Boric acid Time?

[Derb22]

Re: Original thread on lowering TA and adding in the deep end answered

Texas Splash,
thanks for the response.
I liked the properties of borates and what it could conceivably bring to the pool. The Ph rise wasn’t unmanageable since adding the swg but it was there. It climbed over a couple of weeks from 7.4 - 7.8. Not horrible but I loved the thought of having the ph buffer in both directions, as well as softer water and possible more brilliant. I still haven’t found a down side to adding it. My TA level (pool company level) when I started was somewhere north of 90 but not above a 100. Not really so much their fault as I just switched this spring to the SWG.
IT was an interesting experiment lower TA and spot on what the threads and advice were on here.

Tonight I added 55 lbs of Boric Acid which will be around 40 Ppm I have 10 more but am going to wait a couple of days to add and drop test the results. Ph is a little low but I am assuming I can keep aeration going or just wait for the swg to aid in rising ph. Alternatively I have a box of mule team 20 but I don’t want to raise TA after working my tail off the last few days getting it to 60.
Oh. And I do have a 10 year old and 16 year old and the house will be party central this summer. On occasions I will be unable to oversee the pool on a daily basis and I am hope I g this will help keep piece of mind over a few days.

As of tonight before I added the Boric Acid

FC - 5.5
Ph - 7.0
Ta - 60
CYA - 75
CH - 350
salt 3500
now should have a BA - 40.

 

[Texas Splash]

Re: Original thread on lowering TA and adding in the deep end answered

Not horrible but I loved the thought of having the ph buffer in both directions, as well as softer water and possible more brilliant.

Fair enough. Thanks for clarifying. Your numbers above look very good. Enjoy the water.

 

[Derb22]

Re: Original thread on lowering TA and adding in the deep end answered

This has been a great forum for me. Many many hours of reading and I must admit to being clueless a couple of months ago. (New house and first new pool to me since late last summer)
Now thanks to this sight I am phasing out my pool service and feel really comfortable that I can manage most of the issues. And if not I know where to find good help!

 

[ping]

Re: Ta level seems stuck.

Get the pH back up to 7.5 before adding boric acid. And then maintain the pH in the 7.5-7.8 range.

Yes, I did mean having a lower TA earlier. I fixed it above to avoid confusing someone else.

 

[Derb22]

Final numbers two evenings after Boric Acid addition.

This was a fun and informative project
final numbers stack up like this.
Started at:
FC - 6.5
TA - 90 plus
CYA - 40
PH 7.8

after adding CA to raise CYA then multiple rounds of lower PH and TA with MA then aeration to raise PH.........

Final numbers after adding 55 Lbs of Boric Acid and waiting 48 hours:
FC - 6.0
TA - 70
CYA - 70
PH 7.4

Special thanks to all the experts who helped me through this project. I haven’t had a chance to really see if I can tell the difference but will report back on my thoughts in a few days. Looking at the pool tonight there is a difference in the shimmer from the LED light but I’m not sure I could qualitatively define it. Perhaps the way to say it is that it looks more liquid.