Ready to Borate?

[floridarandy]

Greetings -

Long time believer and user of TFP and now ready to borate. 55lbs of Duda boric acid arrived yesterday. Just took Taylor K2006 readings:

FC 3.0
CC 0.0
Ph 7.8
TA 90
CH 330
CYA 50

Do these appear inline to go ahead and do the boric acid dump? Lamotte, Insta-Test Borate Test Strips, 3017-G arrive next week so I'll start with the 756 oz calculated in PoolMath for our 19,500 gallon marcite pool.

Thanks

Floridarandy

 

[basod]

Small amounts at a time and retest pH & TA until borate test strips arrive

 

[nlindelldc]

Boric acid has never affected my TA or my PH. If you are confident of your pool size (gallons), you can use PoolMath to get your borates to 50. It was incredibly accurate for me. Just dump the boric acid in and sweep it around. It'll all be dissolved in less than 10 minutes (for me anyway)

You might have to go slower and test, etc. using only borax and then acid. But I have found the boric acid from DudaDiesel to be well balanced and not affect any of my other numbers

 

[pooldv]

Normally, it is better for TA to be lower. Is your PH stable at 7.8?

 

[chiefwej]

If you are adding borates to help stabilize pH, you may want to lower the TA before borating. Lowering it after will be much more difficult.

 

[floridarandy]

Lower TA best by MA?


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[chiefwej]

Lowering TA is a process. It requires acid and aeration and takes some time. Do a bit of searching and you will find directions.

 

[pooldv]

I happen to have the link right here, Pool School - Lower Total Alkalinity

 

[floridarandy]

What is the optimum target TA before adding borates?

 

[pooldv]

It is usually 60-70. The real goal is for your PH to be relatively stable and not rise too quickly. So, we recommend lowering TA in steps of 10 and waiting to see how stable the PH is. If it still rises quickly then lower 10 more.

 

[floridarandy]

Good advice. I'll wait on the borates until I can get the TA down. I bought aerator today to use in helping raise pH as TA comes down.


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[floridarandy]

We're borated! Added 38 pounds Duda Boric Acid this afternoon. Prior to addition:

TA: 65
Ph: 7.6
4
Post addition:

TA: 65
Ph 7.4

Borates by test strip show 30+. Will wait for tomorrow to test again. Obvious variable is gallons of pool. Will add in small 1 lb levels if still at 30+ until test strips show 50.

Because of all the close monitoring of TFP levels pool is as beautiful as its ever been.

QUESTION: Pump currently running at 11 hrs/day. What might a lower pump run time be with 50 Borate?

Thanks.

 

[pooldv]

Most folks split it up for better skimming. 2-3 hours AM and 2-3 hours PM. If the pool is clean shorten the time if it isn't increase it.