What is borate?

[pooldog]

Just wondering,,is borate level the same as PH level?..just bought some borate insta-test strips
to add to my taylor test kit...what should my borate level read?....THANKS....

 

[miller9951]

Waterbear posted a great sticky on how to add borates to your pool and also the pros and cons of doing so. Here is a link to the sticky

http://www.troublefreepool.com/viewtopi ... ht=borates

Hope this helps,
Eddie

 

[Guest]

Just wondering,,is borate level the same as PH level?..just bought some borate insta-test strips
to add to my taylor test kit...what should my borate level read?....THANKS....

Borates are one of the chemicals we can add to a pool, often in the form of borax. Borax is often used to raise the pH when used in small amounts but large amounts of borax which is sodium tetraborate decahydrate have other positive effects on pool chemistry that are outlined in the sticky that miller9951 metioned.
If you have not put any borates in your pool then you should have 0 ppm. If you have used borax to raise your pH you might show a trace but not much. It might not even register on the borate strip.
If you want to add borates for all the benefits, either with borax or a commercial borate product like Proteam Supreme Plus or Poollife Endure then you want them between 30-50 ppm for a chlorine pool. 50 ppm is better.

 

[pooldog]

Big THANKS for all the info. :-D