May 9, 2016
17
Burlington, MA
Pool Size
25000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
After a 2015 season of pH fluctuations (adding about 3 lbs. per week), a new product at the local pool store caught my eye this year... Pepper. Does anyone have any thoughts/experience with this? Is it worth it trying? Any negative side effects? Is it just a new, well-marketed, bottle of junk?
 
They're being very secret-agent-ish about it. Only their dealers are allowed to access the MSDS database to see what's in it.

The rule of thumb at TFP is not to add anything to your pool unless you know what it is. What if there's some copper in that stuff? Do you want your kids to have green hair?

From the glowing description of the benefits and the dosing instructions, I suspect it's just overpriced repackaged Borax, which is why they want the pH low to start with.

If your pH is rising at an annoying rate, there has to be a reason. High TA? Too much aeration? High TA fill water and a lot of splashout?

Post up some test results and tell us about your equipment and we'll see if we can't sort things out. If you have high TA and a spillover spa and a SWG, constant pH rise is to be expected. Have you been adding baking soda -- I mean, Alkalinity Increaser -- to maintain some arbitrary pool-store-suggested level?

Figure out the cause of the pH rise, fix that, and then if you want, add Borates to stabilize the pH and add some sparkle and algaestatic properties. Borates - Why and How
 
Is it just a new, well-marketed, bottle of junk?

About sums it up.

What people need to understand about pool chemistry is this - there's nothing new under the sun! All new pool chemicals are basically just repackaged and marketed versions of basic chemicals that have been around for decades. There is no "magic formulation" of any pool chemical that is suddenly going to make pool care any easier. There is literally nothing new to pool chemistry that hasn't already been known for decades...

So if you see some bottle of powder or pills or pucks or sticks, it's just a different form of the same stuff you can buy more cheaply elsewhere. You are literally just paying for the fancy packaging....
 
Thank you all. I like that rule of thumb about not adding anything to the water unless you know what is in the bottle! If my pH becomes an annoyance again this season I may lean on you folks again to assist.
 
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