Good morning,
I looked through borate posts and could not find someone with this problem, so wanted to pick any brains with ideas.
A month back I added borates to my pool, using Natural Chemistry's "Foundation". I added until I got to a level of 50 ppm
My pool was resurfaced last year with River Rock, and I use bleach for chlorine, baking soda for PH, and the pool is pretty much trouble free, easy to maintain, and I didn't have a spec or smear of algae in the past year. Never even really had fluctuacting chemistry, my chlorine lasts long due to pool getting shade and I guess having little organics to kill. I had a typical PH rise for a few months as plaster cured, but that leveled and it all stays steady at these readings:
Chlorine- 5-6
CYA 35
Alk-80
PH-7.5-7.6
Cal-285
Phosphates - 0
Metals-0
I have a 60sq ft DE filter, 1.5 HP variable Raypack pump, and Polaris 380 with new pump. And a chlorinator.
I decided to add Borates for the "feel" of the water, both from swimming in friends pool who did it, and common sense from experience with what Borax does to laundry when you add to water. I also liked the idea of even more sparkling water, even though my water was clear all the time and shined.
So anyways I added the Foundation in stages, like you are supposed to with any chemical, and all went great. Actually wasn't even huge PH fluctuactions. For the pricing and convience, I thought was a great product. It does contain that phosphate remover Landantheium (Sp?) so I backwashed my filter after a day, then a few days after that. After a week my Borate level tested at 50ppm and has held there, I don't lose much water.
Well a week after that, so about two weeks post adding, I started getting green algae at the surface water tiles, top of steps, under the top tile in some spots, and a ring around the attached spa.
I brush 3-5 times a week and run cleaner daily even if not a lot of visible debris. I figure more circulation mix of water never hurts, and to keep the dirt and grit off my pebbles!
So I started shocking. Algae came back. I tried Bacquicil per instructions, it comes back. Basically with no other changes in my pool care except adding Borates, I now have an algae problem. Which is impossible in theory according to what it does, and with my other chemistry being good?? My filter has new grids at beginning of this season, and I opened filter anyways to see if they got clogged from the Landantheium stuff, or a hole somehow, or just any weirdness. Nothing. I don't have debris just sitting in pump strainer or pool strainers, I clean daily. There is no constant organic load on pool either of debris, and right now its usually only me or me and my son swimming.
Its annoying.
Anyone a lot smarter than me have any ideas?
I looked through borate posts and could not find someone with this problem, so wanted to pick any brains with ideas.
A month back I added borates to my pool, using Natural Chemistry's "Foundation". I added until I got to a level of 50 ppm
My pool was resurfaced last year with River Rock, and I use bleach for chlorine, baking soda for PH, and the pool is pretty much trouble free, easy to maintain, and I didn't have a spec or smear of algae in the past year. Never even really had fluctuacting chemistry, my chlorine lasts long due to pool getting shade and I guess having little organics to kill. I had a typical PH rise for a few months as plaster cured, but that leveled and it all stays steady at these readings:
Chlorine- 5-6
CYA 35
Alk-80
PH-7.5-7.6
Cal-285
Phosphates - 0
Metals-0
I have a 60sq ft DE filter, 1.5 HP variable Raypack pump, and Polaris 380 with new pump. And a chlorinator.
I decided to add Borates for the "feel" of the water, both from swimming in friends pool who did it, and common sense from experience with what Borax does to laundry when you add to water. I also liked the idea of even more sparkling water, even though my water was clear all the time and shined.
So anyways I added the Foundation in stages, like you are supposed to with any chemical, and all went great. Actually wasn't even huge PH fluctuactions. For the pricing and convience, I thought was a great product. It does contain that phosphate remover Landantheium (Sp?) so I backwashed my filter after a day, then a few days after that. After a week my Borate level tested at 50ppm and has held there, I don't lose much water.
Well a week after that, so about two weeks post adding, I started getting green algae at the surface water tiles, top of steps, under the top tile in some spots, and a ring around the attached spa.
I brush 3-5 times a week and run cleaner daily even if not a lot of visible debris. I figure more circulation mix of water never hurts, and to keep the dirt and grit off my pebbles!
So I started shocking. Algae came back. I tried Bacquicil per instructions, it comes back. Basically with no other changes in my pool care except adding Borates, I now have an algae problem. Which is impossible in theory according to what it does, and with my other chemistry being good?? My filter has new grids at beginning of this season, and I opened filter anyways to see if they got clogged from the Landantheium stuff, or a hole somehow, or just any weirdness. Nothing. I don't have debris just sitting in pump strainer or pool strainers, I clean daily. There is no constant organic load on pool either of debris, and right now its usually only me or me and my son swimming.
Its annoying.
Anyone a lot smarter than me have any ideas?