Need PH help with Borax!!!

[NWMNMom]

Posted some info other places but I really need to know before this gets to causing damage - how much Borax to raise PH? Do not need ALK raised so not using soda ash - the bleach calc program only gives borax info for algaecide purposes and does not address just the ph. Mine is falling fast, alk is always too high 160 now, so don't want to go there wish soda ash. Yes, I can put a fountain in there to lower alk and PH will go up too, but that is a time consuming thing and the alk does not bother me as much as the huge ph drop. I am worried about damage to the liner, etc. Help help!

 

[JasonLion]

Actually, aerating raises PH while leaving the alkalinity alone. Raising PH in any other way will raise the alkalinity somewhat at the same time. Of course when the PH went down the alkalinity went down as well, and borax just reverses that while soda ash raises the alkalinity a bit extra.

You can figure out qualtaties using my Pool Calculator, see the link in my signature.

 

[chem geek]

Also the rule of thumb is that it takes twice as much 20 Mule Team Borax by weight as it does pH Up / Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda / Sodium Carbonate to raise pH. So you can just see the amount of sodium carbonate from BleachCalc and then double that weight. Of course, using the online calculator mentioned is certainly the easiest thing to do.

 

[NWMNMom]

Ok, thanks all! Here's what we think has happened with the PH - remember my constant whining about rain? You may have guessed, we think the rain is very acid. The systems have been cycling in from the northeast RIGHT from the main area of paper mills less than 100 miles north. The rain and water is well known to be quite acid there. We have had our cover on so there was no rain hitting water aeration going on - ph did not go up but down due to the acidic rain (now over 15" since May) Normally we get the average rain systems that move in from the west or swest, but this year is downright STRANGE for weather.

My Alk did not come down much though hate to say - it still sits at 200ppm as of yesterday - go figure. I DID have it down to 180 when we used the dry acid last month and moved the return to the top of the water to counteract that ph from dropping too low, but it took some time.

Anyway, using the link in Jason's post, I added the Borax as noted. This morning we have creeped up to 7.2, good news. Just before dumping in it had gone even lower than my prior post which was before the rain (again!) - Global Warming? I don't know but whatever it is, it is NOT good for my pool this year. Thanks again.

 

[NWMNMom]

Ok, thanks all! Here's what we think has happened with the PH - remember my constant whining about rain? You may have guessed, we think the rain is very acid. The systems have been cycling in from the northeast RIGHT from the main area of paper mills less than 100 miles north. The rain and water is well known to be quite acid there. We have had our cover on so there was no rain hitting water aeration going on - ph did not go up but down due to the acidic rain (now over 15" since May) Normally we get the average rain systems that move in from the west or swest, but this year is downright STRANGE for weather.

My Alk did not come down much though hate to say - it still sits at 200ppm as of yesterday - go figure. I DID have it down to 180 when we used the dry acid last month and moved the return to the top of the water to counteract that ph from dropping too low, but it took some time.

Anyway, using the link in Jason's post, I added the Borax as noted. This morning we have creeped up to 7.2, good news. Just before dumping in it had gone even lower than my prior post which was before the rain (again!) - Global Warming? I don't know but whatever it is, it is NOT good for my pool this year. Thanks again.