Powdered Boric Acid

[KSpoolguy]

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.

Why is granulated recommended over powdered? My initial thought would be that powder will dissolve and mix in with the water much faster.

Also, I have about 21000 gallon pool. The pool calculator calls for 40 1bs. by weight of borix acid. Sounds like a lot to me. Does that sound about right?

 

[JasonLion]

Powder clumps, and the clumps tend not to dissolve very quickly. The powder also blows all over the place. Granular actually dissolves much more quickly because of the clumping issue.

 

[KSpoolguy]

Thanks as always!!

 

[sargent]

I did mine with powder, and it worked out alright. But, I definitely would not do it on a windy day! There was just a slight breeze when I did mine, and I had to pour the boric acid on the upwind side of the pool, or most of it would have blown away. The powder would sort of float on the water, so I poured a little in, then I would use the pool brush to sort of stir things up, and then I would pour some more. It dissolved fairly quickly, but I think it would have been easier and faster with the granular.