First swim of the season today in the borated pool. Very nice. My borates are about 30ppm right now. I have a lot of dirt and water on the bottom because of storms every other day, but the water is very clear and sparkly. I got out feeling clean, did not even shower, just changed and headed for dance class. The only difference that I think I can tell is that the water seemed to have a slightly "bitter" taste to it. Not that I am drinking it in big amounts, but you always get a little in the mouth. I doubt anyone else would notice, I just am more sensitive to those things.
I think I can vouch for the reduction of surface tension thing. Right after I added the borates, I noticed my bug population in the pool went way down. It might have been coincidence with the season, but they seem to go into the skimmer now, rather than enjoying a paddle around the pool. This is not just water skimmers, but all sorts of bugs I can and cannot identify.
The other thing is my battle to keep my solar cover in place. This fall was very very windy, and the solar cover stayed put. It rarely did more than shift around in the water a little.
This spring- I do not think it is that much windier, just a lot wetter. I put the borates in the pool before the solar cover, and I am having a real battle keeping it on. It just does not "stick" to the water like it did in the fall. The winds are from the same direction, and the water temp is the same as in the fall, the solar cover is in the same configuration, so not sure what else could be causing it. Anyway, I figured out to use bleach bottles half-filled with water to hold the ends of the sections down. 6 of them solved my problem.