I want to add borates to my pool

[davidillg]

Split from Sticky http://www.troublefreepool.com/thre...-to-your-pool-Why-and-How?p=660925#post660925 Butterfly

I am looking to add borate to my pool and after reading this thread I think my pool is ready for it. Could someone just take a look at my test results and tell me if they see anything I should adjust before moving forward.

Free Chlorine - 3.13 ppm
Total Chlorine - 3.73 ppm
Combined Chlorine - 0.6 ppm
pH - 7.3
Hardness - 185 ppm
Alkalinity (w/stabilizer correction) - 99 ppm
Cyanuric Acid - 58 ppm
Copper - 0.2 ppm
Iron - 0.1 ppm
Borate - 0 ppm
Phosphate - 1000 ppb
Total Dissolved Solids - 1000 ppm

I am planning on shocking tonight and picking up the borate tomorrow. My pool is 24k gallons. Also, I am thinking adding some salt to get the pool to about 1000 ppm. Should I do that before or after the borate? Or just skip all together?

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

Your TA is a bit high. It is not critical, but it is easier to lower TA before you add borates rather than after.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

I would think that your first investment if you are going to spend money on your pool should be on one of the Recommended Test Kits and to not trust having your water tested at a pool store. Also spend some time reading Pool School.

I feel like you may be jumping into Chemistry 301 before even starting Chem 101. Borates are completely optional and unnecessary and given that TA reading, you are not ready for borates even if you still wanted to add them.

 

[svenpup]

+1 to jblizzle's comment. Take control of your pool with a good test kit (TF-100) and a solid understanding of the effects of adding chemicals and the CYA/FC relationship. Borates should be considered the icing on the cake once your pool is completely under your control. Have you read through Pool School?

The false precision on the pool store numbers makes me laugh. Pool stores have completely inaccurate and non-repeatable testing, but tons of significant digits.

Right now (if you believe the pool store testing) your FC is too low. For CYA=60 your FC should never drop below 5.

Your comment that you are planing on shock brings up a few thoughts. While "shock" is sold by pool stores as a product that you dump in and you are done, at TFP we treat "shocking" as a process which we refer to a "SLAM" (Shock Level and Maintain). This process involves holding FC at a high level, with repeated testing and additions of chlorine. Again, check out Pool School.

 

[davidillg]

Thanks for the replies. I had read some of the Pool School but I obviously still have a lot to learn. I know how stupid it sounds, but I was really hoping borates would help reduce the time I spend on the pool. I have 3 little ones and I sometimes feel like I don't have time to clean out the skimmer. I know that I need to spend the time and learn all of this so the pool is safe to swim in. I had skimmed over the Pool School but I'll go back to the beginning and read it carefully. Thanks again for the replies.

Also, I can't believe how useless pool stores are. I've had problems with them before when trying to buy replacement parts for the pool but I at least thought they could help with the chemicals.

 

[bobodaclown]

Not sure how your planning on adding borates, but you might want to check out Boric Acid from Dudadiesel. With Boric Acid you don't need to add MA. It's pretty PH neutral. Just pour it and brush to dissolve. Get the grandular not the power. They have their own web site and they sell on eBay. I just ordered 25 lbs. I've been getting my boric acid from them for the past few years.
Here's a link I posted about it:
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/37456-Boric-Acid-the-easy-way