Adding Boric Acid to 50ppm

[djpool21]

I'm planning on adding Boric Acid granules to our pool and testing with LaMotte strips. Should the addition of boric acid and testing be done in steps to reach 50ppm to avoid overshooting like with the addition of salt and CYA? The pool has 0 borates now.

Our pool is 27040 gallons and pool math shows to add 65 pounds to reach 50ppm. Should I just get the 55 pound boric acid bucket at Duda Diesel and shoot for 43ppm per pool math or buy another 10 pounds and reach 50ppm? Is 43ppm close enough to the 50ppm target given the inaccuracy of the testing method? Thanks.

 

[ajw22]

43ppm versus 50ppm you will never know the difference and can’t test that precisely anyway.

Get borates in anywhere around 50 ppm and move on.

Make sure you enter it in PoolMath

Borates in pool - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[djpool21]

Thanks. Should I spread all 55 pounds at once or in steps and test in between?

 

[ajw22]

How confident are you on your pool volume?

Overshooting on borates has no ill effects.

I would dump it all in and move on. Whatever level your borates are will be fine.

Let us know if you see any real change with your borates versus perceived change because you know you changed something.

 

[November Cadet]

I'm planning on adding Boric Acid granules to our pool and testing with LaMotte strips. Should the addition of boric acid and testing be done in steps to reach 50ppm to avoid overshooting like with the addition of salt and CYA? The pool has 0 borates now.

Our pool is 27040 gallons and pool math shows to add 65 pounds to reach 50ppm. Should I just get the 55 pound boric acid bucket at Duda Diesel and shoot for 43ppm per pool math or buy another 10 pounds and reach 50ppm? Is 43ppm close enough to the 50ppm target given the inaccuracy of the testing method? Thanks.

That’s basically the same size pool I have and am debating on the 55 gallon bucket or 2 55 gallon buckets and have some left over.
what did you end up doing?
somewhere else on this sight someone was saying as long as it’s below 100 ppm it poses no risk to house pets.

 

[djpool21]

I went with (1) 55 pound bucket of granular boric acid from Duda Diesel. The pool had 0 borates when I started, and 1 day after spreading borates measured 50 with the LaMotte strips. I'm very happy with the outcome and it was a simple job. The boric acid quickly dissolved and required only light brushing.

I've only had the boric acid in about 4-5 days and here's what I've noticed so far:
I'm tracking PH rise daily and it's too soon to say if it slowed. This is the main reason I added borates.
Water clarity improved and is excellent, and it was already very clear before adding the acid.
Water sparkles or glistens in the sun when running bubblers, waterfall, general water motion.
Water feels slightly silkier, but not a major improvement.
After getting out of the pool and drying off skin feels better than without borates.

 

[November Cadet]

I went with (1) 55 pound bucket of granular boric acid from Duda Diesel. The pool had 0 borates when I started, and 1 day after spreading borates measured 50 with the LaMotte strips. I'm very happy with the outcome and it was a simple job. The boric acid quickly dissolved and required only light brushing.

I've only had the boric acid in about 4-5 days and here's what I've noticed so far:
I'm tracking PH rise daily and it's too soon to say if it slowed. This is the main reason I added borates.
Water clarity improved and is excellent, and it was already very clear before adding the acid.
Water sparkles or glistens in the sun when running bubblers, waterfall, general water motion.
Water feels slightly silkier, but not a major improvement.
After getting out of the pool and drying off skin feels better than without borates.

thank you for the great detail! I’m ordering 75lbs, adding in 65lbs. the main reason I’m doing it is for the ph control. With all the water features, I can go from 7.2 to 8.2 in 2 days.