1st Time Kit User

[CarlD]

Numbers look VERY good.

I would not test CYA or T/A more than once a week once they are where you want them, unless you've done a massive drain & refill.

I think you are all set except for one item.....

WATER TEMP!

[Sumo1]

I think you are all set except for one item.....

WATER TEMP! [/QUOTE]

Unfortunately, we're getting a much later than usual "last winter blast" and temps will be in the 20's the next 2 nights, with day temps not reaching 65 until Wed! After that, though, it should only get warmer YAY!
Hal

[Sumo1]

Wow, hard to believe 12 days have gone by since I last tested. Today I got
FC-7.4
CC-0
pH-7.8
TA-140
CH-280
CYA~60-65
Temp-59F (One of my kids fell in today while skimming leaves BRRR!)
Hal

PS: If I'm going to add borax to my pool, does water temp have any effect on the process?

[CarlD]

Why would you add Borax if your pH is 7.8? It's already a bit high, and Borax will raise it further.

[chem geek]

Carl,

In this post Sumo1 said that the Borax was to be used to raise the Borates level as in the Tetraborate Experiment. So for every box (76 ounces weight) of 20 Mule Team Borax that is added, 47.6 fluid ounces of Muriatic Acid will need to be added. Probably less than one box of Borax should be added at a time, alternating with acid in the proportions indicated.

Richard

[Sumo1]

Chem Geek, you are correct. I liked the results of the Tetraborate Experiment and plan to duplicate them. Should the 20MTB I'm adding be in slurry form or just poured in dry? Does it matter?
Hal

[waterbear]

I put half the borax in by dissoving some in a bucket of water and broadcasting it over the pool surface and repeating this until it was all in and then adding half the acid in the same way and then repeating with the other half. The borax dissolved fast as long as I didn't put too much into the bucket of water at a time. I rechecked my pH the next day and found that I needed to add a bit more acid to bring my pH back down to 7.6. Not a big deal.

EDIT: I use the AquaChek borate test strips and I have not had to add any more borax since the initial time. My borate levels are still about 50 ppm!