You are using the borax calc for the wrong purpouse. It's not for pH. Please read the borax calc page closely.
Michael
Yes, apparently it received quite a bit of sun that decreased it so much. I put the bleach in at the deep end jet away from the skimmer. I'm going tomorrow to get more bleach. How many jugs do you think I should buy? I recall last year a guy telling how to test the higher levels but I can't recall HOW he did it. Something about multiplying something by 10? I so hate that all the other data was destroyed. (Poor Ben!!) Maybe he'll read this and post the info again. I think it was pouring two of the tubes of test water into a glass and adding the drops or something. Janet may remember, she's quite the genius! So, should I deal with the alkalinity at the same time I'm trying to deal with the algae? I pulled up the calculator and according to it, I need to add 16.9 POUNDS of Borax??? Is that right? That'd be a little less than three boxes, correct?
Right now I only have the AquaChem test. It has seemed pretty darn accuarate so far. I only went to the pool store today because I was out of Stabilizer agent and needed that result. (I ordered some- for free!- early this morning and will receive it next week.)
You are using the borax calc for the wrong purpouse. It's not for pH. Please read the borax calc page closely.
Michael
It's the algae that is consuming the chlorine. When you want to test high chlorine with a kit not designed for it, just add 3 parts distilled water to one part pool water, mix and test. Multiply your result by four.
Originally Posted by mwsmith2
Huh? I was testing how much I would have to add to raise the alkalinity, not the pH. I'm not worried about the pH right now. I just pulled the calculator up again and noticed the borax one. Didn't see it before because I was looking only for Alk and Cl. I read that it is only for controlling algae in the future. HOW would you know when to use that calculator? I guess I just don't "get" that one.
My bad, I got borax mixed up with baking soda again. If I understand correctly, borax raises JUST your pH while baking soda raises your alk AND pH. Correct?
Last edited by littleHeidi; 04-06-2006 at 06:14 PM.
THAT'S right!! Thank you so much. I couldn't remember exactly what the details were. I only have well water, will that work? Don't really have to worry about it at the moment because the cl isn't registering at all yet. But thank you for posting the instructions!!
Borax will not raise your carbonate alkalinity.
Just be aware that you will lose accuracy in the process so consider those results more of a "ballpark figure".
Gotcha!I will keep that in mind. I'm making a notebook JUST for the pool stuff this year. On the inside of the front and back covers I have the "menus" for raising/lowering the various chemicals for the pool.
Soooooo, do I take care of the Alk tomorrow too and then put the bleach in tomorrow night? Will it hurt to wait that long to add the bleach?
In order to kill the algae, you're going to have to raise your Cl to 10-12, and keep it there--if you let it yo-yo up and down, you're just going to have a harder time killing it. You need to test in the evening, add whatever amount of bleach is necessary to bring your Cl up to 12, test again in the morning and add whatever you need to bring it back up, and (if possible) test and add again in the afternoons. Do this until the algae dies and turns gray. YOu also need to make sure that your pump is running and that you're backwashing as necessary during the process. Do not add any Borax to your pool, your pH is too high already, but you can go ahead and add the baking soda to raise your T/A.
Good to see you too!
Janet
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