Why
Adding borates can improve your experience with your pool, but is completely optional. If you do plan to use borates, wait until everything else is settled down before adding borates, especially TA and PH. The only situations where we specifically recommend using borates are for pools with a negative edge or other very large water feature creating huge amounts of aeration and for spas using the dichlor and then bleach method. All that said, borates have proven popular with a fair number of people.
Pro's
- More stable PH
- Helps prevent algae
- Helps prevent scaling in a SWG cell
- Silky water feel
- More sparkle
Con's
- Additional expense
- Concerns about risks to pets
- Not a magical potion to solve all pool woes
How
We recommend maintaining borates between 30 and 50 ppm. That normally means raising the borate level to around 50 each spring, so that it will still be above 30 come fall.
Before you start on borates, adjust your TA level toward the low end of the appropriate range for your pool type. See the Recommended Levels chart for appropriate levels. It is easier, and better, to adjust TA before adding borates than it will be after.
There are two approaches to adding borates to the pool: boric acid, or a combination of Borax and muriatic acid. Using boric acid is just slightly more expensive, in most cases, and much easier. Borax and muriatic acid takes more effort and handling that much acid is just slightly risky, but saves just a little money (if you shop carefully).
