Quote Originally Posted by rdefino View Post
My pool is oval 18x34 14400 gals .

Finding borax is not easy. So far no one carries it. I could order over the web from amazon. How much do you think would be used over a 3 month summer. trying to figure out how much to buy.

I think using borax instead of washing soda might be better, so I'm not adjusting the TA and PH at the same time. What do you think?
OK, a couple of quick points then I have to run out -

1. Borax is not the most effective way to raise your alkalinity as it only contributes a small fraction to the Total Alkalinity. Something like 80% of your waters alkalinity comes from carbonate sources.
2. Borax will RAISE your pH. So you need to be careful and adjust your pH down first BEFORE adding Borax. Raising your pH too quickly with Borax can cause cloudy water due to calcium carbonate formation.
3. You can safely swim in water with borates up to 50ppm to 80ppm (50ppm is advisable). After that, you should not add anymore borates without doing a water exchange.
4. You can add borates to your water in one of two ways - 20 Mule Team borax which RAISES pH OR Boric acid powder which LOWERS pH. Both are fine to use; I prefer boric acid. I bought a 55lbs pail of boric acid from Duda Diesel via Amazon and it lasted me two seasons.

As I stated, your TA is mostly made up of carbonate alkalinity, so-

1. If you want to RAISE your TA without raising pH use BAKING SODA (sodium bicarbonate)

2. If you want to RAISE your TA AND RAISE your pH, use WASHING SODA (sodium carbonate)

Here are some numbers based on your pool volume and your previous measurements (not sure what your borate levels are) -

pH: to raise your pH from 7.2 to 7.6 you need to add 12oz (by weight) of washing soda or 24oz of Borax

TA: to raise your TA from 30ppm to 80ppm you'll need ~11 lbs of baking soda

Borates: to go from 0ppm to 50ppm borates you'd need to add 550 oz or 34lbs of boric acid

If you add any chemicals, break them up into 3 or 4 batches, add the batches one at a time and retest your water parameters so you don't overshoot your mark!

Here are some good chemical levels for your pool -

Vinyl with Bleach
FC 3-7
pH 7.5-7.8
TA 70-90+
CH 0-350 (Don't add)
CYA 30-50
Vinyl with SWG
FC 3-5
pH 7.5-7.8
TA 60-80
CH 0-300 (Don't add)
CYA 70-80