Boric acid in Canada? Alternatives?

[g3lo]

Hi,

what is the most convenient and cost effective way to get borates in your pool in Canada? I presume boric acid, where can I purchase it?

thank you kindly

 

[JoyfulNoise]

It really depends in other countries. There are some countries where, because boric acid is considered a pesticide, it is not for sale to the general public. Do you have 20 Mule Team Borax in your stores (laundry section)? If you do not have borax type cleaning products, then I think finding boric acid is highly unlikely. In the USA, many of us use Duda Diesel or The Chemistry Store for bulk chemicals.

 

[g3lo]

It really depends in other countries. There are some countries where, because boric acid is considered a pesticide, it is not for sale to the general public. Do you have 20 Mule Team Borax in your stores (laundry section)? If you do not have borax type cleaning products, then I think finding boric acid is highly unlikely. In the USA, many of us use Duda Diesel or The Chemistry Store for bulk chemicals.

Why such a large discrepancy between the prices of Duda and chemistry for boric acid? Also, which one do I need for my pool?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Granular boric acid, not the fine powdery stuff. The fine stuff will just float on the surface of the water and get blown around on the wind. Not sure why there's a big price difference. Everyone here usually uses Duda Diesel.

 

[g3lo]

Thank you. Would this be equivalent to Bioguard Optimizer Plus? Or does bioguard have added benefits than the Duda diesel boric acid?

 

[BattleOfYakima]

So you want to add borates to your pool--Why and How
so I believe the Bioguard Optimizer Plus is a sodium tetraborate pentahydrate based, closer to PH neutral way to get the borates up. Premium cost only because the addition of borates in a less impactful way to PH than Mule Team and customers not having to buy their pool chemicals from the detergent aisle. exclusively borate only product, no other benefits. Thrifty people will not pay the premium cost for the Bioguard plus if they have access to cheaper chemicals and the time to monitor ph.

As long as you have access to MA (ideal) or other PH lowering dry acid then the mule team is fine if you can find it.
Of course if you score the boric acid then it actually slightly drops PH, so you would just need to be prepared to use aeration or a PH up product you can find.

Not an expert on borates since I can't use them, but that's where my understanding is currently on them all.