Water Balance: Adjust alkalinity first, then PH . . . Or Not

[Tom.B]

We recommend washing soda and baking soda for raising TA. Borax for raising pH.

Can you expand on this a little? My TA is getting low (70) and my pH dropped from 7.4 to 7.2 (Is that a lot?) and I am confused about whether to us Sodium Bicarb or Borax. The FAQ of alkalinity isn't at all clear on what exactly does what and what range these chemical readings need to be. There are some conflicting descriptions and results when you start trying to put together a big picture. It's like, the closer I look, the less I see. :-)

[PoolDoc]

0.2 pH units isn't much -- a pool will vary that much from day to day, just because 'it want's to'!

TA is bit low; you can add a box of borax and raise both pH and TA a bit. Or, you can add a box of baking soda (5 - 10 lbs) which will mostly raise TA.

I've tried to avoid getting rigid with the numbers -- there are many, many combinations of values that will work. Being very specific about what your numbers MUST be is easier to understand, but harder to carry out.

We've opted to make your brain work more, so you can work less on your pool!

[Tom.B]

So you are thinking a whole 4# box of borax? Any ideas on how much it will raise each of them?

**EDIT** Actually, I just added 4# of baking soda. I think I will test later tonight and perhaps add another box of either baking soda or borax.

[Watermom]

This bleach calculator may be helpful to you. It has other calculators, also. Click on the drop-down in the upper left corner and you'll find the others.

http://pool9.net/bleach-calc/

[Tom.B]

AHHH HAAAAA!!! Mind blown... Thank you very much.

[Watermom]

I hope "AHHH HAAAAA!!! Mind blown" was a good "mind blown" and not, "oh, no, now I am more confused than ever!"

[Tom.B]

All good! added 8# total baking soda. Will test tomorrow evening.