is Borax the same as Pool Conditioner

[denisrenepl]

May I ask, why do people add Borax to their pools then????

 

[chem geek]

In smaller quantities, one can add 20 Mule Team Borax to raise the pH with only half the rise in TA compared to using pH Up (soda ash). In larger quantities and pH balanced by also adding acid (or one can use boric acid instead of borax and not need any significant pH adjustment), borates help slow down the rate of pH rise, add sparkle to the water, and are a mild algicide.

 

[denisrenepl]

In smaller quantities, one can add 20 Mule Team Borax to raise the pH with only half the rise in TA compared to using pH Up (soda ash). In larger quantities and pH balanced by also adding acid (or one can use boric acid instead of borax and not need any significant pH adjustment), borates help slow down the rate of pH rise, add sparkle to the water, and are a mild algicide.

I am so sorry... but I did not understand a single sentence from you answer... thats how much I know about pools. I read the Pool School 2 times, but I still dont understand. People keep mentioning weird names, and abbreviations. I am sorry, but I still dont understand a single thing.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Try reading the abc's of pool water chemistry and then ask more questions if that does not help.

 

[Speedo]

I am so sorry... but I did not understand a single sentence from you answer... thats how much I know about pools. I read the Pool School 2 times, but I still dont understand. People keep mentioning weird names, and abbreviations. I am sorry, but I still dont understand a single thing.

It takes time to learn things. If you visit daily and read the new posts after a while you will start to get the big picture. At first you will think nothing is sticking, but after a few weeks you will start to realize you've been picking up bits of information the entire time.

He is saying these "subs" are really often the same chemicals packaged differently not different at all as the poll implies.

Exactly

Oh I see the point Borax is not a "sub" But is the same thing BUT from a different source!

I get it. Thanks!

Yep


pH increaser

The active ingredient in our pH increaser is soda ash or sodium carbonate.

Soda ash is available as ARM & HAMMER® Super Washing Soda Detergent Booster. Do not confuse this with ARM & HAMMER® laundry detergent! It is sold in the laundry detergent section of most larger grocery stores and some big box stores. It is also sold by pool stores under various names, including pH Increaser, pH Up, Balance Pak 200, etc. Soda ash is best added by pre-dissolving it in a bucket of water and then pouring that slowly in front of a return.

• Bleach (sodium hypochlorite) is a chlorine source and can replace calcium hypochlorite (HTH™, etc.), 'tri-chlor' tabs or pucks, 'di-chlor', lithium hypochlorite, and so forth.
  
  [/*:m:rpnoo7p1]
• Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, and is exactly the same thing as 'Alkalinity Increaser', 'Alk-Up' or whatever. The food grade is ground a little finer than the industrial grade used in pools. But the chemical is identical.
  
  [/*:m:rpnoo7p1]
• Borax is sodium tetraborate pentahydrate (or decahydrate) is the primary ingredient of a patented pool aid and algistat. The patent is held by a company with multiple lawyers, so we won't mention names. So far as we can tell, if you don't intend to use it as an algistat, you aren't violating the patent. We don't recommend it for that purpose anyhow: it may work, but not well enough that we could ever tell a difference!
  
  It is a good pH buffer, though; that is, once you get your pH adjusted, borax tends to make it stay where it is. Unlike baking soda, which is also a buffer, once you add borax to a pool, it stays there. (The baking soda tends not to, or else to build up to excessive levels, for complicated reasons.)
  
  However, when you first add it, it will raise the pH a lot. For this reason, it's also superior chemical for raising pool pH. Use it instead of pH UP (sodium carbonate, soda ash). If you are having problems with your pool akalinity being too high, you should always use borax instead of convential pH increaser.[/*:m:rpnoo7p1]