Dissolving Borax is Challenging/Any Other Forms To Increase pH

[Mendy48]

I've been struggling with dissolving borax for an hour... I have to get my pH to 7.4 and I need to dissolve about 121oz of borax (just opened my pool).

Now I'm dissolving my borax little at a time... no more than 32 oz in a bowl. However, dissolving is such a difficult task.

Does anyone have any tips on how I can dissolve this borax or any tips on other liquid chemicals out there that I can substitute as borax?

I was finally able to get 32oz of dissolved borax in my pool tonight. I'm done for today.

But any advise will be much appreciated.

 

[mknauss]

According to your PoolMath logs, your pH was 6,8 and TA 60. Better would have been to add 20 ppm worth of baking soda and aerate.

From Pool School -- Borax is best added by pre-dissolving it in a bucket of water and then pouring that slowly in front of a return.
Use a bucket (5 gallons). Not a bowl. More water the better.

 

[Mendy48]

Is baking soda and borax the same thing? And adding baking soda also increase my TA?

 

[mknauss]

No, they are not the same thing.
Baking Soda will raise the TA and not have much effect on the pH. But aeration will drive the pH up.
Borax is a pretty big hammer to raise the pH if you only need to move it a little bit.

 

[Mendy48]

Okay! So I've added about 32oz of Borax....I think I'll leave it as that and see where my pH falls before I add some more

Do I need to increase my TA. I think I'm within target. Not sure, but that's what my app says. Any advise?

 

[mknauss]

You can leave the TA. It is in range.
I was just suggesting that if you raised it a little, with aeration, pH would rise.
But wait to see if the borax got your pH into the 7's.

 

[Mendy48]

Ok! I'll do that. Thanks for the advise.

 

[Mendy48]

Interesting...since I like my pH a bit tighter than 7.0-7.2, I went ahead and added some borax...and I just figured out a way to dissolve borax without straining my neck or pulling my hair out. LOL. I dissolve little by little at time and near the pool; in warm water (in a bowl or bucket). I don't try to dissolve the entire oz that I'm trying to dissolve - all in one shot. Instead I pour it little at a time and eventually they all dissolve ... maybe little particles here and there, but its dissolved.

Finally Ive found a way that works for me.