Lowering TA - Borate level necessary?

[xray328]

Hey guys. Just starting a new agp.

I've filled the pool and turned on the pump.

So far I've come up with a pH of 7.6 and TA of 310. I'm trying to lower TA, so I'm trying to drop the pH to the required 7.0-7.2 before letting it come back up.

Three questions:

In the pool calculator in the pH section it's asking for the borate level in addition to the TA. The Taylor 2006 kit doesn't have a borate test. Is borate level necessary in this case?

If I just leave borate at zero can I still properly adjust pH?

After adding the acid how long do I wait to remeasure pH?

 

[Smykowski]

If you've never added borates to the pool ( and you obviously haven't :grin: ) then fill it in as 0 in the calculator. The reason it's asking: borates make it very difficult to move TA around. If you had borates the acid required would be different.

Wait about 45 min after dosing to test again.

 

[Richard320]

If you haven't added borax or boric acid, your level is zero. Enter that.

Allow at least half an hour of circulation after adding any chemical before retesting. Brushing helps mix it, too.

 

[xray328]

Got it, thanks. I wasn't sure if it was already in the tap water or not.

2 Gallons of 31.45% at Home Depot - $12.98

Looking at the chart that came with the kit I'm gonna need more than that.

To get a 100 ppm drop for 10,000 gallons I need the entire 2 gallons. We're at around 13,300 gallons and need a 230 ppm drop.

 

[jblizzle]

Make sure you read the article in Pool School about lowering TA. Just want to make sure you do not try to add all the acid at once ... it is a process.

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