For every gallon of muriatic acid you can instead use 172 oz (just under 11 lbs) of dry acid.
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JL beat me...but our numbers agree:
Multiply the result the poolcalulator gives you for needed Muriatic acid by 1.3 and add that amount of dry acid. Example: if poolcalulator says you need 100 oz of MA, then you need ~ 135 oz by weight of dry acid ( or multiply poolcalculator MA level by 0.9 for dry acid by volume). These ratios are approximations, but will be close.marlenec592 said:
Added borates today (via boric acid)
Numbers pre-addition:
CYA: 70
FC: 5
pH: 7.5
TA: 70
CH: 340
Salt: 3000
After adding I didn't run a full battery of tests, but I checked the pH and it only dropped to about 7.4
The water does seem clearer. I didn't really notice a different feel, but maybe it's more pronounced for non salt pools. I did note a very mild metallic taste to the water, but nothing offensive.
Numbers pre-addition:
CYA: 70
FC: 5
pH: 7.5
TA: 70
CH: 340
Salt: 3000
After adding I didn't run a full battery of tests, but I checked the pH and it only dropped to about 7.4
The water does seem clearer. I didn't really notice a different feel, but maybe it's more pronounced for non salt pools. I did note a very mild metallic taste to the water, but nothing offensive.
stoney65
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stoney65
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At $1.00/ lb, that's still more expensive than 4lb boxes at Walmart at $3.38/ box.exceltoexcel said:
Whew! !!!! Done! Guess I'll have to work on getting my cya down. Since I'm out of r-0013 reagent, guess I'll take a sample to leslies to see if it's any different than their last of 40. Will dumping half my water and refilling also lower my TA which is holding fast at 130 after increasing pH using 20mt borax? pH is currently at 7.4.
- Jun 14, 2012
- 2,668
- Pool Size
- 13500
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool Edge-40
I think this will be lost in this thread. I suggest you post it as its own topic.stoney65 said:
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Not sure if this has been asked or not. But, in theory, you could do this over time correct? I have just gone through a relatively expensive pool opening while on a shoe string budget. I say relative because I have a young family and we just purchased our first house, so for us the ~ $300 to open the pool was a large expense, albeit very worth it, and down right cheap thanks to the BBB method!
I ask, because it would be much more affordable, over time, for me to put in the borax and adjust pH with muriatic. If my math is correct, for my 24,000 gallon pool I will need 90lbs of 20 mule team, and just under 6 gallons of Muriatic Acid. I could more easily sneak a few boxes here and there on random Wal-Mart trips, and a gallon of Muriatic here and there on random trips to Lowe's.
Thoughts? Can this be done well stretched over the season? Or are you better off doing it all in one sitting?
I ask, because it would be much more affordable, over time, for me to put in the borax and adjust pH with muriatic. If my math is correct, for my 24,000 gallon pool I will need 90lbs of 20 mule team, and just under 6 gallons of Muriatic Acid. I could more easily sneak a few boxes here and there on random Wal-Mart trips, and a gallon of Muriatic here and there on random trips to Lowe's.
Thoughts? Can this be done well stretched over the season? Or are you better off doing it all in one sitting?
You can certainly do it over time if you want to. Just note that water dilution may make the rate of borates rise somewhat less than you calculate.
I'm about to add borates to my pool for the first time and I have a quick question regarding lowering the TA.
My TA is currently at about 80-90 (slightly pink at 8 drops, fully pink at 9 drops, so what, about 85ppm?)
How important is it for me to lower my TA to 70? This is my first season with BBB so I don't really know if my TA changes over time. If I add borates and acid now with my TA at ~80 what sort of problems can I expect later?
FC: 8
CC: 0
pH: 7.2
TA: 80ish
CH: 240
CYA: 20 (but I just added acid so that should be going up this week)
I'm doing bleach this season although if that becomes unwieldy I'll probably switch back to pucks. I've lowered pH to 7.2 (and it's been steady for a few days now) while I shock but the water is clear, I'm just doing the overnight FC test until I get less than 1ppm change overnight which should be tonight.
Thanks everyone!
My TA is currently at about 80-90 (slightly pink at 8 drops, fully pink at 9 drops, so what, about 85ppm?)
How important is it for me to lower my TA to 70? This is my first season with BBB so I don't really know if my TA changes over time. If I add borates and acid now with my TA at ~80 what sort of problems can I expect later?
FC: 8
CC: 0
pH: 7.2
TA: 80ish
CH: 240
CYA: 20 (but I just added acid so that should be going up this week)
I'm doing bleach this season although if that becomes unwieldy I'll probably switch back to pucks. I've lowered pH to 7.2 (and it's been steady for a few days now) while I shock but the water is clear, I'm just doing the overnight FC test until I get less than 1ppm change overnight which should be tonight.
Thanks everyone!
Welcome to TFP! 
It's not the TA, but the pH that you'd want to see if it tends to rise over time. I wouldn't worry about the TA being 80 ppm instead of 70 ppm. If you want to add the borates you can. If you then wanted to lower the TA later, you can still do that -- it just takes more acid to lower the pH so that aeration works to remove carbon dioxide out of the water.
However, if you don't have a saltwater chlorine generator and you don't find that your pH is rising too quickly, then you probably don't need to add borates. They are an option, not a requirement.
It's not the TA, but the pH that you'd want to see if it tends to rise over time. I wouldn't worry about the TA being 80 ppm instead of 70 ppm. If you want to add the borates you can. If you then wanted to lower the TA later, you can still do that -- it just takes more acid to lower the pH so that aeration works to remove carbon dioxide out of the water.
However, if you don't have a saltwater chlorine generator and you don't find that your pH is rising too quickly, then you probably don't need to add borates. They are an option, not a requirement.
SkyKid
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Do you have to wait a certain amount of time before swimming
For example if I add borates in the morning can I swim in the afternoon
Just trying to reassure my wife that it's ok to add borates to the pool
For example if I add borates in the morning can I swim in the afternoon
Just trying to reassure my wife that it's ok to add borates to the pool
The chemicals mix quickly assuming you have decent circulation in the pool. You should be able to use the pool within an hour at most. In pools with good circulation, it would be less than that. If you add the chemicals (either boric acid or a separately added combination of borax and acid) over a return flow in the deep end and brush the pool in the area where you add the chemical, it should be well mixed.
SkyKid
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If it helps anyone, I have a huge pool so I was looking into boric acid as 46 boxes of borax and a whole lot of muriac acid would be a bit much to handle. I bought 150lbs of granular boric acid here:
http://www.farmerboyag.com/fly-insect-c ... d-50lb.asp
And it ended up costing me $246.04 shipped fedex freight or $1.64/lb.
http://www.farmerboyag.com/fly-insect-c ... d-50lb.asp
And it ended up costing me $246.04 shipped fedex freight or $1.64/lb.
Any idea of what grade it is? The price is good, but the freight seems steep to me ($109)?crimedog said:
I wish they would give you a price for shipping without having to go through creating an account. I would only need 1 bag, which is about $45. That is not too bad, but I don't know about shipping.
How long do we have to wait to swim, after adding the Borax and Muriatic Acid? The water is beautiful! I did check the PH and TA even though it has only been about 12 hours since I added it. They are both extremely high. Will this come down in the next couple of days?
I followed waterbear`s instructions to a T. I pre-lowered my TA from 100 to 75 to 80 range with muriatic acid, PH dropped to 7.2 I aerated for 22 hours PH at 7.5 and applied 10.3 boxes of Borax and 3 gallons muriatic acid then waited 48 hours done my testing parameters on target.
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