The Great Tetraborate Experiment!

[waterbear]

This weeks test results (week 3):
(I have added my nromal amount of water to make up for evaporation each week, btw. I add it after I test...my normal procedure)
Borates 50 ppm
FC 5.5 ppm NO CHANGE (I lowered my SWG output again after the test and will see where I end up in another week. I had already lowered it last week. One of the claims made for tetraborates is less chlorine usage. I thought it was just marketing hype but maybe not....we shall see.)
CC 0 ppm
pH 7.7 (this is REALLY amazing, last week was 7.6! By the end of 3 week my pH is 8.0 and this is when I usually add my acid to bring it down! I rechecked the pH several times with 3 different kits just to make sure and even used the acid and base demand reagents to make sure the color was where I thought it was! I am going to leave it here and see if it increases anymore in a week.

TA 110 ppm (I have had the spillover and waterfalls running almost constantly last week for the kids and the TA did not move and this is 10 ppm from last weeks test of 120 ppm and that is also the accuracy of the test. As far as I am concerned this is NO CHANGE. I did not bother to repeat this test....close enough for government work, as they say
Adjusted alk 87 ppm NO CHANGE (see TA test results)
Calcium 220 ppm NO CHANGE
CYA 70 ppm NO CHANGE
Salt 3700 ppm (readout on AuqaLogic)
Salt 3600 ppm Tayor K-1766)
Pool is still clear and sparkling.
Now this is proof enought for me that the borates have helped to buffer the water. I will continue to report weekly and see what happens. I am particularly interested in my chlorine readings. I have my SWG down to 6% from 15% output in 3 week, normally it's at 10% and maintains about a 4 ppm FC. I raised it to 15% because we got a lot of rain and last week I lowered it back to 10%. Richard, your thoughts on this?

Didn't bother retesting phosphates, I know they are off the scale! (between 2000-3000 ppb).

One thing I have noticed, usually every 3 weeks is when I need to vacumn the pool because stuff collects near the main drain. It didn't need it today. Gonna wait another week and see. Also the skimmer sock usually needs to be changed out every week....this is the second week on the same sock...just took some leaves out of the skimmer. Don't know if this is from the borax or not but it was interesting since I KNOW my pool and what it normally requires. As Alice said, "Curiouser and Curiouser!" (Come to think of it, the pool is so clear it sort of looks like a 'Looking Glass'.