Ok, I'm going to bring Ta down to 60, and wait until pH gets back to 7.6/7.8 before adding boric acid. I'll check the Ta of the fill water and get that posted as well.
Water chemistry, about to start addition of boric acid...
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One other thing you might do it let the pH get up to 8.0. The higher it gets, the slower it rises. I just knock it down to 7.6 at the most and it’ll take about 2 weeks to climb back to 8.0. If you knock it down too low, it tends to shoot up faster and make you think it rises at a constant rate. Just track the CSI and make sure it’s below 0 but above -0.3 and you won’t need to clean the salt cell.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,052
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
That chart is a good resource to easily compare outputs & warranties with. The prices are sometimes off so do your research there.
You want a swg rated for at least 2x’s your pool volume- the bigger the better, all cells have a finite life span (generally 8-10k hrs @100%) so the less u have to run it the longer it should live. This is especially important in an environment with a long swim/pool season such as yours. So at least a 50k gal rated unit, or a 60k gal one is even better. The upgrade cost is generally worth the roi.
If u have any automation you may want to stick with the same brand to have the swg included. If not then the world is your oyster
Here’s some detailed info on the most common ones if you wanna go down that rabbit hole 🕳
Circupool SWG - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
Hayward Aquarite SWG - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
Pentair Intellichlor ICXX SWG - Further Reading
www.google.com
Good point. Looking back at the last year of chem levels, it looks like the pH topped out at 8, but has spent the most time around 7.8. At this point I'm focused on bringing the Ta and pH within range to add the borates, but in the future I should watch the behaviour a bit better. I've been concentrating at keeping the chem levels at the ideal levels. That being said, I feel like I am missing something, as I've decided to clean the salt cell 3-4 times in the last year because of the deposits.
Looking at the cells the stand out appear to be the the Circupool lines of SWG's. Particularly the RJ-60 with a 8 year warranty, and 3.10 lbs of chlorine per day, which would be over 3x of the truclear. The RJ-60 is listed there to be good up to 60,000 gallons that would be well over double of what my estimate of my pool is. Close behind the RJ-60 would be the Universal 55 at 2.90 lbs of chlorine per day, a 4 year warranty and up to 55,000 gallons again well over double what my estimate of my pool is. The Universal is a bit cheaper on the chart, but it might be worth investing in the bigger one to save run time and future headache.That chart is a good resource to easily compare outputs & warranties with. The prices are sometimes off so do your research there.
You want a swg rated for at least 2x’s your pool volume- the bigger the better, all cells have a finite life span (generally 8-10k hrs @100%) so the less u have to run it the longer it should live. This is especially important in an environment with a long swim/pool season such as yours. So at least a 50k gal rated unit, or a 60k gal one is even better. The upgrade cost is generally worth the roi.
If u have any automation you may want to stick with the same brand to have the swg included. If not then the world is your oyster
Here’s some detailed info on the most common ones if you wanna go down that rabbit hole 🕳
Circupool SWG - Further Reading
Hayward Aquarite SWG - Further Reading
Pentair Intellichlor ICXX SWG - Further Reading
Current Ta of pool is 70, with a pH of 7.4. Adding some acid tonight to bring pH down to 7.0 hoping to drop the Ta down to 60.
Fill water Ta straight from the tap is 160, so unless I end up filling with soft water I'll be battling Ta for the foreseeable future.
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If you do add boric acid, beware the test strips aren’t great. I was convinced the first one I used was accurate, but when I tried testing again a month later the results changed a lot and so I suspect they went bad after being unsealed.
There’s a better drop test method to check them, but I haven’t tried it yet. My recommendation would be to add the boric acid to the level you need and then just assume it’s at that level if you don’t have the capability to test it.
There’s a better drop test method to check them, but I haven’t tried it yet. My recommendation would be to add the boric acid to the level you need and then just assume it’s at that level if you don’t have the capability to test it.
I picked up the Mannitol powder and BMB to do the drop test. Thus far have done it once just to confirm that there was no borates in the water. I have pool math telling me how much I should need to get to 30 ppm and intend to test with the drop method to confirm. Then push up to 50 ppm at that point.
Almost there, still pushing to get Ta down to 60.
Ta down to 60, waiting on pH currently at 7.2.
