theory on borates and algae from another website and TA ?'s

[JMarch]

On askalanaquestion.com, their explanation on how borates affect algae is that it reduces the amount of CO2 that the water can absorb and basically suffocates algae. The site was very limited about other benefits, but did recommend levels of 30-50 ppm.

With my new liner (in for about a month now), i haven't totally borated our pool- instead, I'm using trichlor in a chlorine feeder until my CYA gets to about 30-50, and then I intend to switch to cal hypo (not in the feeder tho- heard that's not good- can explode!). In the meantime, while my chlorine input is exclusively trichlor, I'm occasionally adjusting pH with borax.

Things I can tell so far about the benefits of borated water:

seems line smoother water
easy on the eyes
crystal clear
scum line is almost nonexistant (altho we haven't had a lot of sunscreen products introduced yet by bathers)

On the HTH test strips, my TA shows 120 (since the day we filled up the pool with tap water)- another reason for adjusting pH with borax instead of sodium carbonate (altho the borax will increase TA, but not as much as sod carb). Can I expect the CYA levels to help drop my TA any if I go light on the borax and just aerate (I've got a wall mounted fountain I can use)? Or to reduce TA, should I use MA and aerate.

This site ROCKS!!!!

jm

 

[257WbyMag]

CYA won't really affect your TA. The best way to lower TA is by acid additions and aeration.

 

[chem geek]

The part about borates reducing CO₂ and suffocating algae is just a bunch of bunk. The amount of carbon dioxide in the water is based on the amount of carbonates which is mostly what gets measured with TA and is also dependent on the pH. The borates have no effect on this (except for a very minor effect of ionic strength, but we're talking very minor).

 

[JMarch]

makes sense