Should I add borates to my pool

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markayash

markayash

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Mar 21, 2016
4,644
Atlanta Ga
I considering adding borax and wanted to see if it's still suggested. I have a chlorine pool with a lot of trees overhanging ( that aren't mine ). I mainly want smoother water with fewer chemicals.
Also found a product called poolproof that won't require adding acid..Looking for thoughts on adding borates and poolproof vs borax and acid?
 
As far as I know borates are still a recommended option chemical to add to your pool. See the following sticky for details on the how’s and why’s:

So you want to add borates to your pool--Why and How

A few folks asked for a sticky on this so here it is. If you just want to jump to how without the why look for the blue part of this post below! :wink: Several companies are selling sodium tetraborate pentahydrate as a pool additive under such names as Proteam's Supreme, Bioguard's Optimizer...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Adding borates does not decrease the amount of acid or any other chemical that you may need to use to keep your pool water clean and sanitary.

It does reduce the rise of pH. But when you need to reduce the pH from 8 to 7.6, it will take more acid to achieve that drop in one application. Reducing the use of your waterfall to only when you are in the pool area will also reduce the rise of your pH.

Do you know what PoolProof is? Sounds like marketing hype for adding borates. Which you can do with a product that you know what it is, Boric acid.
 
Use Boric Acid from DudaDiesel. It has little impact on pH. Easier than borax and acid.

Use PoolMath to see how much you need.
 
Also -- do you have pets? Be aware that borates in a pool are not recommended for those with pets that might drink pool water. It is toxic.
 
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From what you have written so far, I wouldn't add either of those items. Poolproof is adding borates just like you would do with the borax from DudaDiesal but it most likely will cost a lot more to get the 50ppm recommended level for your pool.

It will not have any impact on the amount of chemicals you use. I only recommend it for pools that have SWG's and issues with high pH. The borates will limit the high pH inside the cell to help prevent scaling. Other than that borates are just not worth it.
 

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TFP recommends not to add borates until you get at least a basic grasp on the pool chemistry. If you dont have that grasp, then don't do it and study up on the ABC's in pool school.

I use borates in my pool and the "silky" feeling of water is nice.
 
I liked adding borate to my pool but I've got a dog that loves water and it's just not worth poisoning him because I like the look and feel. If the dog can swim, he'll ingest the water... not to mention my cats who use it as a watering hole too.
 
Casey said:
I liked adding borate to my pool but I've got a dog that loves water and it's just not worth poisoning him because I like the look and feel. If the dog can swim, he'll ingest the water... not to mention my cats who use it as a watering hole too.
Click to expand...

Yes definitely something to consider before adding to your pool. Thankfully my dog only gets as close to the water as pictured in my avatar. She likes running around following the robot but will never go in the water.

Salty
 
It took some hunting, but that pool proof stuff is 48% Disodium Octaborate Tetrahydrate which is..... Boric Acid. The rest is proprietary stuff. Which means don't add it. You don't know what it is, so you can;t know what it will do, so don't put it in your pool

Borates will stabilize your pH some, but that might not be a good thing if your refill water is high pH and alkalinity.

You can get silky water by adding salt instead. Just a thought.
 
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Based on the comments here I'm assuming it wouldn't be a good idea to add borates to a pool that small children use often? If its toxic to pets, it must be to children as well.

My 2 year old think its funny to pretend like he's drinking the pool water and then watch me squeal.
 
I put them in last year because my wife wanted the “silky smooth” feel of salt water and I had read that borates can mimic that. Second, the sparkly water was nice. And last, it was supposed to make maintenance slightly ‘easier’ with less need to mess with pH.

Those were all in the marketing materials for PoolProof and it suckered me in
 

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