Amusingly one of the factors in wanting to add the boric acid has been the free chlorine, and in the past week or so it's been trending up, so much so that I've actually begun dialing back the SWG slightly. Early on in the season I was struggling to keep at around 5, and had to add liquid chlorine every few weeks. Starting the beginning of this month it stabilized at 5, but with the SWG running at 100%, admittedly I cleaned the cell as well. About 4 days ago the free chlorine started to rise, to 6.5, so I dialed the SWG back to 90%. Today it's risen to 8.5, so it might be worth dialing it back a bit more.
Amusingly one of the factors in wanting to add the boric acid has been the free chlorine, and in the past week or so it's been trending up, so much so that I've actually begun dialing back the SWG slightly. Early on in the season I was struggling to keep at around 5, and had to add liquid chlorine every few weeks. Starting the beginning of this month it stabilized at 5, but with the SWG running at 100%, admittedly I cleaned the cell as well. About 4 days ago the free chlorine started to rise, to 6.5, so I dialed the SWG back to 90%. Today it's risen to 8.5, so it might be worth dialing it back a bit more.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,052
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
I like to maintain fc @ 10% of cya so there’s always a good buffer between me & minimum incase of high bather load, extreme uv, equipment malfunction or other environmental factors.
It’s also super easy to remember
--> 70cya = 7ppm
That is an easy way to keep track.
Today, Ta steady at 60, pH now at 7.4, FC at 9. Backing the SWG generator down to 80%. Awefully tempted to drop the boric acid now at 7.4, but considering holding out until 7.6.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,052
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Use PoolMath effects of adding to see how much the boric acid addition will lower the ph to determine when to deploy the rest.
So long as ph remains in the 7’s it’s fine.
Checking CSI it looks like I may drop below -0.3 if I drop the boric acid now at 7.4 dropping the pH to 7.2. If I wait until 7.6, and the boric acid drops to 7.4 I'll be -0.33. So it seems that the higher I let pH the better I can get the CSI. Not sure if it'll be much of an issue, as the pH will rise but will just take longer to when the boric acid as a buffer.
After reading a bit more it doesn't look like CSI is that immediately pressing. Which makes sense as I've really not tracked it at all for the most part. I'm only starting because of borates being included in the calculation. It looks like it has to be over a long time to cause issues.
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Ta still holding at 60, perhaps a little higher. Fc at 9.5 even with SWG down to 80%, pH holding at 7.4.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,052
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
The act of lowering ta to 60 has alot to do with slowing ph rise.
The borates just lend a helping hand.
Like I said - I only test for & add borates to 50ppm once at the beginning of the season, right after I get ta to 60. My ta & ph stay rock solid for the duration of the 7 month season. Even when running a fountain 24/7 for evaporative cooling during the dog days. My fill water TA is 110. I try to take advantage of free rain water as often as possible vs filling topping off with the hose. That may be harder for u there in the desert.
I have a vinyl pool so your mileage may vary with a plaster pool.
The borates just lend a helping hand.
Like I said - I only test for & add borates to 50ppm once at the beginning of the season, right after I get ta to 60. My ta & ph stay rock solid for the duration of the 7 month season. Even when running a fountain 24/7 for evaporative cooling during the dog days. My fill water TA is 110. I try to take advantage of free rain water as often as possible vs filling topping off with the hose. That may be harder for u there in the desert.
I have a vinyl pool so your mileage may vary with a plaster pool.
Definitely believe you there, before lowering Ta all the way to 60 pH increased by at least .2 every day sometimes more.
Rain...last year there was several storms that pretty much filled the pool and more, this year, who knows.
The plaster is what I'm worried about with the CSI reading. From what I'm reading CSI is really only a big danger if it's over a long time. Adding the borates at this point would likely not affect the paster, but being this close, it'll probably be a few days to just get the pH to 7.6, which would then be likely dropped to 7.4 after adding the boric acid. I'm convincing myself that it might be worth the wait.
Just realized that with Ta rising to 70 CSI is not below -0.30. Planning on adding borates later today.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,052
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
U can still lower ta back to 60 after borates- it will just take more time & possibly more acid.
40 lbs granulor boric acid added. I'll let the pool run for a little bit and then test, likely will need to add the final 20 lbs in later this evening.
Watched a few vids and people have added the borates when their ta was 80 and ph 8.0. I'm going to worry a bit less about it. Ta at 70 should still be pretty stable and it'll give me a chance to see if borates does slow down the pH and Ta rise.