I am interested in the comments about the benefits of 50ppm of Borates however I have also read that using 20 Mule will increase both the pH and the TA. I can address the pH with Muriatic but lowering the TA seems to be a tedious acid/aeration process. My TA is currently sitting at 60ppm and I am still in the process of initial balancing of my pool after opening. Is there a TA increase with powdered Boric Acid? Doing the $$ calculations in the two options right now and appreciate any feedback?
Borates and TA
- Thread starter MarkHoop
- Start date
I see no reason from your poolmath that you'd need it. Your poolmath shows a low FC along with an 8 for the CYA which by TFP standards is a 10. You added 600 gram CYA which equates to 21 ounces = call it adding another 8. Those numbers need fixing more then 20 mule your asking about.
Agreed and as I said, still completing initial balancing. SWG is not on yet so an LC pool for now. Waiting on my delivery from TFTestkits early next week so that I can do full suite of tests although reported results are from my Taylor kit and not a dreaded pool store. Just thinking ahead after balancing has been completed
Ride one season proper and you'll likely see no reason to spend money on it next year.
Maybe Borax makes it sparkle more, but I wouldn't be able to tell because the existing sparkles are literally painful to look at.
Sometimes I suck them up with the skimmer so they go away.
But yeah. It even sparkles at night, without borates. So I'm not seeing that need.
- Mar 5, 2020
- 3,216
- Pool Size
- 66000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Astral Viron V35
When using Borax and MA to add Borates you add that in smaller batches. You start with some MA to lower pH preemptively to make room for the pH-increase of the Borax you are adding next. Repeat until all Borax has been added. All those MA additions take care of TA, no need for extra aeration/acid cycles.
Quite a tedious process, much easier to use Boric acid, which you can pretty much add in one go. It will decrease pH slightly and leave TA untouched.
When adding Borates, you are basically replacing Carbonate Alkalinity with Borate-Alkalinity, leaving Total Alkalinity constant.
All the sparkle is I think a bit overrated. Main benefit of borates is protecting a SWG from scale. If that's an issue, then go for it. If not, then I don't see too much benefit.
Thanks greatly. I do see scale in my SWG and have to clean that a few times in an 4-5 month season so perhaps it makes sense. I believe that I have found a source for Boric Acid which as you say will make the process a little simpler with just having to monitor pH
- Mar 5, 2020
- 3,216
- Pool Size
- 66000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Astral Viron V35
Keep in mind that each clean cycle with muriatic acid takes some of the plate coating away. And the more of the coating is gone, the more they tend to scale up.
Just ride this cell for as long as it's working, with the next one try to avoid scaling as much as you can with water chemistry, hopefully you'll never have to descale then. Borates will probably be helpful in your situation.
Just ride this cell for as long as it's working, with the next one try to avoid scaling as much as you can with water chemistry, hopefully you'll never have to descale then. Borates will probably be helpful in your situation.