Jason, I am preparing myself for Borax + acid method and found this useful information, Planning to order below item and it comes to $102 including shipping from dudadiesel

Granular Boric Acid, 55 lb, Granular Form / Tech Grade 99.9+%, Use for Mold, Pests, & much more