Starting Borax after shocking the @#$%^ out of pool - 2 ?'s

[DARaynor]

Hello,

Been adding a box of Borax a day for five days, sort of hedging bets until my Borax test strips came in... A little over 15 (maybe 18) right now. 24.5k gallon pool (so says builder but my calculations last week on clorine loss says about 27k...) So...

1. How much more Borax should I add?

2. While getting to perfect via Pool School etc., now I need to ask if I can use pool water to water my plants... That is how I used to do it, maybe 3-4 buckets a day on the planters. Thought to "turn" the water at least a little that way.

Massive evaporation now w/100 degrees every day here in Austin.

Recovering from very cloudy water, getting clear.

Thanks!

 

[monkeywrench]

Re: Starting Borax after shocking the @#$%^ out of pool - 2

Greetings, Borax is used to raise the level of ph in your water if you have add five boxes of borax to your water stop right now! If your trying to raise the level of chlorine in the water we suggest using bleach.
You didn't mention what type of problem your trying to overcome or what your intention was for all the borax. If you can explain your situation with a little more clarity, TFP can help with the water clarity. Please write back and explain your situation before you add anything more to your water

jb

 

[DARaynor]

Re: Starting Borax after shocking the @#$%^ out of pool - 2

Hey JP,
Thanks for the response. The PH is just the low side of OK -- I have been testing daily as I added first chlorine liquid, then when got a good deal at Target on pure bleach (6%) using that now. Water was very cloudy (could not see bottom of 8.5' pool) four days ago and a good long shock seems to be helping a lot. Prior used every chem in the book on recommendation, usually contradictory, from a couple pool guys and two pool stores.

Water is 75% clear now but not anywhere sparkling. Chlorine is just over mid-range on regular test kit. Bought a TF-100 or whatever was recommended and have been easing toward recommended levels on everything re: Pool School. Also have a tube auto-dispenser in-line for chlor pucks. CYA is OK. Now just trying to get to sparkling... Smells fine, feels fine, just not 100% clear yet.

Intention with Borax was to help reduce algae possibility, have good water clarity and feel, save money on other expensive PH increasers, and have a model BBB to follow that does not depend on pimply pool guys who thing they know it all.

Darrel

 

[techguy]

Re: Starting Borax after shocking the @#$%^ out of pool - 2

Can you post a full set of test results? You have the tools, let's use them.

We don't guess well around here when the answers are available.

 

[lightingguy]

Re: Starting Borax after shocking the @#$%^ out of pool - 2

The algae benefits from borates are effective around 50ppm. If you are adding borates through borax - expect to need to be adding acid as well to combat the PH rise.

If you've gotten TF-100 post a full set of test results when you can. That will give us a more complete picture of where you are at.

 

[Swampwoman]

Re: Starting Borax after shocking the @#$%^ out of pool - 2

Hi there. I added borates to 50 ppm as a newbie earlier this year. I believe the advice was to first get your water clear and stable, get your TA in range, and then do so.

If you're going to use the 20team mule borax, you'll need to have a lot of muriatic acid on hand to do so. There is also boric acid which can be purchased in bulk and does not require MA. Here's a cheap source - works the same as proteam supreme plus - http://www.dudadiesel.com/search.php?query=Boric+acid

I find the test strips for borax, even the good ones, a little tricky to read and too subjective for adding purposes. I would instead calculate out exactly what you need to get to 50 ppm using pool Calc or thread
recommendations, and use the strips to confirm.

But first I'd finish getting the water balanced and completely clear.
Your thread says you're using inline chlorine tabs, which add cya. Is that info old? Either way, be
sure to target your FC in the range recommended for your cya to clear your water.

PS in other threads, plants are not reported to love properly sanitized pool water, in answer to your question. ymmv. For example, they don't love my softened water, which has salt. Bleach also adds salt to the pool water. They do like boron, but mostly in even more minute quantities than those in a pool -- eg at 10 ppm, boroates can enhance plant growth as a nutrient just the same way it does in the human diet. But the combos are too precise for using pool water if you like the plants