Adding borates after shocking

[Kelleyaynn]

I just shocked my pool for mustard algae. Luckily I was able to be home all day yesterday, so I started the process Monday afternoon, and all day Tuesday checked the FC every hour and a half or so, and added chlorine as needed to bring the FC up to mustard algae shock level. Brushed, brushed, brushed, and cleaned everything. Must have worked okay, because I did an FC overnight loss test and it came back no loss of chlorine! So today I let the chlorine level start coming down. MA shock FC was 27, and it's currently at 15.5 ppm. I'm not sure I did things completely correctly when I shocked at opening, so I want to make sure I don't mess up this time.

At what FC level can we a) go swimming again, and b) should I adjust the pH and retest all other parameters?

Once everything is balanced again (which should be tomorrow or the next day), I'm going to add my boric acid (hoping to avoid a repeat of the mustard algae problem). From what I've read in the thread on adding borates, I know I can add all of the boric acid at one time, and brush my pool to help mix it in. How long until we can swim in it? I know I saw the answer somewhere in that 18 page thread, but I can't find it again.

Thanks again for all your help. This site is the BEST! :-D

 

[Butterfly]

I just shocked my pool for mustard algae. Luckily I was able to be home all day yesterday, so I started the process Monday afternoon, and all day Tuesday checked the FC every hour and a half or so, and added chlorine as needed to bring the FC up to mustard algae shock level. Brushed, brushed, brushed, and cleaned everything. Must have worked okay, because I did an FC overnight loss test and it came back no loss of chlorine! So today I let the chlorine level start coming down. MA shock FC was 27, and it's currently at 15.5 ppm. I'm not sure I did things completely correctly when I shocked at opening, so I want to make sure I don't mess up this time.

At what FC level can we a) go swimming again, and b) should I adjust the pH and retest all other parameters?
You can swim when the FC is at or below normal shock level based on the CYA level. The pH should still be fine if you tested/adjusted it prior to shocking. When the FC drops below 10, you can accurately retest the pH.

Once everything is balanced again (which should be tomorrow or the next day), I'm going to add my boric acid (hoping to avoid a repeat of the mustard algae problem). From what I've read in the thread on adding borates, I know I can add all of the boric acid at one time, and brush my pool to help mix it in. How long until we can swim in it? I know I saw the answer somewhere in that 18 page thread, but I can't find it again.
What? Only 18 pages? Here's what Jason said in another thread:

JasonLion wrote:
Wait at least an hour after the borates addition with the pump running, then test the PH. If the PH is between 7.2 and 7.8 you can swim. After 24 hours, test the PH again before swimming. Regardless of what the PH is now, test it again 48 hours after the borate addition and adjust as needed at that point.

Thanks again for all your help. This site is the BEST! :-D