Using 20 mule borax and baking soda

[pcasey61]

Hi;
I just opened my pool and circulated about 8 gallons of bleach through it in the last few days and made it nice and clear. I used a new dipstrip to check chemical levels and found all chemicals nonexistant. I am on the way to the store now for new "Chemicals". I plan to add 2 large boxes of 20 mule borax and a couple large boxes of baking soda. I hope to put these in at the same time and see what my results are after an hour. I then plan to add many gallons of bleach to bring up the chlorine levels. Am I taking the right approach. As a side note, I think the pool is around 15000 gallons. It is 24' round, 48" deep. Also, what is the best method to add Borax and baking soda?

[KWBourn]

You cant be serious. Go back and read some posts on what to do first, and wait for some one to reply.

[b2001]

The first thing to do is this:

But there's a catch--you have to have a good test kit, and use it regularly.

It's taken out of this post:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=1113

While it's not out of the question that you might need to use that much borax to raise your ph - I had to use 2 1/2 boxes of borax to raise my ph from 6.9 ppm to about 7.4 ppm for a 14,000 gallon pool - it's never a good idea to add a lot of chemicals without having a better idea on what your chemical levels are. The dipstrips aren't accurate enough for this.

I sprinkle powders and pour liquids into the pool where the water re-enters back into my pool.

[Watermom]

pcasey -- Before any of us are really going to be able to help. we need current water testing results taken with a drops based kit. Then, we can help you go from there.

As far as how to add borax and baking soda, you can do as b2001 suggested above and add them to the water at the pool return or you can slowly pour them into the skimmer while the pump is running. That is what I do with my pool. Post back with current numbers and somebody here will try and advise you.

One other thing, in a pool your size, the volume is more like 12,500 to 13,000 gallons instead of 15,000.