Borax dosing

[JimK]

Thanks for the additional info, Ben.

I knew the calculator wasn’t exact, but it works well for me (perhaps I’m one of the more meticulous pool owners ).

I should have included in my post that it’s advised you add a partial dose first, then test to see where you’re at before adding more, at least until you get to know you’re pool well and how it responds.

[paigemetoo]

Thanks for all the help!!!
I really just wanted a ballpark to know how much to buy. I did only add a partial dose at first. I also understand when it shows yellow for 7 ph it could be much lower. In my case adding 70 oz worked and I'm sitting pretty at 7.4. I just opened my pool and was using dichlor to up the cya and to shock the crap outta it. Is it true dichlor will lower my ph? I have used it every year at this time and never had low ph.

So happy! For the first time in 10 yrs I had a clear pool in 1 day!!

One other thing. Should I mess with the 70 Alk? My gut says no but I would like another opinion

[PoolDoc]

Dichlor adds chlorine and stabilizer immediately, and lowers pH some later.

Once you've reached an adequate stabilizer level, you'll need to switch to cal hypo or bleach.

In some parts of the country, Walmart is selling 10% bleach for about $3.25/gallon in 1 or 2 packs as "Pool Essentials Chlorinating Liquid". That's cheaper than you are likely to find calcium hypo, since a gallon of 10% bleach is rough equal to 1.25 lbs of cal hypo. Also, bleach has virtually no 'side effects', where cal hypo will add calcium and raise alkalinity.

Regardless, I wouldn't mess with the Alk=70, unless you are having problems with pH instability.