I opened up my 30k gal inground pool this week and this is what I found:

FC 0.5
CC 5.0
pH 7.6
TA 180
Ca 350
CYA (don't have any more reagent but in the past it has been high nl)

First I shocked. Then, based on what I've read somewhere, I went to work on the TA by adding muriatic acid. Here are my numbers now.

FC 5.0
CC 0
pH 7.0
TA 125

My TA is now close to being in range but I need to raise my pH without further raising TA. Looking at some postings it appears that borax raises pH without raising TA but I have also come accross some people who are trying to raise borate without mentioning problems with TA or pH.

Questions:

Is it true that borax raises pH without raising TA?

Does borax do anything else bad like raising Ca which is already sort of high?

Why do I need to care about borate?

Thanks,

Steve