Getting ready to add borates!

[keithpgdrb]

Hi all, I've got all the stuff to add borates to the pool on order. having researched, couple questions.

I am adding boric acid to the pool. my ph is currently about 7.5. we've had bad weather recently so I havent been able to run the fountains overnight to bring the PH up to 7.6-7.8 where I like to keep it. my question is this.

1. should I bring the ph up to 7.8 because the boric acid will make it drop a bit? It is my understanding that ph is more difficult to change after adding the borates.

2. I saw the recommendation to bring the TA to the low part of the recommended range before adding borates. I did not think that adding the borates did anything to the TA. OR, is this the difference between the Boric acid vs borax method? My TA is currently at 70.

These are two things that have eluded me in my reading.

So, my current plan is to add the full amount of boric acid to the pool with a starting PH of about 7.8-7.9. if the boric acid brings the ph down by 2-3 points, I should be ok. what say you?

 

[PoolStored]

1. should I bring the ph up to 7.8 because the boric acid will make it drop a bit? It is my understanding that ph is more difficult to change after adding the borates.

2. I saw the recommendation to bring the TA to the low part of the recommended range before adding borates. I did not think that adding the borates did anything to the TA. OR, is this the difference between the Boric acid vs borax method? My TA is currently at 70.

These are two things that have eluded me in my reading.

So, my current plan is to add the full amount of boric acid to the pool with a starting PH of about 7.8-7.9. if the boric acid brings the ph down by 2-3 points, I should be ok. what say you?

Why do you want to add Borates?

 

[keithpgdrb]

Why do you want to add Borates?

My ph tends to drift up. Especially when I use my water feature. And I like the sound of the other benefits.

 

[PoolStored]

1. should I bring the ph up to 7.8 because the boric acid will make it drop a bit? It is my understanding that ph is more difficult to change after adding the borates.

VERY true.

Your plan is fine. I would tend toward 7.9 to keep your CSI up...

 

[kne]

Your plan is fine. I would tend toward 7.9 to keep your CSI up...

Hypothetically speaking. If when getting ready to add borates one's PH level was dark pink (off the comparators level), would you add Muriatic Acid to bring it down first, or add the B's and after add more acid if needed.

 

[PoolStored]

Hypothetically speaking. If when getting ready to add borates one's PH level was dark pink (off the comparators level), would you add Muriatic Acid to bring it down first, or add the B's and after add more acid if needed.

If you add the borates, you will add MANY more gallons of MA to lower pH because you just buffered pH with Borates.

Do you know your CSI? You need to understand CSI and how it works...and target an ending pH that keeps your CSI on the low end so you don't scale your SWG.

When you add borates, it will lower your pH. Use effects of adding to see how much. Use that and your starting pH to calculate ending pH, then use that to see what your CSI will be before adding Borates.

 

[keithpgdrb]

I will admit that I do not understand CSI. mine is within the recommended level via pool math. -0.05. I will read up on it.

 

[keithpgdrb]

did a little reading. it seems my current level of -.05 is pretty much neutral, which is where I want to be I believe. My last measurements are as follows. My CH has been slowly drifting down since I switched to tweaking with liquid chlorine last summer. before I discovered TFP, I was throwing at least a pound of bagged shock in the pool weekly as maintenance. not realizing I was adding Calcium every time I did it.

FC 6.5 (I try to keep it about 7)
CC .5
TA 70
PH 7.6
CH 550
CYA 50 (or somewhere in there. I cant read that test)
Temp 82
salt 3600
borates, none yet.

 

[kne]

borates, none yet.

did you ever add the borates? I've been working on getting my TA level down, and will probably add after that happens. If you added, have you seen any difference?

 

[keithpgdrb]

Have t done the borates yet. I need a day to bring up my ph, and haven’t had a free moment. I want to bring the ph up to 7.9 or 8 before I add.

 

[keithpgdrb]

My ph didn’t go up as far as I wanted. But I was sick of waiting. Added 30 lbs of boric acid just now. Should put my borates at about 40, and only lower the ph by .2. So that sounds good to me. I will report back after I test the water in a couple hours.

 

[PoolStored]

40 is fine for your borate level.

Why are you lowering pH? Borates you added will lower pH by .2. You will likely want to raise your pH after the addition of borates if you didn't get them up to 7.8 or 8 before addition.

 

[keithpgdrb]

Well. Did a quick test if the ph. And it dropped to 7.4. Not too thrilled with that. Still need to test to see what the actual borate level is. I weighed it out correctly I thought. Don’t know why it dropped so much. Should have dropped to 7.6. Didn’t want to have to try to raise it. Ugh. I’ll test again in a little bit. Not dealing with it right now.

 

[keithpgdrb]

40 is fine for your borate level.

Why are you lowering pH? Borates you added will lower pH by .2. You will likely want to raise your pH after the addition of borates if you didn't get them up to 7.8 or 8 before addition.

I didn’t want to lower my pH. I wanted to get it up to about 7.8 or nine but it stopped about 7.7-8. So I added the amount that I did because it was supposed to drop it by .2. I may have f’ed up. I should have waited. Now I need to raise it.

 

[PoolStored]

It is all ok, just use pool math to figure out how much 20 mule team borax to add to raise the pH. Make sure you put in your Borates level of 40, because with borates it will take more than usual to raise pH with Borates in the pool.

 

[keithpgdrb]

It is all ok, just use pool math to figure out how much 20 mule team borax to add to raise the pH. Make sure you put in your Borates level of 40, because with borates it will take more than usual to raise pH with Borates in the pool.

I have some old sodium carbonate ph increaser that I’ve never used. Is that the same as soda ash?

Also, I will test my actual borate level in a bit to make sure it’s actually at the 40 level. Then do the ph thing.

Does the borax require me to adjust another chemical?

 

[PoolStored]

I have some old sodium carbonate ph increaser that I’ve never used. Is that the same as soda ash?

Yes. Same as washing soda. I would not use it, your TA is fine and it will raise your TA. Use 20 mule team borax.

Does the borax require me to adjust another chemical?

No

 

[keithpgdrb]

Ok. Did a test more carefully.
FC 5.5. It’s been open all morning. I’ll adjust it.
CC .5
TA 70
PH 7.5
CH 525
CYA 50ish
Bor 40
Csi -0.17

Looks like if I just adjust the ph to 7.6 I might be good.

 

[keithpgdrb]

Borax added. Holding my breath.

 

[keithpgdrb]

PH seems to be holding well at 7.6-7, Although my TA went up to 80. Not thrilled about that. Was it the borax that raised my TA? I’m going to leave it for now because it’s still in the safe zone. But it’s been a solid 70 all last season and this.